Weapons Sciences Directorate (WSD)

WSD’s mission is to plan, perform, supervise, and review basic and applied research in the physical, and engineering sciences to support both the missile and aviation missions of AMRDEC. WSD also maintains thriving interfaces with government, academic, and industrial research communities in the fundamental sciences and provides broad-based expertise related to missile, laser, and beam weaponry, countermeasures, and aircraft survivability. WSD serves as a focal point for the coordination and development of technology for weapons systems and countermeasures, serving as a technology transfer conduit from the many sources of scientific research to numerous AMCOM programs. It also serves as a focal point for Command activity with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) by exercising overall technical and fiscal management of advanced research programs directed to AMCOM by DARPA and other DOD agencies.

Mission:
  • Plan, perform, supervise and review basic and applied research in the physical and engineering sciences.
  • Maintain thriving interfaces with government, academic, and industrial research communities in the fundamental sciences and provide broad-based expertise as related to missile, laser, beam weaponry, countermeasures, and aircraft survivability.
  • Devise/demonstrate improved methods of measurement and analysis as required by all elements of the parent organization in such areas as target signatures, electromagnetic propagation phenomena, electro- and magneto-optical interactions and materials, physics of the atmosphere, optical computing, and image processing, countermeasures and counter-countermeasures, etc.
  • Focal point for the coordination and development of weapons systems and countermeasures programs and tech transfer from many sources of scientific research to salient RDECOM programs.
  • Focal point for AMRDEC activities with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
  • Provide technical support and technical advice to other RDECOM elements, Army, and DOD agencies as required.

Facilities & Capabilities
  • Staff consists of scientists and engineers focused on basic and applied research in a variety of areas.
  • Many of the staff hold advanced degrees and are recognized as leading researchers in their fields.
  • 88,000 square feet dedicated laboratory facility, including a number of high bays and laboratories dedicated to optical science
  • A wide variety of state-of-the-art lasers, detectors, and characterization tools, strongly coupled to physics-based models
  • 500 meter Laser Test Range.
  • NASA MSFC optics group and laboratory
  • Class 100/1000 Clean Rooms
  • Micro-Fabrication Facility housing a variety of equipment used to make integrated optical devices
  • Fully equipped machine shop
  • 4,900 square feet Anechoic RF Test Chamber

Core Capabilities
  • Integrated Optical Devices
  • Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
  • Quantum and Nonlinear Optics
  • Neural Networks
  • Directed Energy Weapons and Countermeasures
  • Chaos Control
  • Ultrafast Semiconductor Spectroscopic Analysis
  • Terahertz Spectroscopy and Imaging
  • Quantum Metrology and Atom Interferometry
  • Photonic and Plasmonic Band Engineering
  • Metamaterials
  • RF Effects

AMSRD-AMR-WS
Building 7804
Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898

Phone: 256-876-4472
Fax: 256-876-4759

wsdat amrdec.army.mil