Allegany Ballistics Laboratory (ABL) located in

Rocket Center, West Virginia Rocket Center, West Virginia is the site of a government installation known as Allegany Ballistics Laboratory, part of the Naval Sea Systems Command which is currently operated by Northrop Grumman. Rocket Center shares a ZIP Code with Keyser but ...

, is a diverse industrial complex employing some 1,000 people across . The facility is a member of the

Federal Laboratory Consortium The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) is a U.S.-based nationwide network of federal laboratories that provides a forum to develop strategies and opportunities to help transfer laboratory mission technologies into commercial ...

and is operated by

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry ...

(former Alliant Techsystems) under contract with the

Naval Sea Systems Command The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) is the largest of the United States Navy's United States Navy systems commands, five "systems commands," or materiel (not to be confused with "material") organizations. From a physical perspective, NAVSEA ha ...

(NAVSEA).

Current operation

The ABL facility is a manufacturer of advanced

composite structures A composite or composite material (also composition material) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or physical properties and are merged to create a ...

for the

F-22 Raptor The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is an American twin-engine, jet-powered, all-weather, supersonic stealth fighter aircraft. As a product of the United States Air Force's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, the aircraft was de ...

and other aerospace projects. ATK also operates 6 of 11 known advanced fiber placement machines. In addition the site produces about 80 military products, including: 30mm shells for Apache helicopters, training grenades, fuze-proximity sensors,

mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...

and

warhead A warhead is the section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket (weapon), rocket, torpedo, or bomb. Classification Types of warheads include: *E ...

s, and

tank ammunition A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in Front line, front-line Land warfare, ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong Vehicle armour, armour, and battlefield Mobility (milit ...

. Also on the site is the Robert C. Byrd Hilltop Office Complex and the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing. At the Robert C. Byrd Complex on the hill companies have rented space to do secure research, among them

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

(which recently acquire
National Interest Security Company
who is digitizing data on hurricane cleanup,

avian influenza Avian influenza, also known as avian flu or bird flu, is a disease caused by the influenza A virus, which primarily affects birds but can sometimes affect mammals including humans. Wild aquatic birds are the primary host of the influenza A viru ...

, and weather records. It also plays a significant role in

continuity of government Continuity of government (COG) is the principle of establishing defined procedures that allow a government to continue its essential operations in case of a catastrophic event such as nuclear war. Continuity of government was developed by the Br ...

operations.

History

ABL was established in 1944 on the site of a former ammunitions plant on land owned by the Army. After World War II, the plant was transferred to the

Office of Scientific Research and Development The Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) was an agency of the United States federal government created to coordinate scientific research for military purposes during World War II. Arrangements were made for its creation during May ...

and was involved in building propulsion devices and engines for the solid-rocket industry. Later in the decade, ownership of ABL was transferred to the Navy office of

. Since 1946 it was operated by the Hercules Powder Company. In 1956 when it was producing

Altair Altair is the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila (constellation), Aquila and the list of brightest stars, twelfth-brightest star in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation Alpha Aquilae, which is Latinisation of name ...

rocket stages for

Vanguard rocket The Vanguard rocket PDF of an optical copy. was intended to be the first launch vehicle the United States would use to place a satellite into orbit. Instead, the Sputnik crisis caused by the surprise launch of Sputnik 1 led the U.S., after the f ...

s, ABL was, "A subsidiary of the Navy operated by the Hercules Powder Company." The Navy now contracts out operation of the facility to ATK (Alliant Techsystems), a $3.4 billion corporation based in

Edina, Minnesota Edina ( , ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States and a first-ring suburb of Minneapolis. The population was 53,494 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the 18th most populous ci ...

. In 1998, ATK's Conventional Munitions Group was selected by

Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North Bethesda, Mary ...

to produce the fiber-placed composite pivot shaft assembly for the

air-dominance fighter. Work on the production program was performed at Alliant's automated fiber placement production facility at the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory before the production of F-22 aircraft ended in 2012. The fiber placement facility was constructed as part of a $177 million renovation and restoration program funded by the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), which owns the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory.

Local Perception

As for the ecological impact, it is believed the facility contributes greatly to the pollution of the adjacent

North Branch Potomac River The North Branch Potomac River flows from Fairfax Stone in West Virginia to its confluence with the South Branch Potomac River near Green Spring, West Virginia, where it turns into the Potomac River proper. Course From the Fairfax Stone, th ...

. While this is unsupported, the company does have numerous runoff sites. Also, the groundwater in the surrounding community has been verified to contain many contaminants, although actions have since been taken to reduce these contaminants, and are part of a constant monitoring process.West Virginia, Allegany Ballistics Laboratory (US Navy) Site, Current Site Information (NPL Pad) , Mid-Atlantic Superfund , US EPA

Companies

The following privately owned ventures are located on the ABL site:

References

External links