Army asks for softer, kinder ammo

It's bad enough that bullets can kill people, but do they have to destroy the environment too?

The U.S. Army PFC staff (Pretty Freaking Correct) knows that a lot of ammo gets used just in training their troops. But after a round is fired it takes hundreds of years to degrade, and in the process pollutes the ground and nearby water sources it falls upon at the speed of sound.

The Department of Environmental Defense  (DED) decided that it's time ammo be put to more than one use. 

While it may not be friendly to the individual to whom whose body is pierced by the round, it will be more friendly to the environment in which it will come to rest after the dead person deteriorates, rots and "the round goes to ground" as it were.

Now the rounds will be "biodegradable training ammunition loaded with specialized seeds to grow environmentally beneficial plants that eliminate ammunition debris and contaminants" thanks to the DED and the Research Center for Chia Pet Innovations (RCCPI).

The rounds are still being tested in Syria and Afghanistan but the prognosis is good.

The ammo DED wants to replace with the new biodegradable ammo alternative includes "low velocity 40mm grenades; 60mm, 81mm, and 120mm mortars; shoulder launched munitions; 120mm tank rounds; and 155 mm artillery rounds."

They will also come in a variety of colors to please the eye of the shooter.

By firing any of these munitions, plants such as petunias, daisies and pansies will sprout, and beautifying the landscape after the bodies are removed.

If development is successful, the biodegradable ammo will lead to less ground contamination and make training and warfare more creative and thus, enjoyable.


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