Destroying Cluster Munitions Stockpiles: the Italian Experience

Presentation by Palma D’Ambrosio, Deputy Permanente Representative of Italy to the Conference on Disarmament

ITALY and the CCM• The Republic of Italy signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008, ratified

it on 21 September 2011, and the Convention entered into force for the Country on 1March 2012.

• Under Article 3 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Italy was required to declare anddestroy all stockpiled cluster munitions under its jurisdiction and control as soon as possible,

but no later than 1 March 2020.• Law No. 95 mandated the destruction of Italy’s stockpile of cluster munitions, including the

expenditure of €8.5 million.

• We completed our stockpile destruction by October 2015, so withalmost 5 years in advance of the deadline.

What we destroyed

• Prior to destruction activities, Italy

possessed a total of 4,963munitions and 2,849,979 sub-munitions, as listed in the followingtable.

Type Quantity of munitions Quantity of sub-munitions

Destruction completed

BL-755 cluster bombs, each containing 147 Mk-1 sub-munitions

414 60,858 16 April 2011

Mk-20 Mod-0 Rockeye bombs, each containing 247 Mk-118 sub-

munitions

556 137,332 16 November 2011

MGM-52 Lance missiles, each containing 822 M74 sub-munitions

40 32,880 11 July 2012

Mk-20 Mod-11 Rockeye bombs, each containing 247 Mk-118 sub-

munitions

59 14,573 31 December 2013

M26 MLRS rockets, each containing 644 M77 DPICM sub-munitions

3,894 2,604,336 31 October 2015

Total 4,963 2,849,979

Who destroyed? • The demilitarization operations of our stockpiles were carried out by AGENZIA

INDUSTRIE DIFESA (AID).• The Agenzia Industrie Difesa (AID) is a public-sector body established with a view to

rationalizing and modernizing some industrial plants of the MoD (Law Decree 300/99).• It is an agency operating according to industrial criteria, under the supervision of the

Ministry of Defense.• AID’s organizational structure is composed of five Business Units:

- Explosives and ammunition- Naval Activities- Land and air transport- Chemical-pharmaceutical institute- Dematerialization

The Explosives and ammunition Unitoperates three plants:

BaianoFontana LiriNoceto

M26 Rocket• M26 is the basic MLRS rocket. It is armed with 644 M77 DPICM (Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional

Munitions) anti-personnel/anti-materiel grenades, which are dispersed over the target in mid-air anddetonate on impact.

• Manufactured by the USA firm Lockheed Martin, MLRS or the Multiple Launch RocketSystem is a rocket artillery system. The system launcher supports two pods, each housing six M26

rockets capable of being fired in rapid succession to a range of around 40km.

Components of a M26• Warhead 644 M77 sub-munitionsEach sub-munitions is made up of:- One fuse.- One copper liner .- One steel body that contains 30 grof explosive. A center core buster, which

contains 670 gr of explosives.

• Rocket motor Motor itself Igniter and FRRD

• Fuse(Remote Settable Fuse M445 - 1 grof explosive devices)

Flow ChartStorage facilities

POD transport to Noceto by Italian Army

Extracting the rocket from the

POD and Separating the warhead from

the rocket motor

Cutting and separating the rocket motor

from the warhead (Waterjet

technology)

Scrap metal recovery

Dismantling the warhead and Removing sub-

munitionsDestruction of Rocket

Motor propellant in the Static Kiln

Cutting and destroying the fuse Removing the copper liner

Destruction of sub-munitions in the Tunnel kiln

Flashing of copper liner in the kiln

Copper Scrap Storage

Scarp Copper disposal/reuse

Demilitarization/1• Extracting the Rocket from

the pod (FIG. 1,2,3).

• Cutting and Separating the rocket motor from the warhead (FIG. 4).

• Removing FRRD and Fuse from the Rocket (FIG.5).

As a final result of this stage, we have:- Fuses, FRRDs and igniters

(explosive devices) ready for thermo-destruction

- Warheads and rocket motors to be submitted to further operations

FIG.1 FIG.2

FIG.5FIG. 4FIG.3

Demilitarization/2• Dismantling the warhead

removal of the central core buster and extraction of M77 sub-munitions (FIG.6).

• Separation of the Fuses and removal of copper liners from sub-munitions (FIG.7).

• Explosive (contained in the steel case) is ready for destruction.

FIG.6

FIG.7

Demilitarization/3• The rocket motor is opened and cut

into different pieces thanks to water-jet technology (using high-pressure water and abrasive sand) (FIG.8,9).

• Solid propellant is extracted and reduced into pieces (FIG. 10,11).

• Solid propellant ready for thermo-destruction (FIG. 12).

FIG.8 FIG.9

FIG.10 FIG.11 FIG.12

Demilitarization/4Thermo-destruction Plant:

- Tunnel Kiln (used for explosive contained in M77 sub-munitions).

- Static Kiln (used for Central Core Busters,

Igniters and Rocket Motor propellant).

- Rotary Kiln (used for Fuses and FRRD).

- Abatement systemThermo-destruction line system for sub-munitions

Challenge 1/What’s after?1) Recovery, Recycling and Reuse• Scrap copper obtained from copper liners and scrap metals from the

warhead rocket motor and sub-munitions

2) Pollution control system (2 examples):

• Water used in the process related to rocketmotor this water is collected and filtered in appropriate facility, withthe aim to separate the solid part (abrasive sand and explosive sludge)from the liquid part (which contains oxidants). The solid part is destroyed inthe Static Kiln

• Thermo-destruction plant this plant is equipped with asystem for gas emission abatement.

The system continuosly measures emissions, which allows for real-timemonitoring and recording of emitted pollutants.

Example of Hermetic container for dust and ashes

from abatement system

Challenge 2/Safety and Physical Security

Strict implementation of the Italian legislation on the protection of

workers’ health and safety

The decommissioning/destruction techniques we applied for explosives

are an industrial demilitarization process No OP/OD

Implementation of all relevant quality management standards

Exstensive use of remote-control technology, which ensures the

safety of human operators in the most dangerous stages of the

process.

Lesson Learned1. Strong political will and civil society monitoring.

1. Significant financial resources invested in the process (8,5 million euros).

1. Availability of latest technology and up-to-date plants on the national territory.

1. Particular institutional structure of the entity which carried out the demilitarization: market-oriented, open to international competition but under the overall supervision of MoD.

THANK YOU!