The Military Wants Biodegradable Ammo That Turns Into Plants

[highwayman57]

Here's more "Green" nonsense from the U.S. Military: The Military Wants Biodegradable Ammo That Turns Into Plants

[Otto69]

Maybe it will freeze the enemy in place and turn them into instant forests!

[temperflash]

Well and good so long as the enemy remains biodegradable.
No doubt ISIS members are of more value as fertilizer than anything else.

When I was a kid I made a cannon from a piece of plumbing pipe and fired walnuts still in the hull using M80 firecrackers to propel them.
The old M80 could take a hand off so they drove those walnuts to great distances.
50+ years later the neighborhood down range is covered with walnut trees.

[LOBOREX]

Here's more "Green" nonsense from the U.S. Military: The Military Wants Biodegradable Ammo That Turns Into Plants

Did you actually read the article, here's a couple of lines from it (It's important to note that this is not ammunition that would be used in combat, but rather on training ranges here in the United States and friendly countries such as Germany, Italy and Japan. Ammunition used in combat is too important to tinker with, but at friendly training ranges where ammunition is expended for years and even decades, the issue of pollutant contamination is a real one.) Yeah those damn green lefties in the military with more green nonsense.

[highwayman57]

Here's more "Green" nonsense from the U.S. Military: The Military Wants Biodegradable Ammo That Turns Into Plants

Did you actually read the article, here's a couple of lines from it (It's important to note that this is not ammunition that would be used in combat, but rather on training ranges here in the United States and friendly countries such as Germany, Italy and Japan. Ammunition used in combat is too important to tinker with, but at friendly training ranges where ammunition is expended for years and even decades, the issue of pollutant contamination is a real one.) Yeah those damn green lefties in the military with more green nonsense.

As a matter of fact, I did read the full article before I posted about it here. And as far as the ammo being used only for training, it makes a great deal more sense for the military to train with the real thing, not some highly engineered junk that doesn't fully replicate the actual experience of using combat-grade ammunition.

As for my comment about "Green nonsense" and the military, this is only the latest in a long line of stuff that is "Green" at a tremendous waste of taxpayer dollars. For example, replacing lead bullets with ones made of harder, "non-polluting" metal causes accelerated barrel wear in weapons, leading to expensive replacement & repair of those weapons, and don't get me started about the extremely high cost of the Navy using biofuel for its ships and aircraft, instead of much more reasonably priced fossil fuels. All of this stuff is politically motivated to satisfy the desires of certain special interests, and we taxpayers bear the increased financial burden. Think about that for a while.

[LOBOREX]

The rules being what they are around these parts, stop me from giving you my opinion and certain facts about what i think constitutes a waste of tax dollars and what isn't. So I'll just leave it at any idea to try and curb the amount of s**t we leave on this planet on a daily basis seems like it should be worth a try. And since when is it only special interest groups who want clean air and clean food and clean land. And something besides a toxic wasteland to leave our kids and grand kids.

[Otto69]

Do you want Swamp Things? Because this is how you get Swamp Things

[temperflash]

Do you want Swamp Things? Because this is how you get Swamp Things

ROFLMAO
You got that right.

During WW2 they even used compressed air powered .177 BB firing replicas of the .30 machineguns in training.
In the late 50's through the 60's the USAF used Crosman CO2 powered replica revolvers firing lead pellets for primary training in handling the S&W .38 revolvers commonly issued to aircrew.
They also used a CO2 powered Crosman air rifle that had the general handling qualities of the M-1 Carbine.

Bazookas, recoiless rifles and light anti tank guns were fitted with the barreled actions of obsolete bolt action rifles using cartridges loaded to give the same trajectory as the real ammunition.

In the old days whenever live ammunition was used they sent out squads with big sacks to gather up all the spent cartridge cases, which were sent to factories to be recycled into fresh cases. They didn't let good quality brass go to waste if they could help it.

Iron core bullets were sometimes used for practice ammunition to conserve lead, and iron jackets were often used for practice ammunition to conserve copper.

Practice rifle grenades were inert and could be reused many times before being too damaged to fly properly.

Considering the burned and blasted wrecked vehicles littering gunnery ranges bio degradable ammunition is not going to make much of a dent.
Better to clear these sites on a rotating basis and send in metal reclamation teams with the proper equipment. The top soil could be bulldozed and run through sifters to remove thousands of tons of valuable metals to be recycled.