Thanks to the innovation of BAE Systems, the U.S. Army has begun phasing out the use of the explosive TNT in artillery. Its replacement, which is now in full production, is called IMX-101 and is much safer to handle and store than TNT, yet equally effective on the battlefield.

IMX-101 is a high-performance insensitive high explosive composite mixture developed by BAE Systems and the United States Army to replace TNT in artillery shells.

Valued at as much as $780 million over the next five years, the contract allows BAE Systems to continue producing explosives at the Holston Army Ammunition Plant in Tennessee. Under this contract, the company received an initial $18.4 million order to produce additional quantities of IMX-101, an insensitive munition that is approved by the Army ...

2023年12月12日 · BAE Systems Ordnance Systems Inc. has received a contract with a ceiling value of $8.8 billion from the U.S. Army to continue as the operating contractor of the Holston Army Ammunition Plant (HSAAP) with a base period of 10 years.

2022年4月25日 · IMX-101 and IMX-104 are novel insensitive melt-pour explosives developed and produced by BAE Systems at the Holston Army Ammunition Plant (HSAAP). The U.S. Army has selected these two explosives as common low-cost replacements for legacy explosives TNT and Composition-B used in indirect fire weapons such as artillery and mortar munition systems.

• IMX-104 demonstrated excellent IM properties over Composition B • Low-cost replacement for Composition B • Reduced shock sensitivity vs. Composition B (and PAX-21) • Ingredients readily available and manufactured at Holston • Robust large scale manufacturing process for IMX-104

IMX-104 Background 5 • An insensitive melt-pour explosive to replace Composition B for Mortar Applications • IMX-104 and all starting ingredients manufactured at Holston Army Ammunition Plant • Exhibited superior IM properties and comparable performance over Composition B in 81mm Mortar HE

IMX-101 explosive is effectively a “drop-in” replacement for TNT in melt-cast LAP operations. BAE Systems at Holston AAP has robust manufacturing processes and essentially unlimited capacity for both the IM ingredients (i.e. DNAN, NTO, etc) and melt-cast formulations.

The IMX-104 explosive is an important technological advancement in the area of Insensitive Munitions (IM) and is much safer to handle and store than TNT, yet equally effective on the battlefield. IMX-104 is an IM formulation developed for mortar systems, and was recently fielded into the U.S. Army’s 81mm mortar munitions – an accomplishment ...

BAE has developed a process to make an intermediate Class of NTO (Class 1) with average particle size of ~150 µm Over 700-lbs of NTO Class 1 produced in pilot plant