The Texas A&M University System is building two world-class testing ranges for developing innovative approaches to next-generation warfare technology. Designed in consultation with the military and the defense industry, the ranges will be part of the $200 million George H.W. Bush Combat Development Complex on the RELLIS Campus in Bryan.
“There will be no other place like it in the world,” said Chancellor John Sharp ’72.
The Ballistic, Aero-optics and Materials (BAM) Test Range will be the nation’s largest enclosed hypersonic testing range. BAM will be one kilometer long, over two meters in diameter and contain a hypersonic rail-guided ballistic range; directed energy and laser diagnostics; and the capability to test how protective materials withstand impacts at hypervelocity, which is more than five times the speed of sound.
Construction of the first half-kilometer will be completed by the end of 2022. Phase two will be operational in early 2024 or sooner.
The second test range, Innovation Proving Ground, will host highly instrumented outdoor experiments. The initial focus will be autonomous aerial, ground and subterranean vehicles and smart, resilient battlefield communication systems. Completion is expected in May 2022.
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