How the US can reclaim leadership in advanced energetic materials

The past 18 months have seen unprecedented interest among senior defense officials and Congress in the state of the nation’s defense energetics enterprise. Energetic materials — substances or mixtures that release energy rapidly — are used in military applications for explosives, propellants and pyrotechnics to generate the high-energy effects essential for weapon systems.

The legislators’ interest is understandable in view of the results of three major studies by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering , the Energetics Technology Center , and the Hudson Institute .

All three decried the sclerotic state of the organizations and processes that develop, test, qualify and integrate new explosives and propellants into defense systems. All three called for a seismic reconsideration of the management and structure of the entire domain. And all three emphasized the need for urgency.

As the ETC study put it, “senior leaders must act immediately and decisively if conventional deterrence of the nation’s competitors is to succeed.”

Attentive members of Congress took heed. The fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act contains provisions intended to begin revitalizing the entire value chain of energetic materials, from basic research to incorporation in weapons systems. At the forefront is the creation of a Joint Energetics Transition Office in Subtitle C, Section 241 of the NDAA, empowered to unclog the transition pipeline and knit together the dozens of elements that comprise the energetics ecosystem.

If properly managed, it could do much to restore what was once American leadership in the materials that most define the lethality and effectiveness of weapons systems.

The FY24 NDAA also authorized a rapid prototype demonstration program for CL-20, one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosive in the world. In 1987, Arnold Nielson, a chemist at the U.S. Navy’s China Lake facility, invented the new molecule in the hope of giving U.S. weapons an advantage against the country’s enemies during the Cold War.

“This is the most significant ingredient to be developed in the past 50 years because it has high performance and has applications for missile propulsion and warheads,” announced Thom Boggs, the head of China Lake’s engineering sciences division at the time. Boggs predicted that CL-20 would begin to show up in propellants and explosives in three to four years.

That was 1993. After 30 years, CL-20 barely features in U.S. weapons systems. The end of the Cold War dampened a willingness to tackle the steep technical challenges of making new energetic materials operational.

To make matters worse, two decades of unconventional warfare further reduced any urgency to develop more lethal and effective weapons. Throughout that period, however, researchers in China and Russia especially have made alarming strides in the development and manufacture of CL-20 and other, even more effective energetic materials.

These developments underscore a significant shift in global military capabilities. Advancements in energetic materials by strategic competitors not only threaten to eclipse the edge historically enjoyed by U.S. forces but pose a challenge to the United States’ ability to maintain a credible defense posture and deterrence capabilities.

Advanced energetic materials can increase the destructive power of warheads. This translates into the ability to neutralize targets more effectively with fewer munitions, allowing for more efficient use of them in combat scenarios. By providing a higher energy output, advanced energetic materials in solid-rocket motors can propel munitions over longer distances. An extended range enables forces to engage targets from safer distances, reducing the risk to personnel and assets while expanding the scope of potential targets.

The incorporation of advanced materials into munitions could enable our strategic competitors to field weapons systems potentially superior in range, lethality and effectiveness.

The accelerated pace of energetic materials research by China and Russia points to a critical imperative for the United States to monitor and respond to our strategic competitors’ advancements. Recent announcements from Chinese scientists about breakthroughs in manufacturing efficiency, alongside Russian efforts to make even more potent and stable energetic materials, illustrate a significant escalation in their capabilities.

These advancements suggest that these nations are not only matching but potentially exceeding U.S. capabilities in the development of advanced military systems. Their rapid innovation in this key area points to an urgent need for the U.S. defense acquisition processes to adapt and accelerate . Keeping pace with these innovations is vital for maintaining the United States’ competitive edge and ensuring our military’s effectiveness.

The strategic and tactical advantages afforded by these materials are too fundamental to ignore. As the global security environment becomes increasingly competitive, the U.S. must strive to reassert its leadership in the development and application of advanced energetic materials. The effectiveness of U.S. forces — and by extension the nation’s ability to deter and, if necessary, prevail over future adversaries — depends on it.

The establishment of the Joint Energetics Transition Office, as authorized by the FY24 NDAA, represents merely the starting point. The campaign requires a coordinated effort across the entire defense ecosystem, encompassing research institutions, the defense industry, the requirements process, program offices, service acquisition leadership and military end users.

Furthermore, the rapid prototype demonstration program for CL-20 underlines the need to not only catch up with the advancements made by competitors but leapfrog to the next generation of energetic materials. The security and superiority of U.S. military forces hinge on leading the charge, ensuring that America remains prepared to meet and surpass the challenges posed by global strategic rivals.

Robert Kavetsky is the CEO of the Energetics Technology Center.

过去18个月里，国防高级官员和国会对国家国防能源产业的现状表现出了前所未有的关注。高能材料——即能够快速释放能量的物质或混合物——在军事应用中用于制造炸药、推进剂和烟火剂，以产生武器系统所必需的高能效应。

鉴于国防部负责研究和工程的副部长办公室、能源技术中心和哈德逊研究所的三项主要研究结果，立法者的兴趣是可以理解的。

三人均谴责了负责研发、测试、鉴定和整合新型炸药和推进剂的组织和流程的僵化现状。三人均呼吁对整个领域的管理和结构进行彻底的重新审视。三人均强调了行动的紧迫性。

正如ETC的研究指出，“如果想要成功对国家的竞争对手进行常规威慑，高层领导人必须立即采取果断行动。”

国会议员们对此高度重视。《2024财年国防授权法案》包含旨在重振高能材料整个价值链的条款，涵盖从基础研究到武器系统应用的各个环节。其中最重要的是在《国防授权法案》C篇第241节中设立联合能源转型办公室，该办公室的职责是疏通转型渠道，并将构成能源生态系统的数十个要素整合起来。

如果管理得当，它能极大地恢复美国曾经在决定武器系统杀伤力和有效性的最重要材料领域的领先地位。

2024财年国防授权法案还批准了CL-20的快速原型演示计划，CL-20是世界上威力最强大的非核爆炸物之一。1987年，美国海军中国湖海军基地的化学家阿诺德·尼尔森发明了这种新型分子，希望在冷战期间使美国武器在对抗敌国时占据优势。

“这是过去50年来最重要的研发成果，因为它性能优异，可用于导弹推进剂和弹头，”时任中国湖化学工业公司工程科学部负责人汤姆·博格斯宣布。博格斯预测，CL-20将在三到四年内开始应用于推进剂和炸药中。

那是1993年。30年后，CL-20几乎不再出现在美国武器系统中。冷战的结束削弱了人们攻克新型高能材料应用技术难题的意愿。

更糟糕的是，二十年的非常规战争进一步降低了研发更具杀伤力和有效性的武器的紧迫性。然而，在此期间，中国和俄罗斯的研究人员，尤其是俄罗斯的研究人员，在CL-20和其他一些威力更大的高能材料的研发和制造方面取得了令人瞩目的进展。

这些发展凸显了全球军事能力的重大转变。战略竞争对手在高能材料方面的进步不仅有可能削弱美国军队历来享有的优势，而且对美国维持可信的防御态势和威慑能力构成了挑战。

先进高能材料可以增强弹头的破坏力。这意味着可以用更少的弹药更有效地摧毁目标，从而在作战场景中更高效地利用弹药。通过提供更高的能量输出，固体火箭发动机中的先进高能材料可以将弹药推进更远的距离。更远的射程使部队能够从更安全的距离打击目标，降低人员和资产的风险，同时扩大潜在目标的范围。

将先进材料融入弹药中，可能会使我们的战略竞争对手部署在射程、杀伤力和效能方面更胜一筹的武器系统。

中国和俄罗斯在高能材料研究领域加速发展，凸显了美国密切关注并应对战略竞争对手进展的迫切性。中国科学家近期宣布在制造效率方面取得突破，而俄罗斯也在努力研发更高效、更稳定的高能​​材料，这些都表明两国的能力显著提升。

这些进展表明，这些国家不仅在先进军事系统研发方面与美国匹敌，甚至可能超越美国。它们在这一关键领域的快速创新凸显了美国国防采购流程亟需调整和加快。跟上这些创新步伐对于保持美国的竞争优势和确保军队的作战效能至关重要。

这些材料所带来的战略和战术优势至关重要，不容忽视。随着全球安全环境竞争日益激烈，美国必须努力重塑其在先进高能材料研发和应用领域的领导地位。美国军队的效能——进而影响美国威慑乃至必要时战胜未来对手的能力——都取决于此。

根据2024财年国防授权法案，联合能源转型办公室的成立仅仅是一个起点。这项计划需要整个国防生态系统的协调努力，涵盖研究机构、国防工业、需求流程、项目办公室、各军种采购领导层以及军事最终用户。

此外，CL-20快速原型演示项目凸显了美国不仅需要赶上竞争对手的进步，更需要跨越式发展，迈向下一代高能材料。美国军事力量的安全和优势取决于其引领潮流的能力，确保美国始终做好准备，应对并超越全球战略对手带来的挑战。

Robert Kavetsky 是 Energetics 技术中心的首席执行官。