An affiliate of the American Center for Manufacturing and Innovation (ACMI) recently announced that it has been awarded a $75 million contract through a competitive process. This project – approved by the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Resilience (IBR) through its Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) Directorate – is going to establish a state-of-the-art munitions campus and harmonize collaboration between DoD and private companies specializing in munitions, hypersonic systems, and critical chemicals.
Through a public-private partnership framework, the initiative will boost the United States’ manufacturing capabilities in areas vital for national defense. And this pilot constitutes a core component of MCEIP’s five-year roadmap designed to secure supply chain resiliency and fortify the defense industrial base.
The Munitions Campus is going to support companies by providing a range of key resources necessary for munitions development and production, such as non-destructive inspection, explosives storage and transportation, prototype testing, and munitions manufacturing tools.
Acting as a catalyst between government and the private sector, ACMI Federal identifies critical supply chain needs for the Department of Defense and additional agencies, including state, county, and municipality support. And the organization combines private capital and government investment to fulfill needs, fostering industrial hubs through targeted financial and logistical support to facilitate rapid growth. Plus, it creates specialized shared-infrastructure industrial campuses around market needs like munitions and energetics and it is a proven strategy for growing domestic capabilities in an industry.
The ACMI-led project is going to be executed by multiple stakeholders, including Energetics Technology Center, Purdue Energetics Research Center, Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center (OMIC R&D), CREAN Inc., Athena Manufacturing LP, Champion Aeromotive and several other organizations as prototyping contract performers.
The development of the campus (managed by ACMI Properties) is slated to commence later this year.
KEY QUOTES:
“ACMI Federal is privileged to lead this critical endeavor. By leveraging market forces, this innovative project will expedite development and production of domestically manufactured munitions, and thereby strengthen America’s defense industrial base and our national security.”
— John Burer, Founder of ACMI
“This ground-breaking model accelerates innovation by bringing together companies with complementary capabilities and by providing shared resources to drive cost-efficiency. The munitions campus will reduce the capital investment required for individual companies to play in this space and enable smaller companies and innovators to grow and scale up more efficiently.”
— Pam Clark, ACMI Federal’s Ecosystem Manager for the project and the former Division Chief for Army Research Lab overseeing regional ecosystems
“This campus will be a nexus and accelerant for innovation, lowering barriers for technology transition, and bringing together traditional prime contractors and emerging companies in the munitions industry to advance our national defense capabilities.”
— Robert Wardle – who has has been appointed Chief Architect for the Munitions Campus. Wardle is a former defense industry executive and has led the design and construction of multiple energetic materials plants during his 30-year career
