FOX-7 or 1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethylene (DADNE) is an

insensitive high explosive Insensitive munitions are munitions that are designed to withstand stimuli representative of severe but credible accidents. The current range of stimuli are shock (from bullets, fragments and shaped charge jets), heat (from fires or adjacent the ...

compound. It was first synthesized in 1998 by the

Swedish National Defence Research Institute Swedish National Defence Research Institute ( sv, Försvarets forskningsanstalt, FOA) was a Swedish government agency in defense research existing from 1945 to 31 December 2000. It was amalgamated with the National Aeronautical Research Institute ...

(FOS).Bemm, U.; Östmark, H. (1998) "1,1-Diamino-2,2-dinitroethylene: a Novel Energetic Material with Infinite Layers in Two Dimensions". ''Acta Cryst'' C54: 1997-1999. . The name FOX-7 is derived from the acronym of the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), with the ''I'' replaced by an ''X'' to indicate an explosive, as in RDX and HMX. FOX-7 is similar to the insensitive chemical compound

TATB TATB, triaminotrinitrobenzene or 2,4,6-triamino-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene is an aromatic explosive, based on the basic six-carbon benzene ring structure with three nitro functional groups (NO2) and three amine (NH2) groups attached, alternating aroun ...

, which is a

benzene Benzene is an organic chemical compound with the molecular formula C6H6. The benzene molecule is composed of six carbon atoms joined in a planar ring with one hydrogen atom attached to each. Because it contains only carbon and hydrogen atoms ...

ring compound with three

amino In chemistry, amines (, ) are compounds and functional groups that contain a basic nitrogen atom with a lone pair. Amines are formally derivatives of ammonia (), wherein one or more hydrogen atoms have been replaced by a substituent ...

and three

nitro group In organic chemistry, nitro compounds are organic compounds that contain one or more nitro functional groups (). The nitro group is one of the most common explosophores (functional group that makes a compound explosive) used globally. The nitr ...

s. FOX-7 has a two-carbon backbone rather than a

ring, but the

and

nitro Nitro may refer to: Chemistry *Nitrogen, a chemical element and a gas except at very low temperatures, with which many compounds are formed: **Nitro compound, an organic compound containing one or more nitro functional groups, -NO2 **Nitroalkene, ...

groups have similar effects in both cases according to published reports on the sensitivity and chemical decay processes of FOX-7. FOX-7 is stoichiometrically identical (but structurally unrelated) to the explosives and propellants RDX and HMX, and therefore produces the same quantity of gas per gram, a key determinant of performance. By various measures, such as dropped-weight impact, friction force, temperature of ignition, and response to heating under confinement, it is less sensitive than the benchmark explosive RDX, while having performance slightly greater than the same. Its explosive properties appear extremely favorable; in addition to its insensitive properties, the detonation velocity of mixtures of 80% FOX-7 plus binders is as high as

Composition B Composition B, colloquially Comp B, is an explosive consisting of castable mixtures of RDX and TNT. It is used as the main explosive filling in artillery projectiles, rockets, land mines, hand grenades and various other munitions. It was also ...

, and nearly pure FOX-7 based plastic bonded explosives are slightly superior to RDX. FOX-7 has been calculated to have a

detonation velocity Explosive velocity, also known as detonation velocity or velocity of detonation (VoD), is the velocity at which the shock wave front travels through a detonated explosive. Explosive velocities are always faster than the local speed of sound in t ...

of 8,870 m/s. Charges composed of

EVA Eva or EVA may refer to: * Eva (name), a feminine given name Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment * Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in t ...

-coated FOX-7 granules pressed into pellets of 92% theoretical maximum density were found to have a detonation velocity of 7730 m/s, compared to 7630 m/s for a similar RDX/EVA composition, and 5% greater detonation pressure. FOX-7 is produced as of 2018 by EURENCO

Bofors AB Bofors ( , , ) is a former Swedish arms manufacturer which today is part of the British arms concern BAE Systems. The name has been associated with the iron industry and artillery manufacturing for more than 350 years. History Located ...

AB of Sweden, having been made in batches up to 7kg in 2001. In laboratory-scale synthesis, material costs were calculated at ~AU$3000/kg (prices in 2002 AUD) using prices from research chemical suppliers. At that time, FOX-7 could be purchased from NEXPLO Bofors AB at SEK3200/kg. Due to its small-scale production, the cost of FOX-7 is relatively high. However, the production is based on commercial starting material and the synthesis is uncomplicated.US Patent 6312538 - Chemical compound suitable for use as an explosive, intermediate and method for preparing the compound FOX-7 is an attractive subject for research and development due to its combination of insensitivity and power. FOX-7 performs similarly to RDX, one of the most powerful explosives and propellants in use, unlike other insensitive high explosives under investigation, such as TATB, nitrotriazolone,

TEX Tex may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tex (nickname), a list of people and fictional characters with the nickname * Joe Tex (1933–1982), stage name of American soul singer Joseph Arrington Jr. Entertainment * ''Tex'', the Italian ...

, and 2,6-diamino-3,5-dinitropyrazine-1-oxide (LLM-105). Due to the need for less sensitive munitions, FOX-7 is being investigated at many military research centers, including in Australia, India, the USA, and Sweden.

References

Further reading