Navy, ACMI Team Up to Create Energetics Facility in Indian Head

Indian Head Mayor Brandon Paulin, left, ETC President and CEO Will Durant, ACMI Properties CEO David Dowell, US Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Commander Robert Lusk from NSA South Potomac, and NSWC Indian Head commanding officer CAPT Stephen Duba. (Photo courtesy ACMI Properties)

ACMI Federal has been awarded $50 million from the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division to build the Maryland Energetics Innovation Hub in Charles County.

The new facilities at the hub near NSWC IHD will create an environment where industry, academia, and other organizations in the private sector will work with government stakeholders to solve critical munitions industrial base challenges, increase production efficiency, and accelerate applied innovation for novel and existing energetic material systems.

“At ACMI, we are proud to be leaders in the movement to reinforce American production capacity and sharpen our technological edge as a country,” said John Burer, founder and CEO of ACMI Group. “Our Maryland Energetics Innovation Hub expands on ACMI’s proven approach to align private sector capabilities and government mission needs. Together with NSWC Indian Head Division, we are supporting manufacturers and strengthening one of the nation’s most important energetics ecosystems to ensure that the Americans who protect our nation have the best tools for the job.”

By integrating both new and established organizations, the hub will broaden the munitions industrial base surrounding NSWC IH. The MEIH facilities are being designed to act as a central node in a larger network where local innovation catalyzes scaled production at multiple sites across the country, ultimately delivering higher-performing products to the warfighter, faster.

To drive this mission, ACMI is already recruiting tenants specialized in eight technical focus areas identified by NSWC IHD. Collectively, these efforts will bridge the gap between sustaining existing systems and developing the next-generation capabilities essential to US military readiness.

The eight technical focus areas for MEIH are:

• High-performance computing for manufacturing process modeling, simulation, and control
• Advanced uncrewed systems and energetics integration
• Advanced synthesis methods for energetics
• Advanced non-destructive evaluation for energetic systems
• Automated energetic processing and assembly methods with integrated AI
• Novel manufacturing processes for propulsion systems and warheads
• Addressing energetics obsolescence in qualified formulations
• High-precision, high-throughput non-energetic component production

MEIH is scheduled to break ground within the second quarter of 2026.

As development progresses and promising solutions emerge, MEIH is expected to create high-quality jobs, drive economic growth, and attract hundreds of millions of dollars in additional investment into Maryland’s defense industrial ecosystem.