Ultrahigh reliability US Army missiles and munitions

Provides an overview of U.S. Army requirements necessary for missiles and munitions to survive and operate in extreme environments with ultrahigh reliability. Long-term storage of assets, exposure to harsh environments, and requirements for high reliability with minimum field checks are significant concerns for Army missiles and munitions. These concerns warrant investigation into new and advanced techniques that provide health monitoring and prognostics capability, as well as robust design. In the past, missiles and munitions were commonly stored for long periods of time within the various military depot environments. In the present Army, however, missiles and munitions can expect deployment into a theater of operations and subsequent return to stocks for a potential future deployment. These deployments are expected to occur several times during an asset's life cycle, with extremes being experienced for each deployment due to handling, transportation, and theater storage. Therefore, the potential detrimental affects which a missile and/or munition will likely encounter must be understood and accounted for in its design and fielding so that its war fighting capability and readiness can be assured. Ultrahigh reliability of weapon systems is a critical requirement for the transformed Army to quickly enable a lethal and decisive battle force. This presentation will define ultra-reliability as it relates to missiles and munitions. Approaches to achieving ultra-reliability will be discussed, including joint efforts by the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy in modeling materials aging phenomena.