US Government As Represented by the Secretary of the Army

Christopher Mulligan

Adam L Foltz

Andrew Littlefield

Joshua Root

Douglas Witkowski

A lubricant free firing weapon is provided having amorphous, solid, diamond-like carbon coating (DLC) containing sp3, sp2 carbons and hydrogen bonded to the metallic operating parts. Such firing weapons may further include physical modifications to the bolt carrier rails to enhance the expulsion of sand/dust on the bolt carrier under extreme environments. Also provided herein are plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition processes for producing such lubricant free weapons having coat thicknesses of 1 &#x3bc;m-25 &#x3bc;m which allows for reliable operation under all environmental conditions including extreme environments such as hot/cold and sand/dust without the need for lubrication.

Firing weapons bonded with diamond-like carbon solid and methods for production thereof

A lightweight mortar tube is presented herein having at least three layers: (1) a first inner bore facing layer comprised of a metal having a melting point greater than 800&#xb0; C.; (2) a second thermal barrier layer comprised of a ceramic material attached to the first layer, and (3) a third outer shell layer attached to the second layer comprising of fiber reinforced composite material where the composite material is either a polymer, metal or ceramic. All of the layers are cohesively integrated with each other into a seamless wall. The improved multi-layered mortar tube described herein is lighter, yet maintains the same performance standards as comparable steel-based mortar tubes.

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Mechanicville, NY, United States of America

Christopher Mulligan