The Office of Naval Research is offering a grant for Joint Service Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Applied Research.

ONR has a need to develop and demonstrate technologies to detect/locate, access, diagnose/identify, and render safe/neutralize Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and unexploded ordnance (UXO) to support the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) mission.

The EOD mission is to render safe ordnance, including conventional and unconventional, improvised, chemical, biological, and nuclear IEDs and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). It includes land and underwater location, identification, render-safe, and recovery (or disposal) of foreign and domestic ordnance. EOD conducts demolition of hazardous munitions, pyrotechnics, and retrograde explosives using detonation and burning techniques. The EOD mission is unique from the role of other forces, such as combat engineers that support movement of US and allied forces.

An IED is a device placed in an improvised manner incorporating destructive, lethal, noxious, pyrotechnic, or incendiary chemicals to destroy, incapacitate, harass, or distract. It can include military stores, but normally is devised from non-military components.