New Gun Propellant with CL-20

A new propellant was designed with CL-20 as main energetic component, Force 1253 J/g and Combustion Temperature <3700 K. The mean mol. weight of reaction gases is 24.8 g/mol for this propellant type. The processing problems, continuous twin-screw extruder process or batch process, will be discussed for 7- or multi-perforated high energetic gun propellants especially using CL-20 as energetic solid. The safety tests, friction/impact sensitivity and chemical stability will be considered. The burning characteristics of the new gun propellant in the closed vessel at −40°C, +21°C and +50°C is explained. The CL-20 propellant will be compared with the JA 2 propellant. Test firing in a gun simulator, cal. 40 mm, shows the performance of the CL-20 propellant compared with the RDX formulation. The temperature coefficient of these propellants is pointed out. The result is a safe processed CL-20 propellant with high performance which can be used for further gun firing tests.