Book Description

"It started as land purchased in 1880 to fill the Ordnance Department's need for a powder depot near the Atlantic Coast. Once an enterprise to produce and store something so explosively dangerous had gotten underway, a continuous inflow of expertise was needed to make that enterprise flourish. This begins to explain how the Dover Powder Depot grew from a modest operation to supply gunpowder into the nation's principle ammunition loading operation at the start of World War II. Today, Picatinny Arsenal is a brainpower hub where more than 5,000 scientists, engineers and support staff turn leading-edge technology into the weapons, ammunition, and related production and storage designs to make United States service members the best-armed fighters in the world. [This book] chronicles the development of this enduring national asset. The armaments developers who work at Picatinny Arsenal today are part of a legacy of providing state-of-the-art weapons designs that have directly influenced outcomes in numerous U.S. battles and campaigns."--Page 4 of cover.