United States Army DEVCOM Armaments Center

{{Short description|US Army's primary R&D arm for armaments and munitions}} {{Primary sources|date=September 2007}} {{Infobox Military Unit | unit_name = DEVCOM Armaments Center | image = Armaments Center Logo.png | image_size = 300px | caption = DEVCOM AC logo | dates = 1977–present | country = United States | branch = Army | type = Research and Development | size = 3,000 employees<ref name=autogenerated1>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040820084023/http://www.pica.army.mil/PicatinnyPublic/organizations/ardec/index.asp ARDEC@Picatinny]</ref> | command_structure = 14px U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command | garrison = Picatinny Arsenal,<br/>New Jersey | website = {{URL|https://ac.devcom.army.mil|ac.devcom.army.mil}} | current_commander = | ceremonial_chief = | colonel_of_the_regiment = | identification_symbol = 125px | identification_symbol_label = ARDEC logo }}

{{Use American English|date=December 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2025}}{{command structure |name= |date= |parent= Combat Capabilities Development Command |subordinate= }}

The '''U.S. Army''' '''DEVCOM Armaments Center''' ('''DEVCOM AC'''), sometimes the '''Armaments Center''' ('''AC'''), is the United States Army's primary research and development facility for armaments and munitions. DEVCOM AC is headquartered at the Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey.

In February 2019, the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) became the CCDC Armaments Center, when it was aligned with U.S. Army Futures Command – along with its senior organization, the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command.

The DEVCOM Armaments Center performs research for the U.S. Army, the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), and other U.S. military organizations.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=ARDEC {{!}} Baldrige Award Recipient Profile at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) |url=https://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/ardec.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071125181918/http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/ardec.html |archive-date=25 November 2007 |access-date=17 December 2025 |website=www.nist.gov}}</ref> It is one of several specialized research centers in the U.S. Army Transformation and Training Command.

== Research == Systems that the DEVCOM Armaments Center has worked on include: fire control systems and ammunition for the M2 Bradley and M1 Abrams, as well as missiles like the M712 Copperhead anti-tank artillery missile and the Patriot missile. More recently, ARDEC has worked on bunker defeat munitions, the XM107 sniper rifle, the M919 round for the M242 Bushmaster, the M830 high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) munition, the M211 and M212 countermeasure flares, the M4 carbine, and many other systems.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Brief History |url=http://www.ardec.army.mil/about/history/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130213213421/http://www.ardec.army.mil/about/history/ |archive-date=February 13, 2013 |website=ARDEC}}</ref>

DEVCOM Armaments Center works to develop more advanced weapons, using technologies such as microwaves, lasers, and nanotechnology.

==History== The DEVCOM Armaments Center traces its history to 1977, with the creation of the U.S. Army Armament Research and Development Command (ARRADCOM).<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=History {{!}} DEVCOM AC |url=https://ac.devcom.army.mil/history/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251217233612/https://ac.devcom.army.mil/history/ |archive-date=17 December 2025 |access-date=17 December 2025 |website=ac.devcom.army.mil}}</ref> The mission of ARRADCOM was to create new and improve existing weapons and munitions. Among their early work was modeling for the M1 Abrams tank. Under ARRADCOM lived the R&D organizations of the Picatinny Arsenal, the Edgewood Arsenal, the Ballistic Research Lab, and the Watervliet Arsenal.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ARDEC: History |url=http://www.pica.army.mil/PicatinnyPublic/organizations/ardec/history.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061210053206/http://www.pica.army.mil/PicatinnyPublic/organizations/ardec/history.asp |archive-date=2006-12-10 |access-date=2007-02-13}}</ref>

In 1983, ARRADCOM's mission was transferred to the U.S. Army Armament, Munitions and Chemical Command (AMCCOM) at Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois. The mission, of weapons and munitions-focused R&D, remained at Picatinny Arsenal. It was organized as the '''U.S. Army Armament Research and Development Center''' ('''ARDC'''). In 1986, a further reorganization of all the Army R&D centers caused the ARDC to become the ARDEC, a research, development, and engineering center. The ARDEC name was retained when transferring under the Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) in 1994.<ref name=":3" />

In 2003, the Army's RD&E centers were transferred to the Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) located at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.

The ARDEC was renamed the CCDC Armaments Center in February 2019.<ref name=":3" /> It became an element of the Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC), formerly RDECOM, that in February 2019 transferred from the U.S. Army Materiel Command to the U.S. Army Futures Command.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.ardec.army.mil/ | title=ARDEC Headlines | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201020510/https://www.ardec.army.mil/ | archive-date=2019-02-01}}</ref>

In 2021, CCDC rebranded to DEVCOM,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=History {{!}} DEVCOM Aviation and Missile Center |url=https://www.avmc.army.mil/AvMC/History/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251126032621/https://www.avmc.army.mil/AvMC/History/ |archive-date=26 November 2025 |access-date=25 November 2025 |website=www.avmc.army.mil}}</ref> making the CCDC Armaments Center become DEVCOM Armaments Center.

In October 2025, DEVCOM transferred under the new Transformation and Training Command.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Organizations {{!}} Futures and Concepts Command |url=https://www.army.mil/futuresandconceptscommand#org-organizations |access-date=18 December 2025 |website=www.army.mil/futuresandconceptscommand}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2 October 2025 |title=Establishment of the United States Army Transformation and Training Command as an Army command |url=https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/ARN45293-AGO_2025-23-000-WEB-1.pdf |website=armypubs.army.mil |publisher=Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA) |via=Army Publishing Directorate |id=General Order No. 2025–23}}</ref>

== Locations == The DEVCOM Armaments Center has four locations:<ref name=":2" /><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040826071654/http://www.pica.army.mil/PicatinnyPublic/organizations/ardec/locations.asp ARDEC: Locations]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Locations {{!}} DEVCOM AC |url=https://ac.devcom.army.mil/locations/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251217233759/https://ac.devcom.army.mil/locations/ |archive-date=17 December 2025 |access-date=17 December 2025 |website=ac.devcom.army.mil}}</ref>

* Picatinny Arsenal, NJ – the DEVCOM Armaments Center headquarters * Watervliet Arsenal, NY – the Benét Laboratories * Rock Island Arsenal, IL * Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD

== Organization == The DEVCOM Armaments Center consists of a number of directorates, such as the Weapons Systems and Technology Directorate and the Munitions Systems and Technology Directorate.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040826071919/http://www.pica.army.mil/PicatinnyPublic/organizations/ardec/organization.asp ARDEC: Organization]</ref>

==See also== *Combat Capabilities Development Command, higher authority of DEVCOM Armaments Center *Nanoweapons

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Coord|40.95953|-74.52774|type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NJ|display=title}} {{US research agencies}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Research installations of the United States Army Category:Military simulation Category:Morris County, New Jersey Category:1977 establishments in New Jersey