Department of Defense Corrosion Program

Abstract

The purpose of this program is to develop a comprehensive capability to prevent and mitigate corrosion and its effects on Department of Defense (DoD) weapon systems and infrastructure. Corrosion severely impacts system and facility reliability, readiness and safety, and consumes a disproportionate amount of material and labor hours for repair and treatment of corrosion damaged systems and facilities. The cost of corrosion across the DoD is currently in excess of $19 billion per year (down from approximately $22 billion in Fiscal Year 2007). The impacts and costs are so pervasive that Congress enacted Public Law 107-314 Sec: 1067 Prevention and mitigation of corrosion of military infrastructure and equipment [portions codified in 10 U.S.C. 2228]. This legislation requires that DoD develop a long-term corrosion strategy to include establishment of a coordinated R&D program with transition plans. The legislation also requires that DoD designate a responsible official or organization to oversee a corrosion prevention and mitigation program. The responsibilities of the Director, Corrosion Policy and Oversight and the Military Department Corrosion Prevention and Control Executives were further delineated in DODI 5000.67 "Prevention and Mitigation of Corrosion on Military Equipment and Infrastructure" of 01 February 2010. A major responsibility of the Director, Corrosion Policy and Oversight (CPO) is to select high payoff research and development projects that promise to prevent or mitigate corrosion and significantly reduce the total cost of corrosion along with the adverse impact of corrosion effects on weapon system and infrastructure operational capability. This office chartered a Corrosion Prevention and Control Integrated Product Team (CPCIPT) that has selected and funded Operation and Maintenance projects for each Fiscal Year (FY) commencing in FY 2005. However, the DoD CPCIPT has determined that the biggest payoff in corrosion prevention and mitigation will come from investing in up-front prevention technologies, materials, and processes to leverage downstream cost avoidance in corrosion maintenance and repair. Likewise, development of improved predictive and prognostic techniques can eliminate unseen failure and reduce unnecessary maintenance and repair costs. Thus, technology development, demonstration, and transition projects have been selected and funded since FY 2006. These projects address critical corrosion issues in both Department of Defense systems and infrastructure. A number of low-risk, high-payoff technologies promise to vastly improve the service life and significantly reduce the maintenance costs and improve the availability and safety of weapon systems and facilities essential to maintain support for the warfighter. A total of 85 projects have been completed including a follow-on assessment of their return on investment estimates. The overall return on investment as estimated by the Military Departments is 17.2:1. In addition, the University Corrosion Collaboration (now the Technical Corrosion Collaboration (TCC)) was formed as collaboration between universities, Armed Forces Academies and DoD laboratories focused on corrosion technology research and development, and building a workforce with corrosion expertise for the DoD. Research areas include performance prediction, assessment of finishes, surface engineering, and product support. This advanced corrosion research has been ongoing since FY 2008 and performed by teams from TCC participating organizations.

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Document Details

Document Type
R2 Budgetary Justification
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2021
Source ID
0604016D8Z_4_0400_PB_2021
Change Summary Explanation
Service Agency Name
Office of the Secretary Of Defense

Entities

Organizations

  • Office of the Secretary of Defense

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Air Force
  • Contracts
  • Corrosion
  • Corrosion Inhibition
  • Costs
  • Defense Systems
  • Department Of Defense
  • Engineering
  • Law
  • Maintenance
  • Maintenance Costs
  • Materials
  • Military Equipment
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Training
  • Weapon Systems

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Life Cycle Cost Analysis
  • Materials Science and Engineering.

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