KINGSPORT, Tenn., Oct. 28 (UPI) — A facility to manufacture insensitive munitions at an Army ammunition plant in Tennessee is to be built by BAE Systems.
Construction of the Insensitive Munitions Weak Nitric Acid Recovery Facility at Holston Army Ammunition Plant is a major part of a multi-year effort to increase the production capacity of Insensitive Munition eXplosives, or IMX, which are designed to be more stable and safer to handle than conventional munitions.
The plant is operated by BAE Systems, which will conduct the construction under a contract modification worth $146.5 million.
“The construction of this facility is strategic in eliminating current IMX capacity constraints,” said Reed McPeak, vice president and general manager of BAE Systems Ordnance Systems, Inc. “Once operational, it will position BAE Systems and the Holston plant to meet current and future IMX demands, both domestically and abroad.”
The new facility will recycle spent nitric acid that is generated at the plant and provide strong nitric acid to produce a range of IMX fills, BAE Systems said.
Construction at the ammunition plant begins this month and will be completed in 2019.
