ROCKET CENTER, W.Va., March 25. Northrop Grumman Corporation is expanding the Naval Industrial Reserve Ordnance Plant at the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory (ABL) in West Virginia. The company was recently awarded a $178 million contract from Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) to support the expansion. The investment will help to expand the site’s capacity through the construction of a new modular energetics facility.
- The investment will increase rocket motor energetics and inert processing and builds on Northrop Grumman’s proven performance to quickly scale using advanced manufacturing techniques and digital transformation.
- This state-of-the-art facility will use advanced manufacturing processes to configure production for multiple products and consolidate operations to minimize travel, movement of materials and overall downtime.
- The expansion will add to Northrop Grumman’s own investment in rocket motors and increase resiliency by doubling the capacity of the defense supply chain and ensure production capacity to meet the growing demand of solid rocket motors and warheads on time and at affordable scale.
Experts:
Frank DeMauro, sector vice president and general manager, weapon systems, Northrop Grumman: “The Navy’s decision to entrust Northrop Grumman with expansion operations at ABL in support of critical missile components such as rocket motors, warheads and fuzes, will bolster critical national security infrastructure. The investments we’re making, and our mature production capabilities, will allow us to double our energetics capacity by fall of 2026, meeting recent customer demand and maintaining our signature commitment to quality.”
U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia: “Expanding our capacity to produce critical munitions and their components, such as solid rocket motors and energetic materials, is critical to ensuring that our men and women in uniform have the tools they need to deter aggression and win. The Allegany Ballistics Laboratory is a critical piece of our defense industrial base, and I’m proud that such important components of our nation’s advanced weapons are built right here at home in West Virginia. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, I look forward to seeing the positive impacts of this expansion project on U.S. national security and the state of West Virginia.”
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia: “This announcement is continued evidence of ABL’s critical importance in advancing our national security capabilities. ABL is one of only two sites in the entire country that can produce rocket motor energetics and the only one that is a public-private partnership. This taxpayer-owned facility is building the missiles that keep our forces safe.”
Details on ABL:
The NAVSEA funding provides ABL the ability to expand its capacity which is increasingly critical to national security as the defense industry experiences a surge in demand for energetic capabilities in response to worldwide events. The expansion will enable the facility to increase the output of critical energetic materials needed to replenish stockpiles that support the U.S. and its allies.
Northrop Grumman is a leading provider of advanced weapons systems including hypersonic propulsion, armaments, components, missiles, electronics and interceptors. The company operates ABL, a national asset that has produced tactical rocket motors, medium and large caliber ammunition, composite structure, mechanical and electronic fuzes and advanced weapons for the U.S. and its allies since the 1940s.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global aerospace and defense technology company. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with the capabilities they need to connect and protect the world, and push the boundaries of human exploration across the universe. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers’ toughest problems, our employees define possible every day.
