EVERY OUNCE MATTERS
COLD WEATHER CHALLENGE
Sgt. Bruce Allen, assigned to the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, proceeds to the rally point after completing an airborne training jump at Joint Base Elmendorf– Richardson, Alaska, in January 2018. One of the reasons brass cartridge cases have remained in use for so long is their ability to withstand extreme temperatures, both hot and cold. (U.S. Air Force photo by Alejandro Peña, Joint Base Elmendorf– Richardson Public Affairs)
Lightweight ammunition technology and joint qualification efforts are moving forward thanks to the integrated product team’s activities. Te 7.62 mm lightweight case program is a prime example of successful collaboration. Test results from lightweight case assessments by the Army, the Marine Corps, SOCOM and Britain’s Ministry of Defense demonstrated that several lightweight case technologies had the potential to meet military requirements. Based upon these assessments, the Army issued three competitively awarded contracts, the last of them in March. Te funding came from the Marine Corps and the Office of the Secretary of Defense Manufacturing Technology program to conduct a series of tests on early production designs. Tis limited test event, scheduled for October, will provide the information required to narrow down the top-performing design before engaging in final development and qualification test events.
Future activities for the integrated product team will include joint qualification of lightweight ammunition through a series of performance tests in current weapons. By establishing joint test plans, the team will reduce the number of test events and the quantity of rounds fired, thereby reducing the cost of qualifica- tion. Each service has distinct ammunition requirements within unique weapon systems, such as temperature and transportation environments. Tis coordination will ensure that the lightweight ammunition meets safety requirements as well as robust military uses in the various systems and is delivered to the joint warfighter much more rapidly than if tested and qualified independently.
Future activities also will include exploration of other efforts to save weight, including in ammunition links, (when ammunition
64 Army AL&T Magazine Fall 2019
is carried in a linked configuration) and in packaging, which will reduce the logistical burden during transportation.
CONCLUSION As the services prepare for a future fight against highly capa- ble adversaries, materiel developers will continue collaborating to increase operational capabilities and maintain overmatch. Combat and materiel developers will share and identify advance- ments in technologies across all weapon systems to reach that end.
Ammunition, as a fundamental component in warfighter load, is a key aspect of maintaining overmatch through technology. Collaboration through the Joint Lightweight Ammunition Inte- grated Product Team with the services and a key allied partner will lead to solutions that will significantly reduce ammunition weight and greatly enhance warfighter survivability and lethal- ity through increased mobility on the ground.
For more information, contact the author at
todd.n.townsend.civ@
mail.mil, or go to
https://jpeoaa.army.mil/jpeoaa/ or https://
jpeoaa.army.mil/mas/.
TODD TOWNSEND serves as the research, development, test and evaluation supervisor for the Product Manager for Small Caliber Ammunition under PM MAS. He holds an M.S. in management from the Florida Institute of Technology, a B.S. in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a B.S. in physics from Roberts Wesleyan College. He is Level III certified in program management and in production, quality and manufacturing.
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