TDA RESEARCH, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N162-077

Description

Sealed suppressors are routinely used by the U.S. Marines, both in the field and on practice ranges. Suppressors are critical not only to help obscure the location of a sniper, but also to protect the shooter from hearing damage. Sealed suppressors are susceptible to significant fouling that degrades their accuracy and that can lead to failure of the suppressor, particularly when they are used at high firing rates. Unfortunately, because the units do not disassemble, it is currently impractical to clean them to return them to a state that is suitable for use. For this reason, suppressors must be replaced frequently even when they are otherwise serviceable. Because suppressors are expensive, a reliable and high volume method of cleaning them is required, both to save the funds that would otherwise be spent on replacement suppressors, and so that they can be adopted more broadly by the USMC. TDA proposes to develop an inexpensive and environmentally friendly method of cleaning rifle suppressors that will not only work for the M40 sniper rifle suppressors but that will also be compatible with other ammunition calibers. The TDA cleaning kit will be made from COTS items, and it will restore the performance of heavily