Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division

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The United States Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), named for Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, is located in Dahlgren, Virginia and is part of the Naval Surface Warfare Center. The NSWCDD was founded as the U.S. Naval Proving Ground on October 16, 1918, as a result of the expanded range on large caliber naval guns brought about by the launching of the British battleship HMS Dreadnaught that revolutionized seapower, but was renamed ca. 1940 to the U.S. Naval Weapons Laboratory. In 1974, it was renamed the Naval Surface Weapons Center, and obtained its current name around 1990. Currently, the NSWCDD has been reorganized into tenet commands, including the Naval Surface Warfare Center: Dahlgren Laboratories, the Research & Development portion of the base, and the Joint Warfare Analysis Center. The NSWCDL employs approximately 2400 scientists & engineers. The new official name for the base itself is the Naval Support Activity South Potomac (NSASP), although NSWCDD is still used when referring to most of the engineering divisions as a whole.

[edit] Research

NSWCDD conducts basic research in all systems-related areas and pursues scientific disciplines including biotechnology, chemistry, mathematics, laser and computer technology, chemical, mechanical, electrical and systems engineering, physics and computer science. Distinguished figures who have worked for the NSWCDD include physicists Albert Einstein, Edward Teller, Carl Norden, and computer pioneers Howard Aiken and Grace Hopper.

Engineering projects of historical or military significance developed at NSWC Dahlgren include the triggering device on the Hiroshima atomic bomb, the Norton Bombsite used on the B-24 Liberator during World War II, the Standard missile used on modern United States Navy warships, the warhead for the AIM-54 Phoenix, and the coining of the term computer bug due to a moth that shorted a vacuum tube array in one of the first computers constructed. Current projects include the majority of US research into Railgun technology and weapons integration for the Littoral combat ship.