Cooperative Demonstration of Technology on Munitions Related Contamination – Military Live-Fire Range Characterization

​ Military readiness is critical to NATO and Partner nations. Combat units conduct live-fire training with a wide variety of munitions that contain constituents that may have an adverse environmental impact. The higher training tempo and the arrival of new types of munitions in military inventories add stresses to Ranges and Training Areas all across NATO and Partner nations.

The exceptional success of the first Cooperative Demonstration of Technology (CDT) on Military Live Fire Range Characterization resulted in a number of well-recognized scientific contributions and follow-on activities in NATO and nations. Even more important is the fact that this demonstration fully fulfilled the purpose of NATO’s collaborative Science & Technology efforts by building a strong multi-national network as well as directly impacting national defence programs with its recommendations. In recognition of the outstanding work and significant scientific contribution, the Applied Vehicle Technology (AVT) Panel presents the 2018 AVT Panel Excellence Award to the AVT-249 Task Group on “Munitions Related Contamination: Military Live-Fire Range Characterization”.




Figure 1: The 2018 AVT Panel Excellence Award presented to the AVT-249 Task Group

On 30 September - 05 October 2018, the NATO Science and Technology Organization (STO) will sponsor the second Cooperative Demonstration of Technology (CDT) on Military Live Fire Range Characterization at Cranfield University in the United Kingdom.

Many nations are seeking range characterization techniques to improve their ability to implement range mitigation strategies. This CDT presented state-of-the-art characterization methods to better manage risks, preserve combat readiness and reduce budget impacts due to the loss of range availability. Munitions constituents from live-fire training adversely impact range environments and have led to the loss of valuable training ranges and high environmental liabilities; in just one case the costs were over 1.5B Euros.

The CDT commenced with technical classes, methods and shared discussions of the latest range characterization methods. This CDT sprang from the (STO) Applied Vehicles and Technology (AVT) Panel and was designed to allow practitioners to improve their work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt7fA0XR7bU&feature=youtu.be

If you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact avt@cso.nato.int.

Published by AVT

14/05/2018