Naval Air Warfare Center, Indianapolis (NAWC) is a former

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

facility in Warren Township,

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, U.S. The plant opened in 1942, covering and employing some 3,000 in

avionics Avionics (a portmanteau of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the Electronics, electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, Air navigation, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the ...

research and development. The facility was closed in 1996 following recommendations from the

1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission The 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission preliminary list was released by the United States Department of Defense in 1995 as part of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. It recommended closing 32 major United States military bases. ...

. , the facility is privately owned by Vertex Aerospace and employs about 600.

History

Naval Ordnance Plant, Indianapolis (NOP-I), as it was first called, was one of five inland sites selected in July 1940 by the

United States Department of the Navy The United States Department of the Navy (DON) is one of the three military departments within the United States Department of Defense. It was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, at the urging of Secretary of War James McHenr ...

Bureau of Ordnance The Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd) was a United States Navy organization, which was responsible for the procurement, storage, and deployment of all naval weapons, between the years 1862 and 1959. History The Bureau of Ordnance was established as part ...

for the manufacture of naval ordnance. The other plants were located in

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...

; Center Line, Michigan;

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

; and

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

. Construction began in 1941 and the plant became fully operational in 1943. The $13.5 million ($ in dollars) facility was government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO). Lukas–Harold Corporation, a subsidiary of the Norden Company, operated the plant manufacturing

Norden bombsight The Norden Mk. XV, known as the Norden M series in U.S. Army service, is a bombsight that was used by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and the United States Navy during World War II, and the United States Air Force in the Korean War, ...

s until September 1945. The plant received the

Army-Navy "E" Award The Army-Navy "E" Award was an honor presented to companies and organizations during World War II whose production facilities achieved "Excellence in Production" ("E") of war equipment. The award was also known as the Army-Navy Production Award. ...

in 1943, 1944, and 1945. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the site came under full control of the U.S. Navy and the plant continued its manufacturing and repair roles. The plant was renamed Naval Avionics Facility, Indianapolis (NAFI) in 1956, shifting its mission to avionics research and development for all military services. By 1977, the name was changed again to Naval Avionics Center, Indianapolis (NACI). Under its new name, the center designed and built prototype avionics, including

electronic countermeasure An electronic countermeasure (ECM) is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar, or other detection systems, like infrared (IR) or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting info ...

missile guidance Missile guidance refers to a variety of methods of guiding a missile or a guided bomb to its intended target. The missile's target accuracy is a critical factor for its effectiveness. Guidance systems improve missile accuracy by improving its P ...

technologies, and

guided bomb A guided bomb (also known as a smart bomb, guided bomb unit, or GBU) is a precision-guided munition designed to achieve a smaller circular error probable (CEP). The creation of precision-guided munitions resulted in the retroactive renaming of ...

s. The facility's last name change occurred in 1992—Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division Indianapolis. On recommendation from the

, the site was closed in 1996 and transferred ownership to Hughes Electronics Corporation on January 1, 1997. It was the "largest full-scale

privatization Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

of a military facility in U.S. history" at the time. Later that year,

Hughes Aircraft Company The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of the Hughes Tool Company. The company produced the Hughes H-4 Hercules air ...

was acquired by

Raytheon Company Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major List of United States defense contractors, U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Fou ...

and the facility was renamed the Raytheon Analysis & Test Laboratory (RATL), operating as part of the company's Intelligence, Information and Services (IIS) business unit. In December 2021,

Madison, Mississippi Madison is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, 11th most populous city in Mississippi, United States, located in Madison County, Mississippi, Madison County, north of the List of capitals in the United States, state capital, Jackson, Miss ...

-based Vertex Aerospace acquired the facility, now known as Vertex Technology & Training Solutions Division. In March 2022, Vertex announced a planned merger with

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

-based Vectrus to be completed in the third quarter of 2022.

References

{{INMilitary, state=collapsed Systems command installations of the United States Navy Closed installations of the United States Navy Military installations in Indiana Government buildings completed in 1942 1942 establishments in Indiana Military installations closed in 1996 Buildings and structures in Indianapolis Economy of Indianapolis

History

See also

References