About Us
The U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC)
is an internationally acknowledged hub for the advancement of armament
technologies and engineering innovation. As one of the specialized research,
development and engineering centers within the U.S. Army Materiel Command,
the ARDEC has the responsibility for meeting this critical demand. The
ARDEC's workforce provides life-cycle support for nearly 90 percent of the
lethal Army systems used by U.S. Warfighters.
The ARDEC strives to support the Army's efforts to ensure Soldier
survivability and enhance platform and area protection by providing
engineering, design and development support. This support is essential to
the rapid delivery of critical technologies to U.S. Warfighters.
Although the ARDEC's principal mission is to mature technologies for
armament applications, it also looks for ways to transfer beneficial
technologies to public use. The ARDEC has transferred technologies to the
law enforcement community such as non-lethal, aversive technologies for
crowd control and a forcible entry device for breeching doors. Its military
warheads expertise is helping the oil and gas industry develop more
effective oil drilling technology. Our manufacturing technology program is
transferring a variety of technologies to U.S. industry such as model-based
control and environmentally safer manufacturing methods.