Part of a series on
War (outline)
History Prehistoric Ancient Post-classical castles Early modern military revolution pike and shot napoleonic warfare Late modern industrial warfare fourth-gen warfare
Military Organization Command and control Defense ministry Army Navy Air force Marines Coast guard Space force Reserves Ranks Specialties: Staff Engineers Intel Recon Medical Police Diving Pilot Land units: Infantry Armor Cavalry Artillery Special forces Signal corps Naval units: Warships Submarines Aircraft carriers Landing craft Auxiliary ships Air units: Fighters Bombers Command Close air support Electronic-warfare Reconnaissance Combat systems: Fire-control system Fire-control radar Director (military) Combat information center Sonar Radar Historical: Ship gun fire-control Gun data computer Torpedo data computer Development: Basic training Military manoeuvrers Combat training
Battlespace Aerospace Aerial Airborne Space Land Cold-region Desert Fortification Jungle Mountain Urban Subterranean Tunnel Sea Amphibious Blue Brown Green Surface Underwater Seabed Cyber Information
Weapons Air defence Armor Artillery Barrage Biological Camouflage Cavalry Horses Air cavalry Chemical Combined arms Conventional Cyber Denial Disinformation Drone / Robot Electromagnetic Infantry Loitering Missile Music Nuclear Psychological Radiological Submarine Unconventional
Tactics List of military tactics Aerial Airlift Air assault Airbridge Airdrop Anti-aircraft Anti-sub Anti-tank Battle Cavalry Charge Counterattack Counterinsurgency Convoy Defeat in detail Foxhole Drone Envelopment Formation Guerrilla Naval Rapid dominance Encirclement Investment Siege Swarm Screen Tactical objective Target saturation Trench Withdrawal
Operational Military operation Special Operations research Blitzkrieg Expeditionary Deep operation Maneuver Operational manoeuvre group Raid Covert Stay-behind
Strategy List of military strategies and concepts Military campaign Anti-access Attrition Commerce raiding Counter-offensive Culminating Defence in depth Fabian Empty fort Mosaic Deception Defensive Depth Goal Nuclear Naval Offensive Scorched earth
Grand strategy Asymmetric Blockade Broken-backed Class Cold war Colonial Conquest Containment Divide and conquer Economic Endemic Fleet in being Irregular Liberation Limited Network-centric New generation Perpetual Political Princely Proxy Religious Resource Strategic Succession Technology Theater Total war World war
Administrative Branch Policy Staff Training Service Sociology
Organization Area of responsibility Chain of command Command and control Doctrine Order of battle Principles of war Economy of force Medicine Engineers Intelligence Ranks Technology and equipment
Personnel Recruitment Conscription Mobilization Training Specialism Soldier Morale Volunteer Women Children Transgender Harassment Conscientious objector Counter-recruitment
Logistics History War economy Arms industry Materiel Supply-chain management Military–industrial complex Base MOB FOB Outpost
Science Power projection Loss-of-strength gradient Lanchester's laws Force multiplication
Law Occupation Armistice Ceasefire Court-martial Desertion Geneva Conventions Geneva Protocol Islamic rules Justice Lawful / Unlawful combatant Perfidy Jewish laws on war Rules of engagement Martial law War crime
Theory Air supremacy Appeasement Command of the sea Deterrence theory Full-spectrum dominance Overmatch Unrestricted Warfare Just war theory Principles of war Philosophy of war Security dilemma Tripwire force Wargaming Simulation Exercises
Non-warfare Arms control Counter-insurgency deterrence Disaster response Grey-zone Gunboat diplomacy Humanitarian aid Law enforcement Low-intensity conflict Military engineering Peacekeeping Peacebuilding Peace through strength Show of force
Culture Awards and decorations Battle cry Warrior War film Military science fiction War novel Anti-war movement Foot drill War song Uniform Wargame
Related Women in war War resister War studies Horses in warfare Wartime sexual violence Fifth column Mercenary Privateer Private military company
Lists Battles Military occupations Military terms Operations Sieges War crimes Wars Weapons Writers

Supply depots are a type of military installation used by militaries to store battlefield supplies temporarily on or near the front lines until they can be distributed to military units. Supply depots are responsible for nearly all other types of materiel, except ammunition.

Supply depots are usually run by a logistics officer who is responsible for allocating supplies as necessary to units who request them.

Due to their vulnerability, supply depots are often the targets of enemy raids. In more modern times, depots have been targeted by long range artillery, long-range missiles, and bomber aircraft, due to the advantage that disrupted logistics can give to a belligerent force.

Types of supply depots include base, station, forward, and reserve supply depots.

An ammunition dump, ammunition supply point (ASP), ammunition handling area (AHA) or ammunition depot is a military storage facility for live ammunition and explosives.

The storage of live ammunition and explosives is inherently hazardous. There is the potential for accidents in the unloading, packing, and transfer of ammunition. Great care is taken in handling these dangerous explosives so as not to harm personnel or nearby ammunition.

Despite the intensive preventive measures they get, ammunition depots around the world suffer from non-combat fires and explosions. Although this is a rare occurrence, there are devastating consequences when it does happen. Usually, an ammunition depot experiencing even minor explosions in one of its sites/buildings is immediately evacuated together with surrounding civilian areas. Thus, all of the stored ammunition is left to detonate itself completely for days or weeks, with very limited attempts at firefighting from a safe distance.^{[citation needed]} If the ammunitions are artillery shells and other heavy types, the whole depot site affected is typically leveled.

The typical ammo dump will have several of the following elements:

• A buffer zone or cleared area of at least several hundred feet (sometimes as much as 1–2 km (0.62–1.24 mi)) surrounding the facility, in the event of an explosion.
• Perimeter security, such as a fence, to avoid casual access by unauthorized persons.
• Guards equipped and in numbers relative to the potential threat from enemy forces.
• Bunkers (sometimes referred to as igloos), or magazines, where ammunition is stored under lock and key.
• Blast barriers (traverses), such as an earth berm or buried pit, to divert the force of the blast (typically upward, but sometimes to the side) in case the ammunition detonates.
• Safety distances are calculated between storage sites (magazines) and outside infrastructure to limit damage and set maximum holdings of net explosive content per site.
• A loading area (transit building or area) for transferring stored ammunition to and from trucks, ships, railway wagons, etc.
• A flooding system in large facilities to put out a fire or prevent an explosion in a magazine.
• An ammunition repair facility or workshop, or maintenance inspection (M&I) will be found in many ammunition facilities. This facility is used for the repair, breakdown, inspection, and manufacture of ammunition held within or brought to the depot.
• A destruction area or demolition range used for the disposal by burning or detonation of defective, surplus, or obsolete ammunition and explosives.
• A missile shop specialised in inspection and repair of missiles, and pre-assembly of missile type weapons before being sent to the front line.

Ammunition dump as a term is more commonly ascribed to sites that store munitions "in the field" for imminent or immediate use. These are often targets for enemy artillery attack or air attack.

• Armory (military)
• Central Ammunition Depot (disambiguation)
• Emergency management
• Military logistics
• Military supply chain management
• Powder tower
• Royal Air Force munitions storage during World War II
• Royal Army Ordnance Corps
• Royal Naval Armaments Depot
• Supply chain
• War reserve stock
• Weapon storage area

• International Ammunition Technical Guidelines UN Office of Safe Disarmament
• (in English) Rapport OSPAR sur les munitions immergées – (Map page 9 for Europe an OSPAR zone) Overview of Past Dumping at Sea of Chemical Weapons and Munitions in the OSPAR Maritime Area, 2005 / (pdf) OSPAR
• (in English) Rapport OSPAR / Évaluation 1998 – 2006 (see page 62 and more..)