Allegany Ballistics Laboratory
Allegany Ballistics Laboratory (ABL) located in Rocket Center, West Virginia, is a diverse industrial complex employing some 1,000 people across 1,628 acres (6.59 km2). The facility is a member of the Federal Laboratory Consortium and is operated by Alliant Techsystems (ATK) under contract with the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA).
The ABL facility is a manufacturer of advanced composite structures for the F-22 Raptor 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 and warheads, and tank ammunition.
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 International Business Machines (which recently acquired National Interest Security Company) who is digitizing data on hurricane cleanup, avian influenza, and weather records.
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 and was involved in building propulsion devices and engines for the solid-rocket industry.
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