Ordnance facilities in NJ
14 facilities
Arena Fragmentation Evaluation Facility
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
The Arena Fragmentation Test is used to evaluate the lethality of fragmenting munitions. Arena’s can be constructed up to 48-feet square, which translates into explosive weights up to 15 lbs. Fragmentation dispersion pattern and velocity are measured through the use of high-speed FASTEX cameras. Fragment size and weights are captured in Celotex panels, then removed and weighed by a computerized weighing system. The resulting information is then evaluated for lethal area and effectiveness.
Armament Technology Facility (ATF)
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
The Armament Technology Facility is a 52,000 square foot, secure and environmentally-safe, integrated small arms and cannon caliber design and evaluation facility. The ATF collocates simulation modeling, design, validation, and diagnostic engineering with the capability to immediately conduct confirmation experimental firings of interior and exterior ballistics. This concurrent engineering facility supports multi-service infantry, air defense, aircraft and combat vehicle armament systems, and is available to government and private industry. It has four weapons validation bays with an environmental chamber capable of weather conditions between -65°F and +165°F; two indoor ranges, one 100-meter range, one 300-meter range. The latter range can accommodate a Bradley Fighting Vehicle System firing its primary armament, or an Abrams tank firing its secondary armament.
Army Propellant Surveillance Laboratory
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
The Army Propellant Surveillance Lab is the only facility of its kind in the world. It is the DoD's lead laboratory for ammunition surveillance and assures the safety, serviceability and economic use of the Army's war reserves by identifying potentially hazardous propellant lots and having them removed from the world wide stockpile before a catastrophic auto ignition can occur. No other facility of its kind exists in the DoD.
Davidson Advance Warhead Development Facility
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
The Davidson Advanced Warhead Development Facility consists of a 40’ diameter by 40’ tall reinforced concrete dome, lined w/ armor plate, attached to a 335-ft concrete tunnel for extended warhead to target standoff distances. The blast containment chamber is constructed of 12” thick reinforced concrete, lined w/ 1.5” thick armor plate, & capable of withstanding a 50-lb. explosive charge (TNT equivalent). It will be used to test shaped charges, EFPs & other experimental warheads in support of ARDEC's R&D; mission, & will accommodate heavy metal liners, such as tantalum & tungsten. Instrumentation includes flash radiography, framing/streak camera, digital still camera, & electronic streak array. This facility will provide a safe, secure, cost-effective & environmentally acceptable means of conducting tests for terminal ballistic evaluation of armor defeating warheads.
Explosive Development Facility
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
The Explosive Development Facility, which consolidates small-scale sensitivity diagnostics & research into one area, & includes: 2 instrumented 10 lbs experimental chambers, on site dark room facilities with an automatic radiographic film developing, explosive preparation rooms, three 100 lbs magazines on site. The location of the building, with a doorway connecting the Explosive Development Facility to the EWD offices, guarantees close ties to EWD's renowned explosive chemists, physicists, computer modelers & warhead designers. Picatinny Arsenal Small Scale Explosive Experimental Sites close ties to other ARDEC explosive preparation facilities & explosive sites provide for the fabrication (casting, pressing and machining) of explosives and associated parts as well as large-scale explosive detonation sites. The support available from these groups allows rapid experimental modifications and diagnostics making ARDEC a unique one-stop location to answer explosive & warhead questions. The site conducts explosive experimentation for government agencies & private industry through cooperative agreements.
Explosive Formulation Pilot Plant
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
The Pilot Plant for Explosive Formulation supports the development of new explosives that are comprised of several components. This system is particularly beneficial for the development of Insensitive Munition (IM) explosives. The system consists of three remotely operated Brabender screwfeeders (figure 1) which feed the various explosive components to a 150-gallon formulation kettle. The system can be operated remotely from Building 813 and is capable of formulating up to 1,500 pounds of energetic material per day. Explosive material produced using the IM Formulation Facility can be flaked for storage or processing using the Sandvick Belt Flaker.
Explosive Screening and Projectile Nose Drop Facility
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
The building's primary use is as a projectile nose drop facility. Melt casted projectiles are nose dropped to bump the cast forward in order to reveal any base separation in the round that may cause the projectile to be rejected during the x-ray process.
Explosive Washout and Pink Water Treatment Facility
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
The Explosive Washout and Pink Water Treatment Facility is used to steam clean munitions that have been contaminated with an explosive compound. Also, Pink water (water contaminated with explosives) is treated and held in a 40,000 gallon storage tank until it is transported to another treatment facility.
Explosives R&D; Melt Cast Facility
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
Cast Testing Fixtures are used for Small Scale Card Gap, Large Scale Card Gap, Detonation Velocity, Cylinder Expansion Test, Dent Test, Setback Test, Aging Test, Exudation Test, Slow Cook Off Test, and Explosives Qualification & Requalification Tests. The facility can load:
Large Caliber Ballistic R&D; Evaluation Area
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
This area is used to accommodate ballistic firing of conventional and experimental weapon systems, munitions, and propellant for caliber 40mm through 8 inch. Interior, exterior and terminal ballistic data evaluation includes: pressure vs. time, muzzle flash evaluation, projectile stability, Hadland digital range camera, FASTAX cameras, digital, digital high speed video, thermal measurements and weapon integrity. Data is recorded in real-time, allowing project engineers to evaluate each round as it is fired. Additional capabilities include the loading/modifying of standard and experimental propellant charges, along with support facilities such as service magazines, conditioning chambers, and material handling equipment.
Munitions New Equipment Training and Media Production Branch
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
NET Managers develop training programs in support of materiel developers at ARDEC and on contract to other major commands. Training Instructors develop and provide Training Support Packages to TRADOC schools and major commands. Operator and maintenance training is provided to selected military occupational specialty qualified personnel in fielded units of active, national guard and reserve major commands.
Pilot Plant for Melt Pour and Cast Cure HE filled Munition
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
This is a pilot scale LAP Facility that utilizes melt-pour and cast cure equipment to load munitions. This facility allows for experimental explosives and loading processes to be developed and proven out on a smaller but closely related scale that is transferable to industry.
Projectile Demilitarization Facilities
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
The Autoclave Demil System was designed and developed by ARDEC. A large scale autoclave system was designed, built and installed based on the ARDEC design and was used to reclaim approximately 10.5 million pounds of TNT which was later used in the production of new bombs for the Air Force. The fully functional prototype system can be used to demil 60mm, 81mm, 120mm, and 155mm projectiles. The system is also used to demil projectiles received from onsite EOD personnel. This includes foreign munitions recently removed from Southwest Asia. Projectiles demilled in the autoclave are sent to Bldg 800 to be thermally decontaminated to 5X status. Explosives drained from the projectiles are captured in a 25-gallon Melt Kettle where the composition of the material can be analyzed utilizing Near Infrared (NIR) Compositional Analysis System.
Warhead Design Facility
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
This facility is unique to the DOD for chemical energy warheads. The Lab has the capability to design new warhead concepts (including classified) on the computer using the latest 2D and 3D hydro codes. It optimizes warhead designs for increased lethality using these codes. Associated on site facilities exist for machining the metal parts, explosive loading and test firing these designs against a variety of targets. Within this facility state-of-the-art Shaped Charges and Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFPs) can be designed and tested. New explosives can be loaded and tested in warheads to optimize the explosive/metal interaction. This facility has complete computational capabilities for the design of anti-armor, blast, fragmentation, and multipurpose warheads to defeat the full spectrum of threats as well as for demolition and Active Protection applications. There are capabilities to develop advanced equations of statefor new explosive formulations and liner materials that are essential for the highest fidelity modeling required for rapid design development. In addition, there are ARDEC developed warhead design codes incorporating numerical optimization capability for the most accurate and fastest development cycles which minimize costly fabrication and test phases. These codes produce the most accurate warhead simulations within the DOD. This design capability is supported by state of the art warhead linermachining and explosive loading facilities as well as indoor all weather fully instrumented test facilities. This combination is unique within the DOD.