Supply depots are a type of

military installation A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and Military operation, operations. A military base always provides ...

used by

militaries A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

to store battlefield supplies temporarily on or near the

front lines A front line (alternatively front-line or frontline) in military terminology is the position(s) closest to the area of conflict of an Military, armed force's Military personnel, personnel and Military technology, equipment, usually referring to ...

until they can be distributed to military units. Supply depots are responsible for nearly all other types of

materiel Materiel or matériel (; ) is supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commerce, commercial supply chain management, supply chain context. Military In a military context, ...

, except

ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

. Supply depots are usually run by a

logistics officer A logistics officer is a member of an armed force or coast guard responsible for overseeing the support of an army, air force, marine corps, navy or coast guard fleet, both at home and abroad. Logistics officers can be stationary on military base ...

who is responsible for allocating supplies as necessary to units who request them. Due to their vulnerability, supply depots are often the targets of enemy raids. In more modern times, depots have been targeted by long range artillery, long-range

missiles A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor. Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a target; this u ...

, and

bomber aircraft A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strategic bombing is d ...

, due to the advantage that disrupted logistics can give to a

belligerent A belligerent is an individual, group, country, or other entity that acts in a hostile manner, such as engaging in combat. The term comes from the Latin ''bellum gerere'' ("to wage war"). Unlike the use of ''belligerent'' as an adjective meanin ...

force. Types of supply depots include base, station, forward, and reserve supply depots.

Ammunition dump

An ammunition dump, ammunition supply point (ASP), ammunition handling area (AHA) or ammunition depot is a

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

storage facility for live

and

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

. The storage of live ammunition and explosives is inherently hazardous. There is the potential for accidents in the unloading, packing, and transfer of ammunition. Great care is taken in handling these dangerous explosives so as not to harm personnel or nearby ammunition. Despite the intensive preventive measures they get, ammunition depots around the world suffer from non-combat fires and explosions. Although this is a rare occurrence, there are devastating consequences when it does happen. Usually, an ammunition depot experiencing even minor explosions in one of its sites/buildings is immediately evacuated together with surrounding civilian areas. Thus, all of the stored ammunition is left to detonate itself completely for days or weeks, with very limited attempts at

firefighting Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural fir ...

from a safe distance. If the ammunitions are

artillery shell A shell, in a modern military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary device, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military ...

s and other heavy types, the whole depot site affected is typically leveled.

Typical elements

The typical ammo dump will have several of the following elements: *A buffer zone or cleared area of at least several hundred feet (sometimes as much as ) surrounding the facility, in the event of an explosion. *Perimeter security, such as a

fence A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or net (textile), netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its ...

, to avoid casual access by unauthorized persons. *Guards equipped and in numbers relative to the potential threat from enemy forces. *Bunkers (sometimes referred to as igloos), or

magazines A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

, where ammunition is stored under lock and key. *Blast barriers (traverses), such as an earth

berm A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier (usually made of Soil compaction, compacted soil) separating areas in a vertical way, especially partway up a long slope. It can serve as a terrace road, track, path, a fortification line, a b ...

or buried pit, to divert the force of the blast (typically upward, but sometimes to the side) in case the ammunition detonates. *Safety distances are calculated between storage sites (magazines) and outside infrastructure to limit damage and set maximum holdings of net explosive content per site. *A loading area (transit building or area) for transferring stored ammunition to and from

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...

ship A ship is a large watercraft, vessel that travels the world's oceans and other Waterway, navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally disti ...

s, railway wagons, etc. *A flooding system in large facilities to put out a fire or prevent an explosion in a magazine. *An ammunition repair facility or workshop, or maintenance inspection (M&I) will be found in many ammunition facilities. This facility is used for the repair, breakdown, inspection, and manufacture of ammunition held within or brought to the depot. *A destruction area or demolition range used for the disposal by burning or detonation of defective, surplus, or obsolete ammunition and explosives. *A missile shop specialised in inspection and repair of missiles, and pre-assembly of missile type weapons before being sent to the front line.

Field sites

Ammunition dump as a term is more commonly ascribed to sites that store munitions "in the field" for imminent or immediate use. These are often targets for enemy artillery attack or air attack.

References

External links

International Ammunition Technical Guidelines
UN Office of Safe Disarmament *
Rapport OSPAR sur les munitions immergées – (Map page 9 for Europe an OSPAR zone) Overview of Past Dumping at Sea of Chemical Weapons and Munitions in the OSPAR Maritime Area, 2005

(pdf)
OSPAR
Rapport OSPAR / Évaluation 1998 – 2006 (see page 62 and more..)
{{Fortifications Ammunition dumps Military logistics Military installations

Ammunition dump

Typical elements

Field sites

See also

References

External links