INDIAN HEAD, Md. - Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division (NSWC IHEODTD) officially announced the command's partnership with Nammo Energetics Indian Head (NEIH), under the command's Center for Industrial and Technical Excellence (CITE) designation, Jan. 19.
CITE is a statutory authority allowing public-private partnerships to perform work related to the command's core competencies. This designation allows the Navy to more efficiently maintain an organic energetics capability and manage under-utilized capacity.
"The Navy relies on IHEODTD for a broad set of critical energetic and EOD capabilities. Maintaining our readiness level requires a significant amount of resources that are increasingly difficult to realize in the current fiscal environment." said NSWC IHEODTD Technical Director Ashley Johnson. "Under this 30-year partnership, Nammo Energetics Indian Head will address under-utilized capacity in our Cast Plant to manufacture rocket motors and warheads. It will also provide us options to maintain the unique capabilities needed for our Nation's defense."
NSWC IHEODTD received CITE designation in May 2014, for its core competencies of energetics, ordnance, naval gun systems, EOD technologies, ordnance packaging, handling, storage and transportation and the technical expertise required to acquire, maintain and sustain these systems. NSWC IHEODTD was the first Navy activity to hold both depot- and arsenal-level designation, making this partnership one of a kind in the Navy.
"The Public Private Partnership Agreement is a unique opportunity for Nammo to become part of the U.S. National Technology Industrial Base," said CEO of the Nammo Group, Morten Brandtzæg, "Our priority number one will be to create a sustainable and highly competitive operation at Indian Head with a strong focus on our core capabilities and competences - creating jobs in Maryland."
NSWC IHEODTD - a field activity of the Naval Sea Systems Command and part of the Navy's Science and Engineering Enterprise - is the leader in ordnance, energetics, and EOD solutions. The Division focuses on energetics research, development, testing, evaluation, in-service support, and disposal; and provides warfighters solutions to detect, locate, access, identify, render safe, recover, exploit, and dispose of explosive ordnance threats.