Click here to read the newest report on aging of underwater munitions

Funded by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP), this project seeks to observe and characterize the visual and structural changes that have occurred to munitions as a result of aging in an underwater environment. Little formal knowledge exists on the visual and structural changes to munitions as a result of aging in an underwater environment as well as details on what factors lead to those effects. By analyzing research and news reports of recovered ordnance and their component materials, as well as integrating those observations with previous age-related findings involving landmines, the research team set out to establish a framework of subsequent implications for the Department of Defense’s Munitions Response efforts. The hypothesis for this project is that many of the degradation effects seen with munitions on land will be translatable to underwater munitions, while some are unique to underwater contexts.

The project’s primary objective is to understand the impacts of the underwater environment on munitions as a means to identify the residual risk these munitions pose, so people undertaking detection and clearance efforts can reliably assess operational risk and make informed decisions. The work also has implications for prioritizing clearance tasks and assessing effectiveness of particular detection systems in specific conditions, all of which, in turn, can affect cost-effectiveness of underwater remediation operations. The effort is a collaboration between the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR), Fenix Insight Ltd, and James Madison University (JMU). The project team consists of:

• Suzanne Fiederlein, PhD (Principal Investigator) / Nicole Neitzey (Co-Principal Investigator), JMU CISR
• Colin King (Lead Co-Performer), Fenix Insight
• Phil Halford (Field Operator), Fenix Insight
• JMU Faculty Researcher Advisory Board (with area(s) of expertise relevant to the project):
  • Harold Butner, PhD (Physics)
  • Chiara Elmi, PhD (Geology)
  • Ronald Raab, PhD (Biology/WMDs)
  • Dhanuska Wijesinghe, PhD (Environmental Science)

• Read an article about this project from Issue 28.2 of The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction, "Studying the Effects of Aging on Under Water Munitions"
• View or download the poster presented on this study: "Understanding Effects of Biofouling and Corrosion on Underwater Munitions" (pdf)
• View or download the SERDP Underwater Munitions Study handout (pdf)

List of aging studies conducted by CISR and Fenix-Insight:

• Study to Understand the Effects of Biofouling and Corrosion on Underwater Munitions: Implications for Risk Management and Resource Allocation (2024)
• Guide to the Ageing of Explosive Ordnance in the Environment (2023)
• The Effects of Ageing on Colombian 'Shoe Polish' Mines (2020)
•  Study of the Effects of Aging on Landmines (2010)
• Scoping Study of the Effects of Aging on Landmines (2009)