Munitions Safety Information Analysis Center
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| Formation | 1991 |
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| Type | NATO project |
| Headquarters | Bruxelles, Belgium |
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Membership
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Official language
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English French |
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MSIAC Steering Committee Chairman
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Dr Brian Fuchs |
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MSIAC Project Manager
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Dr Michael W. Sharp |
| Website | http://www.msiac.nato.int |
Munitions Safety Information Analysis Center, also referred to as MSIAC, is a NATO project funded directly by its member nations, not all of which are NATO members. There are currently 13 member nations: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States.
On May 26, 1988 the NATO nations France, Netherlands, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States based on a Memorandum of Understanding decided to create Pilot-NIMIC (NIMIC = NATO Insensitive Munitions Information Center). The organization was intended to assist national and international programs to develop insensitive munitions (IM). The idea for NIMIC was born at the NATO AC/310 “Workshop on Insensitive Munitions Information Exchange” in 1986 and was actively supported by the Chairman of AC/310, IGA M. Thévenin and Principal US Member of AC/310, Dr. R. Derr. The founding of this organization was promoted by former NATO Group AC/310 (Safety and Suitability for Service of Munitions and Explosives) in an effort to support munitions developers located in NATO countries. The PILOT-NIMIC office was located at Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) of Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, Maryland, USA. The initial team comprised a project manager and five technical specialists - basically the same structure MSIAC shows today (see below). Soon after its foundation Canada joined the project in late 1989.
After its first successful two years of operation the project moved to NATO Headquarters Brussels and officially became NIMIC on May 1, 1991. Spain and Australia entered the project in 1994, Portugal and Italy became members in 1995. In 1998 Portugal decided to leave NIMIC. Denmark entered the project 1999 but left soon after in 2004.
In May 2003 the Conference of National Armament Directors (CNAD) Ammunition Safety Group (AC/326) (CASG) was formed by a merger of former AC/258 Group of Experts on the Safety Aspects of Transportation and Storage of Military Ammunition and Explosives and the former AC/310 Group of Safety and Suitability for Service of Munitions and Explosives. With a given broader emphasis on Munitions Safety it was decided to modify NIMIC's scope to take this change into account. Hence its transition to Munitions Safety Information Analysis Center (MSIAC) began with the Pilot MSIAC phase in Spring 2003. The successful transition was accomplished by late 2004 and MSIAC was officially operational on December 15, 2004. Germany finally entered the project in 2005. Belgium entered MSIAC in 2013.
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