The U.S. Army is testing a new explosive filling for the 155mm M795 artillery projectile developed by scientists at the U.S. Army's Holston Army Ammunition Plant (HSAAP) in Kingsport, TN. BAE Systems, Ordnance Systems Inc. (OSI), is the HSAAP operating contractor. Recently, OSI embarked on a program to identify potential next-generation energetic materials that can be used to address stakeholder concerns over the conventional ammunition filling (2, 4, 6-TNT) for 155mm projectiles used by the U.S. Army.
The main issue with TNT as a filling for modern projectiles is that the explosive behaves violently if subjected to an accidental stimulus, such as being involved in a fire. In addition, ...