The Global Leader in Reliable Energetic Solutions

Overview

Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense (EBA&D) Company is a leading provider of energetic materials for aerospace, defense, automotive, and other applications. EBA&D's staff of scientists and engineers have extensive experience in the scale up and production of many industry and DOD standard explosives as well as developmental and specialty energetics. Our primary expertise is in the safe manufacturing, processing and material management of explosives; energetic and non-energetic binder systems; nitrated products; and products involving highly toxic reactants.

Application

Insensitive Munitions (IM) explosive compositions are migrating across the spectrum of munition products from artillery and tank ammunition to general-purpose bombs and demolition products. US Military munition programs mandate that IM requirements be met in new and modernized ordnance. EBA&D has met this challenge.

An example of this is APOBS, the Anti-Personnel Obstacle Breaching System that EBA&D produces. APOBS is the first US Military munition system to achieve full compliance with MIL-STD-2105B and be qualified as fully IM compliant. EBA&D has explosive experience with IM compliant systems including:

  • PBXN-10
  • PBXN-301
  • PAX-1
  • PAX-2
  • PBXN-8

With our in-house research and development capabilities and our primary expertise in the safe manufacturing, processing and material management of explosives and energetic materials, EBA&D provides full responsiveness to our customer's design and development needs.

Manufacturing Capabilities

EBA&D has energetic manufacturing locations in Graham, Kentucky and Simsbury, Connecticut. Our facilities can accommodate projects in the development, scale up or production phase. Specific facilities to meet our customer's needs include:

Synthesis Laboratory

EBA&D's Synthesis Laboratories are equipped to synthesize energetic and specialty chemicals. These facilities support product programs by allowing the process chemists and engineers to become familiar with a product's synthesis route on an economical scale.

Pilot Plant

EBA&D's Pilot Plant is composed of the main processing building which includes equipment to manufacture, recrystallize, and dry energetic and specialty chemicals. Included with this facility are separate buildings to store energetic and non-energetic raw materials.

Multiple Reaction Facility

EBA&D's MRF complex is located at its 1100 acre site in Graham, Kentucky. The installation consists of a control room, process areas, tank farms for bulk storage of solvents and acids, and an office/warehouse building. This plant was designed for batch-wise synthesis of energetic and other hazardous chemical products in both developmental and production phases.

Analytical Laboratory

EBA&D has access to complete analytical laboratories at our Kentucky and Connecticut facilities in support of product programs and development.

PBX Extrusion

EBA&D has unique capabilities to batch process, extrude and hydro-cut various PBX products to meet diverse customer design configurations.

Product Experience

At EBA&D our product lines range from sensitive primary/initiation explosives to insensitive munitions and plastic bonded explosives. Our product experience includes:

  • PETN (per MIL-P-387C) 1.1D
  • Lead Azide (per MIL-L-3055C & MIL-L-46225) 1.1A
  • DXN-1 (per WS 18967B) 1.1A
  • TNC (per MIL-T-13723A) 1.3C
  • NTO 1.1D
  • HNS (per WS 5003) 1.1D
  • PETN- and RDX-based Plastic Bonded Explosives 1.1D
  • Cast Cure Explosives 1.1D
  • Ultra-Fine RDX (4-6 microns APS) 1.1D

Insensitive Munitions Products

IM (Insensitive Munitions) Explosives are those explosive formulations which are insensitive to unplanned stimuli criteria set forth in MIL-STD-2105B (i.e., bullet and fragment impact, fire, and shock). EBA&D is a leader in manufacturing and formulating various IM explosive fill compositions for use in munitions and demolition products through its extensive experience in Plastic Bonded Explosive (PBX) manufacturing and custom crystallization (modify particle size and shape) techniques. EBA&D has successfully produced explosives utilized in MIL-STD-2105B qualified products.

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