Laboratory Information:
Benét Laboratories
Building 40
Watervliet, NY 12189-4050
Website: http://www.benet.wva.army.mil
Technology Transfer Website: http://www.benet.wva.army.mil/business/index.php
Agency/Department: Dept. of Defense - Army
Region: Northeast
FLC Laboratory Representative:
Mr. Gregory Taaffe
Phone: (518) 266-5539
Fax: (518) 266-3618
Email: gregory.taaffe@us.army.mil
Background/History of the Laboratory:
Benét
Laboratories is a Department of the Army R & D facility
located at the Watervliet Arsenal in New York, just north of
the state capital, Albany. Benét is a part of the
Weapons & Software Engineering Center (WSEC), Armament
Research, Development, and Engineering Center (ARDEC), which
is located at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey.
Benét was
established in 1961 and named after the first chief of Army
Ordnance Brigadier General Stephen Vincent Benét.
Benét's founding mission was to provide Watervliet
Arsenal with a dedicated research, design and engineering
capability primarily associated advanced large caliber
cannon. In 1977 Benét was reorganized into what is now
ARDEC, and maintained its presence at Watervliet to leverage
the capabilities and assets at the Arsenal, and the major
engineering institutions located in the immediate area. Today
Benét occupies eight buildings at Watervliet with a
technical staff of over 200 scientists and engineers, in
addition to hosting other technical personnel from industry
and academe.
Mission of the Laboratory:
The primary
mission of Benét Laboratories is to conduct the
research, design and development of advanced launch
mechanism, cannon mortars, recoilless rifles and other
related components. Benét's major disciplinary
strengths are in high strength materials, mechanical
engineering, fracture mechanics, fatigue, refractory metal
plating and producibility engineering and weaponization of
advanced concepts.
Benét
Laboratories' facilities are focused on quickly
transitioning technology into design concepts and rapidly
providing customers working prototypes primarily for Army
programs and project managers, but increasingly supporting
commercial and industrial partners.
Facilities:
Technology Transfer Mechanisms:
- Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs)
- Educational Partnership Agreements (EPAs)
- Patent License Agreements
- Test Services Agreements
Technology Areas of Expertise:
- Artillery cannon
- Fatigue and fracture analysis
- Materials engineering
- Modeling and Simulation (M&S)
- Mortars, recoilless rifles
- Munitions handling and controls
- Process engineering
- Product engineering
- Protective coatings
- Stereolithography
- Tank cannon
- Tank turret, mounts and recoil mechanisms
- Unique expertise in large-bore cannon design and development
- Small component design and development
- Software design and development
- Prototype fabrication
