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The goal of this project was to develop and publish a new fluorine-free foam (F3) military specification (MILSPEC) applicable for all Department of Defense (DoD) land-based military installations in accordance with the requirements and timeline established by the FY20 National Defense Authorization Act. The Phase I portion of the program provided the opportunity to fully assess the commercially available F3 capabilities and provide the requisite data set for use during the development of the specification (Phase II). As a result of this effort, the F3 MILSPEC serial number (MIL-PRF-32725) was assigned and dated 06 January 2023 and the new MIL-PRF-32725 “FIRE EXTINGUISHING AGENT, FLUORINE-FREE FOAM (F3) LIQUID CONCENTRATE, FOR LAND-BASED, FRESH WATER APPLICATIONS” was published and then made publicly available via the Defense Logistics Agency ASSIST database on 12 January 2023.
This project was executed in two phases as described below:
Prior to the start of the project, there were several variables that were defined to provide the focus of this effort. Specifically, since the hazards associated with land-based DoD applications are primarily Aircraft Rescue and Fire-Fighting uses, the capabilities of the F3s would be assessed against aviation fuel fires (Jet A and JP-8) as well as ethanol-free gasoline used in the aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) MILSPEC (MIL-PRF-24385F).
The F3 fire performance data provided the baseline for the criteria used in the F3 MILSPEC development.
Although the fire extinguishing capabilities of the existing MILSPEC F3s were somewhat less in comparison to MILSPEC AFFFs, their demonstrated performance capabilities were deemed sufficient to meet all the land-based DoD end-user requirements. This declaration in firefighting performance sufficiency has been further validated during the WP21-3461/WP21-3465 Phase I-IV Large-Scale PFAS-Free Firefighting Performance testing conducted at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division China Lake fire test facility using both U.S. Navy handline and foam turret foam delivery firefighting equipment.