Rocket fuel: US Army expanding ammonium perchlorate sources for artillery

Aerojet Rocketdyne provides solid rocket motor boosters and other products for ‘hypersonic’ weapons. (Aerojet Rocketdyne artist concept)

The US Army is in the midst of a massive effort to ramp up its production capacity for artillery, but will still have to contend with supply chains for the fuel that powers the in-demand rockets. Ammonium perchlorate (AP) – an oxidiser used in solid rocket fuels – is a crucial ingredient but can be difficult to source.

The number of approved sources for AP increased in recent years, US Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) spokesperson Jeff Jurgensen told Janes on 17 May. This comes as the demand for rockets in Ukraine has increased, and concerns about the supply chains for energetics materials have risen, experts said.

Earlier there was only one Department of Defense (DoD)-approved source of grade 1 AP (AP1) in the US, according to a report from the DoD Office of Inspector General (DoD IG) published in July 2020. AP1 is used in weapons employed by the army’s Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS), for example. DoD IG said AP1 is used in 16 weapons in total across the DoD.