Unexploded Ordnance - Green Ammunition

Green Ammunition

There are an estimated 11 million acres (45,000 km2) contaminated with unexploded ordnance in the United States alone. These 1400+ UXO sites, taken together, comprise approximately the area of Florida.

By presidential executive order the US Armed Forces are mandated to buy "green ammunition" for use at their training ranges. Green ammunition is non-dud producing since they contain no explosives (that is, other than the propellant) and non-toxic, reducing cleanup costs and environmental risks. Environmentally sound training rounds come in 5.56 caliber and 40 mm high and low-velocity training cartridges for grenade machine guns and under-barrel grenade launchers.

Currently, the US army uses M918 40 mm cartridges, made to a pyrotechnic design from the 1970s that contains heavy metals in the fuze and potassium perchlorate in the payload. It has a fuze failure rate of 3%-8%. The US Army continues to use the M918 and M385 cartridges, favoring a "mixed-belt" approach to reducing duds and toxic leaching, however the M918 cannot be used in dry weather because of potential range fires.

US defense forces are now testing the 40 mm MK281 cartridge, Non-Dud Producing (NDP) and non-toxic training cartridge for the MK19. In 2006, the US Marine Corps signed a US$61 million 5-year contract with the Rheinmetall Group. The National Training Center (NTC) in Fort Irwin, California is partially integrating the MK281 into its operations. The U.S. Center for Health Promotion and Preventative Medicine at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland approved the MK281.

Given that the military uses 6-10 million training rounds per year, this leads to a substantial amount of UXO, leading to mandates from the Department of Defense and Environmental Protection Agency to phase out this older training ammunition. This transition is dependent on the US military-industrial base becoming ready to design and manufacture necessary amounts of green ammunition.

As of 2009, there are no US manufacturers to provide the necessary supply of green ammunition, rendering the Department of Defense's mission to phase out older ammunition at odds with its second mission to buy designs and material from US suppliers. Many small US ammunition manufacturers, many associated with the rapid creation of WWII Army Ammunition Plants, have not invested in green ammunition R&D.

"Green" also refers to the manufacturing process of ammunition. US Army programs at Picatinny Arsenal are researching methods of reducing volatile organic compounds and ozone depleting compounds during the manufacturing process. Attempts are also being made to reduce the amount of hazardous materials in the actual ammunition.