NSWC Corona designs lifesaving 3D-printable safety clip for explosive ordnance disposal

NSWC Corona designs lifesaving 3D-printable safety clip for explosive ordnance disposal

By Joaquin Vasquez-Duran, Naval Surface Warfare Center Corona Division

The Close Combat Engineering Team within Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Corona Division developed an advanced manufactured, 3D-printed safety device designed to save the lives of service members responsible for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD).

Engineering Technician Samuel Larter and Engineer Darren Mansour created the Submunition Clip, a low cost, printable safety device that will prevent accidental detonations during EOD procedures. The innovation earned the team a Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Excellence in Safety Award for fiscal year 2025. The safety clip was recently filed for a provisional patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This opens up opportunities to work freely with industry and license production to companies.

By mitigating the extreme operational risks associated with unexploded ordnance, the submunition clip directly protects the joint force's most critical asset: the warfighter. The submunition clip works by mechanically locking the submunition's arming components in place, which prevents detonation. It provides a modernized solution to the time-consuming legacy procedure, which immobilizes the firing pin with epoxy or plaster, requires large amounts of expensive materials, and does not guarantee complete neutralization.

During the 1991 Gulf War, U.S. forces deployed high-explosive, anti-tank and anti-personnel M42 and M46 Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions, which were lightweight, fit in the palm of the hand, and easily tore through standard armored units. Clearance operations continue to this day.

Following Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, joint-force EOD teams launched Operation Desert Sweep, a massive ordnance clearance mission designed to clear the desert of unexploded ordnance. Then-Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Samuel Larter, an EOD technician who served with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, was involved in the cleanup of unexploded munitions in Kuwait and Iraq following the 1991 Gulf War.

"One of my teams in Karbala encountered and neutralized tens of thousands of these," Larter said. "Inside this thing is a shaped charge munition...it will easily penetrate rolled homogeneous steel armor. Inside is heavy steel embossed for fragmentation, and it breaks up into hundreds of little steel shards that are razor-sharp, coming at Mach speed."

Throughout his years of service, Larter experienced firsthand the dangers of munition disposal. For years, Larter pondered potential solutions to prevent unplanned detonations and save lives.

"I had the idea about something that could clip on the munition and keep it from moving," Larter said. "Then we had a group of new engineers come in a couple of years ago, and I explained it to Darren Mansour. Darren said, 'I could do that,' and he did."

After working closely with Larter to bring his idea to fruition, Mansour, a recent graduate from San Diego State University, designed the tool to protect EOD technicians in the field. While the tool itself is unassuming - its development and implementation were not.

"I wanted this to be 3D-printable, so they didn't have to wait for some supply chain to spin up. We could just have them print it themselves and they'd have plenty," Mansour said. "We can save the model online on an online database that has a bunch of other CAD models to print out."

Advanced manufacturing, often referred to as 3D printing, has revolutionized how the joint force produces critical equipment on demand. Larter noted this device could be implemented for other ordnance systems by replicating its functionality for similar explosives.

"There are hundreds of ordnance items that are similar to this that we could come up with a way to immobilize the firing train... and make it safe for transport," Larter said. "There's no limit to man's ingenuity."

"I just want to see this get out there so people can use it to save lives," Larter said.

NSWC Corona Division has provided analysis and assessment for the Navy since 1964. With expertise in gauging the Navy's warfighting capability, NSWC Corona is a leader in data, analytics, visualizations, digital environments, engineering, and leveraging technology to bridge and integrate the Navy's data silos - enabling informed decision-making by the warfighter. With more than 4,000 scientists, engineers, Sailors, technicians, and support staff, NSWC Corona is located in Norco, California, with two California detachments in Fallbrook and Seal Beach and personnel in 14 additional locations.

An accompanying video on this story is available on NSWC Corona's DVIDS page: