The Department of Defense recently made two awards totaling $5.1 million to Canadian Commercial Corporation and Estes Energetics. These awards, facilitated through the Defense Production Act Purchases (DPAP) office, in collaboration with the Joint Program Executive Office Armaments and Ammunition, will enable the recipients to demonstrate and subsequently establish a process for recrystallizing nitroguanidine (NQ), a key energetic. This effort supports the 2024 National Defense Industrial Strategy's objective to ensure the availability of raw materials to increase supply chain resilience and, in turn, support domestic production of critical weapon systems.
"These investments will ensure continued domestic availability of a critical energetic while a new U.S.-based manufacturing capability for NQ is established," said Dr. Laura Taylor-Kale, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy (ASD(IBP)).
The DPAP office and the Army are jointly funding the effort. Canadian Commercial Corporation, which is based in Ottawa, Ontario, was awarded $3.4 million for the effort, of which $2.9 million is DPA funding and $0.5 million is Army funding. Execution of this award will be completed by General Dynamics – Ordnance and Tactical Systems in Valleyfield, Canada. Estes Energetics, which is based in Penrose, Colorado, received $1.7 million for the effort, of which $1.1 million is DPA funding and $0.6 million is Army funding.
Demand for the solvent extruded triple base propellant and IMX explosives used in critical artillery systems has surged as a result of current global conflicts. One major production limitation for these materials is the requirement for large quantities of NQ, which are currently imported. With this DPA Title III funding, the award recipients will establish a recrystallization technology capable of reprocessing the large existing DoD inventory of NQ, thereby helping to mitigate the risk of supply chain issues stemming from NQ shortages.
"This important investment will ensure that production of weapon systems that use triple base propellant and advanced explosives, such as 155mm artillery rounds, is not disrupted while utilizing the DoD's reserves of NQ," added Mr. Anthony Di Stasio, Director of the Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) directorate within OASD(IBP).
These were two of the 70 awards, totaling $672 million, made by the DPAP program in Fiscal Year 2024. The DPAP office is overseen by the MCEIP directorate.
