Orbital ATK opens Ramjet clean air test facility for supersonic flight simulations

DULLES, Va., 20 Oct. 2015.Orbital ATK (NYSE:OA) completed the final validation and testing for its new Ramjet Test Facility with a clear-air testing environment for flying trajectories at the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory (ABL) in Rocket Center, West Virginia. ABL is housed at the site owned by Naval Sea Systems Command, which committed funding to the new facility.

Orbital ATK conducts a live air-breathing solid rocket motor test in its new Ramjet Test Facility at the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory (ABL) in Rocket Center, West Virginia. This test simulated flight conditions of Mach 3.5 at 50,000 feet for a 5-inch ramjet assisted projectile.

Orbital ATK’s Ramjet Test Facility accurately replicates the operational envelope of tactical air-breathing solid propulsion systems with air mass flow simulating up to Mach 4.5 and temperatures up to 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. This facility provides real-world simulation with a clean-air environment free of combustion byproducts.

“This new facility is a national asset, providing the means to test next generation missile propulsion components,” says Pat Nolan, vice president and general manager of Orbital ATK’s Missile Products Division of the Defense Systems Group. “We have the ability to ‘fly a mission’ during test, which reduces costs associated with conducting multiple point tests.”

The new facility complements Orbital ATK’s scramjet test capabilities, highlighted by its Aerothermal Research and Test facility in Ronkonkoma, New York, specializing in advanced development and validation of hypersonic systems.

Orbital ATK’s Defense Systems Group provides precision and strike weapons, advanced propulsion and hypersonics, missile components across air-, sea-, and land-based systems, ammunition, and related energetic products.

Orbital ATK designs, builds, and delivers space, defense, and aviation systems for customers around the world, both as a prime contractor and merchant supplier. Its main products include launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; missile products, subsystems and defense electronics; precision weapons, armament systems and ammunition; satellites and associated space components and services; and advanced aerospace structures.