The Department of Defense’s (DoD) goal was to eliminate fluorinated compounds from firefighting formulations as soon as possible. Towards this end, projects were sought to demonstrate and validate more environmentally sustainable (fluorine-free) fire suppression alternatives against the current performance requirements outlined in MIL-PRF-24385F (SH) with interim amendment 3. The intent of this solicitation was to determine the maximum available performance using mature fluorine-free firefighting agents against the current military requirements and uses. The following considerations were of interest:

• Demonstration of fluorine-free fire suppression agents that can be utilized with the delivery mechanisms and rates specified in the current performance requirements noted above.
• Demonstration of fluorine-free fire suppression agents that utilize alternative delivery mechanisms or rates, but still meet other critical performance criteria. Of particular interest is examination of fluorine-free fire suppression agent compatibility with both aspirated and non-aspirated delivery methods.
• Evaluation of current test methodologies in MIL-PRF-24385F to determine minimum performance requirements needed to mitigate fires in operational environments or development of novel test methodologies for screening firefighting formulations for liquid pool fires.
• Evaluation of the impact that elevated ambient air temperatures have on the fire performance of fluorine-free firefighting agents and reference MILSPEC qualified AFFFs in order to address known concerns on the effectiveness of firefighting agents in equatorial environments.

Due to the expense of large scale testing, only fluorine-free fire suppression alternatives that demonstrated promise based on initial small scale testing (28 ft² and 50 ft² tests of the current MILSPEC) were of interest for large scale demonstrations. Information on the historical 1260 ft² pool fire test is available in Section 4.7.7.3 of MIL-F-24385B.

The materials and processes to be demonstrated/validated should have already been developed to at least a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 4, and the proposed project should have brought them to TRL 7 or higher. Alternative formulations should have been production level materials rather than laboratory batch level samples. Projects were asked to demonstrate producibility, defined as the ability to be produced in the near term to meet the current DoD airfield or shipboard use requirement.

Field testing in military relevant environments should have been included in the proposed project. Alternative formulations should have been compatible with generally used storage equipment (e.g., polyethylene) and piping (steel, copper-nickel, bronze alloys), while providing comparable corrosion rates to current AFFF. Formulations should have met requirements with fresh and salt water at multiple delivered concentrations. In addition, formulation stability should have been demonstrated. Proposals could have include approaches to demonstrate similar correlation between large and small scale fire tests with fluorine-free fire suppression alternatives, in lieu of large scale tests.

Proposals should have included an assessment of the human health and environmental impacts of proposed ingredients, formulations, and byproducts. This should have expanded on commonly used aquatic toxicity, chemical oxygen demand and biodegradability testing required in the MIL-PRF- 24385F. These proposals should have established a baseline lifecycle framework and identified the lifecycle inventory elements currently known, those to be investigated during the project, and those beyond the scope of the proposed work.

All projects should have involved at least one DoD organization as a funded co-performer that was considered a stakeholder for the intended application. Proposals should have also indicated the involvement of other DoD stakeholders at the consultant level and higher.

Funded projects will appear below as project overviews are posted to the website.