Primary Explosives

Abstract Primary explosives, unlike secondary explosives, show a very rapid transition from combustion (or deflagration) to detonation and are considerably sensitive to small stimuli, such as impact, friction, electrostatic discharge, and heat. Primary explosives generate either a large amount of heat or a shockwave, which makes the transfer of the detonation to a less sensitive propellant or secondary explosive possible. 1 Primary explosives are key components in detonators and primers, which are the initiating elements to many military items such as small, medium, and large caliber munitions, mortars, artillery, warheads, etc. The two most common military primary explosives are lead azide and lead styphnate. Lead based compounds such as these have well‐established hazards to health and the environment. To overcome these concerns, in common U.S. Army detonators and primers lead azide was replaced with DBX‐1 copper(I) nitrotetrazolate, recently developed by Pacific Scientific Energetic Materials Company and the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center at Indian Head. Further, in order to minimize the dangers to personnel and equipment associated with synthesizing and handling primary explosives, a dedicated, remote‐operated facility for the synthesis and testing of primary explosives has been developed.