Status and Development Trend of Palletizing and Assembly of Ammunition for U.S. Ammunition (2)

3 New Trends in U.S. Military Ammunition Pallet Packaging

In order to meet the development needs of future wars, combined with the ammunition packaging problems exposed in the recent Gulf War, Kosovo War, Afghanistan War and Iraq War, the U.S. military ammunition palletization package will undergo the following improvements.

3.1 Development and adoption of new packaging materials

The U.S. military recently proposed the goal of reducing the weight of ammunition packaging by 40%, reducing volume by 30%, and at the same time reducing the characteristics of battlefield waste and signals. Under the premise of meeting the protective performance materials, to achieve this goal, it is necessary to use new packaging materials with light weight and good protective performance in the ammunition packaging. According to reports, the United States is studying a new type of composite material for packaging, which has the properties of steel, and its weight is a fraction of that of steel, which can greatly reduce the weight of ammunition trays. At the same time, the U.S. military has put forward new requirements for pallets such as anti-explosion packaging, high-functional packaging, anti-static packaging, anti-electromagnetic packaging, anti-infrared packaging, and radiation protection packaging. Moisture and rust-proof new materials, conductive materials, photochemical functional materials, nanomaterials, stealth materials, multi-purpose camouflage protective materials, and various protection methods and technologies are expected to be used in the packaging of ammunition.

3.2 Using Radio Frequency Card Technology

In order to quickly and accurately know the details of the ammunition inside, without opening the ammunition tray package, the U.S. military uses two-dimensional and even three-dimensional bar code, radio frequency, and other information technologies for the ammunition packaging tray. The transparency of the ammunition contained therein has been greatly enhanced, and the rapid protection capability of ammunition has been improved, making it easier to find the required ammunition in piles of ammunition. In the Iraq war, the US military developed an automated bill-of-entry system based on radio frequency card technology to be put into use for the first time in logistic support. At present, the U.S. Defense Department is working to promote the use of laser memory cards, radio frequency identification tags, smart cards, and bar code technologies for logistic material support.

3.3 Perfect Pallet Shipping System

In order to further improve the maneuverability of ammunition protection and meet the needs of the operational efficiency of the ammunition distribution system, the U.S. military is proceeding to develop an enhanced palletizing and loading system (PLS). The system consists of 1 M1074 or M1075 truck, 1 M1076 trailer and 2 detachable shelves (M1077). There is a supporting hydraulic loading and unloading system on the truck, which can complete the task of loading and unloading the ammunition trays and shelves. Therefore, no other loading and unloading equipment is required at the departure and destination. This greatly increases the self-loading capacity and large transport capacity of the ammunition distribution system, making it the best platform for transporting ammunition anywhere on the battlefield.

3.4 Looking for a new packaging structure

In order to simplify the work of pallet assembly and packaging of ammunition, the U.S. military has made bold explorations on the structural improvement of the assembly pallets. For example, the 120mm tank ammunition new packaging is to fix the steel cylinder packaging container on the steel tray, and can take out the ammunition in the next step without destroying the tray packaging tape, and can refuel the two tanks at the same time. It takes 33 minutes to use an old wooden case to fully reload a M1 tank, and it takes only 14 minutes to use the new tray for two tanks. Due to the improvement of packaging, the feeding time H is greatly reduced.

At present, the combined design of the U.S. military's drop tray and supply system is listed as a development goal, that is, it can quickly supply "push-type weapons" without damaging the tray assembly.

3.5 To achieve full visibility of the ammunition protection system

In order to monitor the ammunition in transit, the U.S. has extensively used the Global Positioning System (GPS) for universal ammunition, missiles, and other logistical material support. The Ammunition Movable Distribution System (MOADS), Pallet Shipping System (PLS), and Global Positioning The system (cPS) is combined with a small radio transceiver, and a "transportation tracking system is installed for many trucks, and an automatic cargo order system is installed on the container so that the protection system and the combat system can timely and accurately grasp the security unit, the transportation vehicle, and The specific location of the materials to be transported and the consumption of ammunition carried is known, and the list of contents can be accurately known without opening the box.The US Army pilots can report their position and status at any time through GPS receivers and satellite communication systems. The headquarters can also issue commands to change the destination at any time to the driver in transit, achieving full visibility of battlefield protection and greatly improving the delivery efficiency of ammunition.

4 Enlightenment from PLA's Ammunition Tray Packaging

Palletized packaging of ammunition is an inevitable trend of ammunition protection in high-tech warfare, and is one of the important topics for the mechanization and informationization of our military. Compared with the U.S. military, our ammunition collection and packaging is in an initial stage of exploration and initiation. The system is not perfect, policies and regulations are lacking, the theoretical system has not yet been formed, and professionals are lacking. Drawing on the experience of the US military and combining with the reality of our military, our military's ammunition tray packaging should first focus on the following aspects:

1) Establish as soon as possible a clear and well-structured management system covering the management, production, storage, and security departments of ammunition at all levels; 2) Establish a team of professionals dedicated to the research, management, and technical development of ammunition palletized packaging; 3 ) Increase the theoretical research on the PLA's ammunition palletized packaging, establish a relatively complete theoretical system and policies and regulations, and formulate relevant standards and norms that meet our military's reality as soon as possible; 4) increase the research and technology development of ammunition tray packaging 5) In the production and storage of new ammunition, we will actively promote the use of palletized packaging technology, strengthen the application of new technologies and new products in ammunition tray packaging, and realize the leapfrog development of ammunition pallet packaging.

Source: "Packaging Engineering" Li Wenyi Tian Chunlei Li Liangchun Ordnance Engineering College