Proven Defense Testing for Military-Grade Performance

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Built By You, Tested By Us

Element U.S. Space & Defense is the undisputed commercial leader of independent defense testing. Trusted by the U.S. government and top defense contractors, our expert team of engineers and scientists offer highly experienced, sophisticated MIL-STD testing for customers around the world. In fact, we can simulate any real-world condition on earth, providing unmatched expertise in the following areas:

  • Ballistics & Warhead Live Fire Testing & Characterization
  • Commercial & MIL-STD, EMI/EMC Test Capabilities
  • Engineering Design Services, FEA, Modeling & Failure Analysis
  • Insensitive Munitions & Safety Testing
  • NIJ, MIL-STD & UL Qualified Body Armor Testing
  • MIL-STD Qualification Environmental, Dynamics & Mechanical Testing
  • State-of-the-Art High-Speed Photography, Instrumentation & Data Acquisition

As respected and highly experienced providers of comprehensive, end-to-end defense testing services, we are relentlessly focused on going above and beyond to protect the service men and women in all branches of the military. This dedication for assessing weapons, munitions, personal protective equipment (PPE) and armor ensures service members are equipped with battle-ready vehicles, ships, aircraft, weapons, equipment and more.

Extreme & Combined Environment Simulation

  • Altitude, Temperature & Humidity, Rain, Salt Fog, Sand & Dust, Others
  • Electrostatic Discharge (ESD/HIRF)
  • Electromagnetic Interference/Electromagnetic Compatibility/Electrical/Power
  • Lightning – Indirect Effects
  • Single and dual machine Vibration, Shock, Acceleration, Loading, Drop testing up to 12 Meters, Heavyweight Floating Shock Platform (FSP) Barge, Deck Simulating Shock Machine (DSSM)

The Ultimate One-Stop Shop for MIL-STD Testing

Element U.S. Space & Defense offers unparalleled convenience and resources for the testing of defense technology. In fact, we serve as the ultimate one-stop shop for MIL-STD testing. With flexibility to perform testing on government bases, customer facilities, field trials or at one of Element’s cutting-edge laboratories, our MIL-STD compliance experts provide accredited defense testing and evaluation to a wide range of industry standards and specifications, including:

  • MIL-STD-810: The primary “Department of Defense Test Method Standard for Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests” covers the environmental factors encountered during military equipment use across all stages of its service life cycle. MIL-STD-810 testing involves replicating these conditions in a controlled laboratory environment using temperature, humidity, shock, vibration, acceleration and other simulation equipment.
  • MIL-STD-461The “Department of Defense Requirements for the Control of Electromagnetic Interference Characteristics of Subsystems and Equipment” standard covers the EMC and EMI requirements for all electrical and electronic equipment used in defense applications. Element U.S. Space & Defense can perform MIL-STD-461 testing in-house using highly controlled anechoic chambers. Our skilled technicians also conduct MIL-STD-461 testing for components that are too large or expensive to transport to one of our     facilities.
  • MIL-STD-2105: The “Department of Defense Test Method Standard Hazard Assessment Tests for Non-Nuclear Munitions” involves external fire, fast and slow cook-off, fragment and bullet impact testing, using specified fragment simulating projectiles and small and medium-caliber ammunition. Element U.S. Space & Defense’s National Ordnance and Ballistics Test Center in Camden, AR is fully equipped with multiple ballistic and explosive proving ranges, monitoring equipment and sophisticated diagnostics to perform testing to all MIL-STD-2105 requirements.
  • MIL-DTL-901E: The “Department of Defense Requirements for Shock Tests, High Impact, Shipboard Machinery, Equipment and Systems” is the military standard governing     shock-resistance requirements for shipboard equipment. MIL-DTL-901E certification is required for principle devices, subsidiary components and sub-assembly components—including those essential for safety and combat, as well as components that could become hazardous to the crew if shock exposure occurs. Shock testing to MIL-DTL-910E standards can be performed at our facilities across the country. In fact, Element U.S. Space & Defense‘s primary 901E testing facility in Rustburg, VA is located on 36-acres     and features a 1,800 x 250 x 130-ft. deep quarry pond for conducting Floating Shock Platform (FSP) heavyweight applications.
  • MIL-STD-167: The “Department of Defense Test Method Standard: Mechanical Vibrations of Shipboard Equipment” is similar to MIL-DTL-901E but specifically covers the     effects of environmentally and internally excited vibrations on shipboard equipment. Replicating these factors in a controlled laboratory environment requires powerful shakers and precise instrumentation. Element U.S. Space & Defense maintains the best-equipped facilities in the country for MIL-STD-167 vibration testing.

Our defense testing specialists in Camden, AR conduct Arena Characterization Testing in compliance with Joint Technical Coordinating Group for Munitions Effectiveness (JTCG/ME) FM 101-51-3-CD (EM 0260) and International Test Operations Procedure (ITOP) 4-2-13. 

Extensive Defense Testing & Evaluation Services

Element U.S. Space & Defense supports the defense industry by providing a wide range of testing, including live Arms, Ammunition, and Explosives (AA&E). Below is a small sampling of our testing and evaluation capabilities:

Test Engineering & Analysis

  • 2D & 3D CAD Modeling
  • Custom Test Apparatus, Fixture Design, Development, Fabrication, Validation
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis
  • Interior Ballistics Modeling & Analysis
  • Mechanism Dynamics Analysis
  • (PRODAS) Aerodynamic & Flight Analysis, Ballistic Match, Aero Predictions, Stability, Muzzle Exit, Firing/Ballistic Tables/ 4D&6D Trajectory Varying QE., etc.
  • Structural & Thermal Finite Element Analysis
  • Weapon System Failure Investigations

Hazard Classification & Transportation Safety Testing

  • Department of Transportation: TB 700-2/NAVSEAINST 8020.8 UN Series 4 Testing
  • Interim Hazards Classification (IHC) Testing

Safety & Insensitive Munitions (IM)

  • Bullet / Fragment Impact
  • External Fire, Fast and Slow Cook-Off
  • MIL-STD-2105, STANAG & AOP Specifications
  • Transportation, Aircraft, Shipboard Vibration
  • Sympathetic Reaction
  • Shaped Charge Jet Impact
  • 12-meter Drop
  • 28-day/4- Day Temperature & Humidity

Ballistics Testing

  • Body Armor, Helmets, Armor Materials
  • Shoulder Launched Munitions (SLM)
  • Small, Medium, Large Caliber up to 120mm Tank & 3000 meters
  • Weapon, Ammunition & Armor Centric

Performance & Functional Testing

  • Blast Pressure and Fragment Velocity, Penetration & Areal Coverage
  • Warhead Arena Characterization – Blast, Fragmentation, Lethality/Vulnerability

Mechanical Stress, Strain & Functional Testing

  • Airflow (Bleed Air) & Thermal Management
  • High Pressure Fluid/Gas/Cryogenics & Flow
  • Hydraulics
  • Pneumatic & hydrostatic – Burst & Cycling

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Testing

  • Military and Law Enforcement Applications (NVLAP Lab Code 200828-0 & NIJ Accredited):
    • CT Scanning
    • Helmets, Soft & Hard Body Armor Systems & Components
    • Impact Shock – Drop, Hammer, Custom
    • Stab Impact
    • Terminal Ballistics - V0 / V50

Inside Hypersonic Testing for the Defense Sector

The development of a hypersonic defense weapon system is critical to national security. Predicting the effects of aerodynamic heating is essential for ensuring hypersonic projectiles perform as intended in extreme environments. At Element U.S. Space & Defense, engineers are working diligently to support the defense sector with testing that simulates hypersonic flight. As part of these efforts, engineers are simulating aerodynamic heating with burner temperatures that reach 2,500 °F.

Additional Test Services

In addition to the major defense RDT&E services listed above, Element U.S. Space & Defense provides a multitude of related services, as well as many types of customer-defined engineering projects covering a broad range of specialized services.

Customized for Every Type of Defense Program

By providing tailored services for the world’s most complex defense programs, our customers receive efficient, timely and consistent research, development, testing & evaluation (RDT&E) across systems and components in legacy and emerging defense technologies. With objective and independent RDT&E, Element U.S. Space & Defense supports:

  • Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO)
  • Department of Defense Ordnance Technology Consortium (DOTC)
  • Marine Corps Systems Command (MARCORSYSCOM)
  • Missile Defense Agency (MDA)
  • Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)
  • Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA)
    • Naval Surface Warfare Centers (NSWC)
    • Naval Underwater Warfare Centers (NUWC)
  • Naval Information Warfare Systems Command
  • U.S. Army
  • U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC)
  • U.S. Army Research Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM)
  • U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL)
  • U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC)
  • U.S. Air Force
  • U.S. Coast Guard
  • U.S. Marine Corps
  • U.S. Navy
  • U.S. Space Force

In addition, Element U.S. Space & Defense collaborates with top defense industry contractors, including:

  • Aerojet Rocketdyne
  • BAE Systems
  • Boeing Company
    • Collins Aerospace
    • Defense Systems (NGDS)
  • Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Co. (EBAD)
  • General Atomics
  • General Dynamics
  • Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII)
    • Innovation Systems (NGIS)
  • L3 Technologies, Inc.
  • Lockheed Martin
  • Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS)
  • Northrop Grumman
    • Pratt & Whitney
    • Raytheon
  • RTX
  • SAIC / Leidos
  • Scientific Research Corporation (SRC)
  • Textron
  • United Launch Alliance (ULA)

The Leader in Space Testing.

Remote Witnessing For Defense Testing