Nitrocellulose still the chemical key to weapons of war

ARLINGTON, Va., May 13 (UPI) -- In the 21st century, the U.S. armed services and their war fighters still depend on the nitrocellulose that is produced by the U.S. Army's ammunition plant in Radford, Va.

The list of weapons systems that require the use of nitrocellulose for their manufacture or ammunition is a long and comprehensive one. It includes the M1A1 Abrams main battle tank, the M119A1, M109A6, M198 and M777 howitzers, the M2 Bradley armored personnel vehicle, the Marine Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, artillery, tank ammunition, medium-caliber ammunition, small-caliber ammunition, combustible cartridge cases, solventless propellants, triple-base propellants, double-base propellants and single-base propellants.

Dennis Dunlap, director of industrial support for the Joint Munitions Command, said about past efforts to modernize the Radford plant, "Our focus has been primarily in modernizing the production facilities and equipment. We had never really modernized the underlying infrastructure: the water lines, the electrical system and so on. And so as we came into this current (Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan) surge, we were finding ourselves unable to keep up with demand."

It is important to remember that the Radford Army Ammunition Plant, like all the plants that make up the ammunition industrial base of the U.S. armed forces, was built at the start of World War II. The size and layout of the facility made sense then and reflected the state of technology nearly 70 years ago. Today, however, the plant's infrastructure is aging and requires constant repair.

There have been previous investments in modernization, associated with other conflicts, but there has never been a comprehensive effort to rationalize and modernize the facility. Like the other plants in the ammunition industrial base, the basic infrastructure of pipes, sewer lines and water mains dates back to the early 1940s. As a result, the Radford plant remains a facility designed for a different age. Meeting modern, evolving environmental standards is a constant challenge.

It is ironic that the Radford Army Ammunition Plant, which remains so critical to the national security of the United States, is at great potential risk. This is particularly the case in the period of reduced defense budgets that is likely to ensue.

For many years, the U.S. Department of Defense did not to make the proper investments in maintaining and modernizing the facility. Failure to complete the modernization efforts begun after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, might result in a failure of critical production capabilities at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant sometime in the future that could place the national security of the United States and its combat forces at risk during a time of war.

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Part 9: The steps that need to be taken to modernize the Radford complex

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(Daniel Goure is vice president of the Lexington Institute, an independent think tank in Arlington, Va.)

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(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)