New update to the Unplanned Explosions at Munitions Sites database

Unplanned explosions at munitions sites (UEMS) are a significant safety threat for states and their citizens, and a major challenge for the international community. A single UEMS incident can result in multiple casualties, millions of dollars' worth of damage to nearby buildings, infrastructure, and homes, as well as harm to the environment. Compounding the issue is the fact that initial reporting of UEMS tends to mention initial consequences and casualties, while the full scope of impact gets forgotten with prolonged investigations.  

The Survey’s November 2026 UEMS database update includes data up to 30 June 2026, and highlights that between January 1979 and June 2026, almost 700 UEMS incidents and 32,000 resulting casualties were recorded. This data shows the importance of adopting effective measures to prevent and reduce the number of UEMS while mitigating the consequences for the victims of these incidents. The Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management (GFA) represents an opportunity to enhance the prevention and mitigation of UEMS. The UEMS database is a tool to support the monitoring of the implementation and impact of the GFA.

Click here for the UEMS November 2026 update

For more, check out:

• 2025 Fact Sheet (June 2025)—this paper demonstrates the links between the UEMS Database and the Global Framework on Ammunition
• Investigating The Links: Government Effectiveness And Unplanned Explosions At Munition Sites  (July 2023)—a blog post analysing government effectiveness and UEMS incidence and casualties
• A Practical Guide to Life-cycle Management of Ammunition (April 2018)—a Handbook that provides a succinct and accessible introduction to the Survey’s LCMA model and describes the role of national ownership in creating an enabling environment in which states can establish and maintain an LCMA system
• Unplanned Explosions at Munitions Sites (UEMS): Excess Stockpiles as Liabilities rather than Assets (June 2014) —a Handbook that analyses best practices and serves as a reference tool and a training tool.
• Other UEMS-related outputs in our Resource Library

Other news from the Survey:

• New Paper on Counter-improvised Explosive Device Responses for Contemporary Threat Environments
• New HSBA Briefing Paper on Sudan, multipolarity, and the limits of US influence
• New HSBA Briefing Paper on MANPADS and the RSF in Sudan
• New Small Arms Survey Annual Report 2025
• New methodology for tracking civilian firearms dynamics
• New blog post on C-IED and the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus
• New HSBA Briefing Paper on the state of the Nuer White Armies of South Sudan
• New Report on small arms proliferation in Ukraine
• New HSBA Situation Update on the war in Western Equatoria and Western Bahr el Ghazal states
• New HSBA Situation Update on the rise and fall of Benjamin Bol Mel
• New Report on firearm-related violence and trafficking in the Caribbean