The Military Wants Biodegradable Ammo That Turns Into Plants
The U.S. Army is looking for someone to create environmentally friendly ammunition that goes beyond being non-toxic to turning bullets into seeds that would eventually germinate plants. It's all part of an effort to ensure that military training areas aren't contaminated with pollutants.
The U.S. Army expends a wide variety of ammunition types during live fire training both at home and at friendly bases abroad. Whether using 120-millimeter tank rounds to 81-millimeter mortar rounds to 5.56-millimeter bullets, live fire training is essential to maintain combat readiness.
That said, shooting real bullets also releases pollutants into the environment. Burned propellant for everything from tank shells to carbine bullets releases chemicals into the environment. Armored piercing tank rounds and bullets typically keep flying some distance beyond the target, burying themselves under inches or even feet of dirt.
Out of sight, it turns out, is not out of mind. All of this pollution, although released in small amounts, gradually builds up. It also creates potential hazards-a farmer tilling a field that used to be a live-fire range might strike a long forgotten steel sabot that had been fired decades before, causing serious injury.
A solicitation on the Department of Defense's Small Business Innovation Research web site is looking for a smart company to develop biodegradable ammunition. The military would like to see projectile cartridges-which are rarely all cleaned up after a live-fire exercise-made out of biodegradable plastic. The military also references a research paper on the use of biodegradable plastics reinforced with bamboo fibers.
But the Pentagon isn't stopping there. It also wants spent ammunition and casings to contain bioengineered seeds that would, after several months, grow environmentally friendly plants that would remove soil contaminants. The proposal even specifies that animals "should be able to consume the plants without any ill effects".
It's important to note that this is not ammunition that would be used in combat, but rather on training ranges here in the United States and friendly countries such as Germany, Italy and Japan. Ammunition used in combat is too important to tinker with, but at friendly training ranges where ammunition is expended for years and even decades, the issue of pollutant contamination is a real one.
Source: SBIR via Motherboard
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