Cortec's corrosion prevention for military readiness

What’s the shelf life? That’s one question the military industry needs to ask when thinking about long-term storage of parts and equipment. This is especially clear when recognizing corrosion as the main enemy of long-term reliability and mission readiness. Fortunately, as Cortec Corporation knows firsthand from decades of experience in these sectors, the right preservation methods can easily extend the shelf life of military assets, ensuring they stay on-call, ready for immediate use.

Military equipment shelf life
When it comes to military equipment, the most desirable scenario is to never have to take weaponry out of storage. However, if defense is necessary, it's critical for combat equipment to be mission ready. There are many preservation options, with the main considerations being storage environment and commissioning needs. For deep storage of military vehicles, cargo loaders, tanks, and other equipment, MilCorr VpCI Shrink Film is a great heavy-duty option for outdoor protection.

In other cases, heavy equipment such as Airfield Damage Repair (ADR) vehicles stored near the coast may need more protection than the original equipment coating while staying in readiness for military personnel to turn the key and drive away without unwrapping any packaging. In such cases, an auxiliary protective coating such as EcoShield VpCI-386 can be applied periodically right over painted or unpainted metal surfaces for extra protection. ElectriCorr VpCI-239 can be sprayed as a protective coating on electrical contacts and relays. Individual arms can be stored in VpCI-126 Bags, preferably without any additional greases that would need to be cleaned off before use. Even ammunition can be protected from corrosion in tropical climates by wrapping cartridges in CorShield VpCI-146 paper, another USDA Certified Biobased Product.

Cost of expired shelf life
At minimum, the cost of corrosion equals the value of any assets lost or the price of repairs done, not to mention the intangible costs incurred from lack of mission readiness and the time spent waiting for a replacement to arrive. Although critically significant, the means of corrosion protection are extremely simple, making it incumbent on military decision-makers to take basic steps toward corrosion prevention.