Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) and New Mexico Tech (NMT) have entered into a Test Site Use and Teaming Agreement for joint and collaborative energetic materials test and evaluation and for the setup and operation of an ARA test site. The ARA test site is located on the Energetic Material Research Test Center’s (EMRTC) firing range immediately west of Socorro (EMRTC is a research entity of NMT).

The ARA testing area, designated as the Large Scale Test Site (LSTS), offers the following capabilities:

• Explosive weight in excess of 5,000 pounds---other sites available to 20,000 pounds

• An initial 300’ diameter firing arena---expandable to 500-1000’ depending on test requirements/schedules

• A buried, hardened timing and firing bunker---size 12’ by 18’ with 1” thick steel walls

• Installed instrumentation and firing lines at three separate locations around the firing site

• Three-phase commercial power to the bunker and the perimeter of the 300’ firing area for high-speed cameras, etc.

• Multiple telephone lines to the bunker for voice and data transmission

• Explosive storage capability to tens of thousands of pounds

• Explosive handling & firing

• Test site security