Energetic materials form an integral part of most weapon systems and a large number of new high-energy materials: thermally stable explosives, high-performance explosives, melt-castable explosives, insensitive high explosives and energetic binders have been reported in the literature in recent years. Some explosive formulations based on these new energetic materials are also vaguely reported. This paper examines these materials and their formulations from the point of view of stability, reliability, safety and specific applications.