Pursuit Deterrent Munition Reserve-Cell Ammonia Battery Redesign Analysis
Abstract:
The M86 pursuit deterrent munition PDM went into full-scale production in early 1989. At this time a serious design flaw was discovered in the electronics system of the mine. the reserve ammonia battery in the system had a serious performance problem at cold temperatures. This performance problem had not been apparent on the M692M731 area denial artillery munition ADAM, a ballistically-launched antipersonnel land mine that was later adapted for hand- emplacement and subsequently evolved into PDM. A thorough engineering analysis, involving a Taguchi design of experiments, was necessary to determine how the battery could be improved to solve the performance problems encountered. This report discusses this engineering analysis, in detail, from the development of the PDM until the incorporation of the corrective fix for the system.