GINC Critical Technology
Advanced Materials & Manufacturing

Energetic Materials

The capacity to research, formulate and produce energetic materials, propellant and explosives chemistry, at the quality and scale national programmes require.

Capability group
Advanced Materials & Manufacturing
Domain
Critical Technology · Hard Power
Identifier
factbase.org/cap/XG4SE74C1K
Reference
Energetic material Wikipedia

Papers

4.9k

2020–2024

Paper growth

+18%

2020–24 on 2015–19

Patent families

3.1k

2020–2024

Filed abroad

9%

families in more than one office

In the framework

What the capability covers and what it leaves to others, and the indicators it will be measured by.

Bounds

Covers the chemistry and its production technology; munitions manufacture and magazine depth belong to National Security's sustainment and industrial capabilities, and explosives plants to Strategic Infrastructure.

Lineage

Carried from v0.0 (formerly Advanced explosives and energetic materials) with the same identifier; recast from a definition of energetic substances to the national chemistry-and-production capacity, with the weapons employment seam stated.

Indicators

  • research publication share in energetic materialsResearch
  • propellant and explosives production capacityPending

Research

Papers classified to the capability, by year and by the nation of their authors' institutions, 2020–2024. Read from the v0.0 research topic Advanced explosives and energetic materials.

Papers by year

The five leading nations, papers by year

Share of papers, 2020–2024

Of papers with a known author nation; 30% have none and are left out.

  1. 1China43.8%1,694 papers
  2. 2United States16.1%622 papers
  3. 3Russia6.8%263 papers
  4. 4India5.8%225 papers
  5. 5Germany2.9%113 papers
  6. 6France1.8%69 papers
  7. 7United Kingdom1.8%69 papers
  8. 8Egypt1.5%59 papers
  9. 9Poland1.4%54 papers
  10. 10South Korea1.3%50 papers

Leading institutions, 2020–2024

By fractional count: each paper divided among its authors' institutions.

  1. 1Nanjing University of Science and Technology300fractional papers
  2. 2Beijing Institute of Technology274fractional papers
  3. 3China Academy of Engineering Physics113fractional papers
  4. 4North University of China110fractional papers
  5. 5Purdue University West Lafayette83fractional papers
  6. 6Los Alamos National Laboratory72fractional papers
  7. 7Northwestern Polytechnical University64fractional papers
  8. 8Southwest University of Science and Technology55fractional papers
  9. 9Military Technical College45fractional papers
  10. 10Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München43fractional papers

Patents

Patent families by the nation of origin of their applicants and their earliest priority year, from the CPC and IPC classes the capability is read from. 2025 onwards is incomplete: families are published 18 months after priority.

Families by priority year

The five leading origins, families by year

640 applicants filed here in 2015–2024; the five largest held 8% of families (HHI 38 of 10,000: unconcentrated).

Share of families by origin, 2020–2024

  1. 1China82.1%2,507 families
  2. 2United States3.8%116 families
  3. 3South Korea3.1%96 families
  4. 4Russia1.8%55 families
  5. 5Japan1.6%50 families
  6. 6Germany1.3%41 families
  7. 7France1.0%32 families
  8. 8Australia0.4%13 families
  9. 9Türkiye0.4%13 families
  10. 10United Kingdom0.4%12 families

Applicants filing most internationally, 2015–2024

Families filed in more than one office, by applicant as the offices name them.

  1. 1ARIANEGROUP SAS22international families
  2. 2DAICEL CORP19international families
  3. 3BAE SYSTEMS PLC16international families
  4. 4EURENCO FRANCE14international families
  5. 5AGENCY DEFENSE DEV13international families
  6. 6HUBEI HANGPENG CHEMICAL POWER TECH CO LTD13international families
  7. 7EURENCO FRANCE SAS11international families
  8. 8AEROJET ROCKETDYNE INC9international families
  9. 9AUTOLIV ASP INC9international families
  10. 10DYNO NOBEL ASIA PACIFIC PTY LTD9international families

Classification read

  • C06B Explosive and thermic compositions and their manufacture · 83k documents
  • C06C Detonators, primers and fuses · 11.7k documents
  • C06D Propellant gas generation and smoke compositions · 11.9k documents

Shares inventions with

Capabilities whose classes the same families also fall in, by overlap (Jaccard).

Companies

50 companies in this capability, across 8 regions. The leading 12:

  1. 1Northrop GrummanLargest US producer of solid rocket propellants and motors (ex-Orbital ATK) and a leading military energetics producer at Bacchus and Allegany Ballistics Laboratory.Manufacture
  2. 2BAE SystemsOperates the US Army's Holston (RDX/HMX) and Radford (nitrocellulose and propellant) plants and UK energetics at Glascoed, and is a top international patent applicant in energetic materials.Operation
  3. 3RheinmetallEurope's largest propellant and explosives group through Nitrochemie (Switzerland/Germany), Rheinmetall Expal (Spain) and Rheinmetall Denel Munition (South Africa), with new TNT and nitrocellulose capacity under construction.Manufacture
  4. 4OricaWorld's largest supplier of commercial explosives (ammonium-nitrate emulsions, initiating systems) to mining and quarrying.Manufacture
  5. 5China North Industries Group (NORINCO Group)China's main state producer of military explosives, propellants and nitrocellulose through subsidiaries such as Gansu Yinguang Chemical, Anhui Jiangnan Chemical and the Xi'an Modern Chemistry Research Institute (204th).Manufacture
  6. 6EurencoEurope's specialist in explosives, propellant powders and fuel additives (Sorgues, Bergerac nitrocellulose via Manuco, Karlskoga, Vihtavuori-era Bofors heritage), owned by the French state agency APE.Manufacture
  7. 7ArianeGroupAirbus-Safran joint venture that formulates and casts solid propellants for Ariane boosters and the French M51 ballistic missile, and the top international patent applicant in this capability.Manufacture
  8. 8L3Harris TechnologiesThrough Aerojet Rocketdyne (acquired 2023) produces solid rocket motors and propellants for GMLRS, Javelin, Stinger and SM-series missiles at Camden, Arkansas.Manufacture
  9. 9China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC)Its 4th Academy (Academy of Aerospace Solid Propulsion Technology, Xi'an) and 42nd Institute lead Chinese composite solid-propellant research and production.Research
  10. 10NammoNorwegian-Finnish state-owned group making propellants (Nammo Vihtavuori), rocket motors and high explosives for NATO ammunition.Manufacture
  11. 11Chemring GroupProduces HMX/RDX-based high explosives at Chemring Nobel (Norway) plus pyrotechnics, igniters and energetic devices in the UK and US.Manufacture
  12. 12Dyno NobelSecond-largest global commercial explosives maker (ammonium nitrate, emulsions, initiators); renamed from Incitec Pivot in March 2025.Manufacture
All 50 in the Companies table →