One tool undergoing development is the Adaptable Miniature Initiation System Technology (AMIST)— a multipoint system designed for initiating explosive warheads. A key goal of the AMIST program effort is to ensure the developed system incorporates highly accurate and precise timing between fire points. Precision multipoint initiation allows the warhead designer to develop a weapon for which the detonation front is directly controllable via the initiation sequence of fire points within the explosive fill. The resulting warhead can bias the directional path of its fragments and thus increase the energy focused towards the selected target.

Not only does AMIST have enormous potential to meet the demands for future dual-role munitions, it is also a very reliable and safe initiation system. Each fire point utilizes an exploding foil initiator (EFI) to detonate an insensitive secondary explosive. The in-line (no moving parts) nature of EFIs increases their reliability over out-of-line initiation systems.Likewise, EFI fire points increase the safety factor for two main reasons: (1) firing an EFI requires a very high-voltage pulse with a specific shape, and (2) detonating the secondary explosive requires a very high-pressure shock. Consequently, inadvertent detonation is extremely unlikely.

In July 2004, AFRL researchers conducted AMIST Configuration I (see Figure 1 on previous page) proof-of-concept tests at the Advanced Warhead Experimentation Facility (AWEF), (Eglin Air Force Base, Florida) to prove that a multipoint initiation system comprising relatively inexpensive initiators could successfully operate in an explosive fill with precision timing. The test article consisted of a planar array of AMIST-controlled fire points located on the backside of a highexplosive disc. Researchers performed the tests using both simultaneous fire point detonation and individual, temporally distributed fire point detonations. Using streak and highspeed cameras, they recorded the detonation breakout on the front surface of the disc to verify the two distinct initiation sequences.

Approximately a year later, the team used AMIST Configuration I to support Fuel Air Explosive (FAE) testing at the AWEF. The goal of these tests was to determine the feasibility of directing an explosive blast within an FAE cloud via strategic placement and detonation of multiple initiators. The test setup consisted of an enclosed configuration of FAEs with several fire points arranged on the outer surface of the enclosure. Researchers recorded the test events with high-speed video cameras and pressure sensors. The tests proved the viability of detonating an FAE cloud using a multipoint initiation system.