Picatinny Arsenal

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The Picatinny Arsenal (IPA: /ˈpɪkətɪni/ or /ˌpɪkəˈtɪni/) is an American military research and manufacturing facility located on a 6,400-acre (26 km²) lot in northern New Jersey. The Arsenal is the headquarters of the United States Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center. It is known for inventing the ubiquitous Picatinny rail, among other things.

The facility was founded in 1880 as the Picatinny Powder Depot. It manufactured gunpowder until after World War I, at which time the facility also began producing heavy munitions and grew more involved in research and development activities. Today, the facility develops new technologies for the US Armed Forces and builds various munitions, weapons and armor systems.

In 1891 the Navy acquired 317 acres (1.3 km²) on the Army's Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey to establish their Lake Denmark Powder Depot. On July 10, 1926, lightning struck and started a fire. As a result, several million pounds of explosives detonated over a period of 2-3 days. This left not only structural devastation, but military and civilian casualties as well. As a result of a full-scale Congressional investigation, Congress directed the establishment of the Armed Forces Explosives Safety Board to provide oversight on every aspect of explosives under the control of the US Armed Forces.

Picatinny Arsenal is also home to the US Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Directorate. This group is responsible for the creation of tools, equipment, and procedures for US Army EOD personnel. Some of their more recent inventions was the use of weapons on a robot platform and the SWORDS robot. Their building has been recently renamed in honor of one of their fallen soldiers, SFC Scott "Smitty" Smith, who was killed in Iraq in July 2006.

BRAC 2005 directed the Department of Defense to establish Picatinny as the DoD Specialty Site for Guns and Ammunition, and to relocate Navy technical experts to Picatinny.

2007 Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award Recipient.