Military cost

In economic terms, the cost of fuels does not include the externalities of health effects due to urban air pollution, oil spills, ground water contamination, the military cost of defending oil, and, most important, the potential risks of major climate change. Put another way, society has a very high discount rate—we discount any adverse effects that occur in the future. 

But the Sun King s successor, Louis XV, inherited the Sun King s two problems high military costs and an inefficient system of taxation. Neither problem was insurmountable, but Louis XV had no will to tackle them, which points up another weakness of absolute family rule If a leader chose to be indifferent, there is little that could be done. Little that is short of revolt, which is of course what happened. But before we describe the next reign of violence, let us look at the accomplishments of this period of peace. 

Table 17.6 Estimates of the annual military costs of securing petroleum (US billions)...

Banks A, Orisich M and Smith S (2008), The military cost of securing energy. The National Priorities Project, www.nationalpriorities.org/auxiliary/energy secu-rity/full rep ort. p df. 

Many compounds explode when triggered by a suitable stimulus however, most are either too sensitive or fail to meet cost and production-scale standards, requirements for safety in transportation, and storage stability. Propellants and explosives in large-scale use are based mosdy on a relatively small number of well-proven iagredients. Propellants and explosives for military systems are manufactured ia the United States primarily ia government owned plants where they are also loaded iato munitions. Composite propellants for large rockets are produced mainly by private iadustry, as are small arms propellants for sporting weapons. 

Only relatively few compounds can act as primary explosives and still meet the restrictive military and industrial requirements for reflabiUty, ease of manufacture, low cost, compatibiUty, and long-term storage stabiUty under adverse environmental conditions. Most initiator explosives are dense, metaHoorganic compounds. In the United States, the most commonly used explosives for detonators include lead azide, PETN, and HMX. 2,4,6-Triamino-l,3,5-triuitrobenzene (TATB) is also used in electric detonators specially designed for use where stabiUty at elevated temperatures is essential. 

One hquid in this class intended for aircraft engine use is described in military specification MIL-L-87100 for operation from +15 to 300°C. Limitations of this class of synthetics are pour points of +5°C and higher, relatively poor lubricity, and high cost of 265/L ( 1000 + /gal) (44). Polyphenyl ether greases are available with good radiation resistance for appHcations in the temperature range of +5 to 288°C. 

Synthetics are commonly employed only when their higher cost is justified by extreme temperatures or by need for special properties which caimot be achieved with petroleum greases. Severe temperature and operating requirements have led to a broad range of synthetic greases for military use (54). Comparison of typical temperature limits are given in Table 9. 

Parts made from fluoroelastomers ate used ia appHcations that justify their high cost, usually where the maintenance and replacement costs are high enough to offset the initial cost of the part. These include automotive appHcations such as valve stem seals, fuel injector components, radiator, crankcase and transmission seals, and carburetor needle tips. Numerous seals and gaskets in the marine, oilfield, and chemical processing industries employ fluoroelastomers. In addition, many hoses in the automotive and chemical industry are made entirely of fluoroelastomer compounds or have a veneer of the fluoroelastomer as a barrier exposed to the harsh environment. Seals and gaskets in military appHcations and the binder for flares and missile appHcations ate made with fluoroelastomers. 

With the Industrial Revolution, life became more complex but it was not until World War II that reliability engineering was needed to keep the complex airplanes, tanks, vehicles and ships operating. Of particular concern was the reliability of radar. Prior to this time equipment was known qualitatively to be reliable or unreliable. To quantify reliability requires collecting statistics on part failures in order to calculate the mean time to failure and the mean time to repair. Since then, NASA and the military has included reliability specifications in procurements thereby sustaining the collection and evaluation of data build statistical accuracy although it adds to the cost. 

The advent of advanced fiber-reinforced composite materials has been called the biggest technical revolution since the jet engine [1-4], This claim is very striking because the tremendous impact of the jet engine on military aircraft performance is readily apparent. The impact on commercial aviation is even more striking because the airlines stwitched from propeller-driven planes to all-jet fleets within the span of just a few years because of superior performance and lower maintenance costs. 

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