Notice of Sole Source to Physics Applications Inc.

Added: Mar 23, 2015 5:17 pm Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) needs to acquire two ballistic chambers and one gas launcher to support ongoing projects in reactive materials and electromagnetic launcher technology. We require the following items for this purchase:



Item 1: Single-stage gas launcher with enclosed ballistic range to conduct terminal ballistics experiments. The launcher should be capable of launching projectiles with sabots to velocities between 50 and 1200 m/s, with the 1200 m/s figure achievable for a 10mm aluminum sphere and sabot combination. The gas launcher should be able to operate on nitrogen or helium, with helium being required for the highest velocity performance. The system should include the following items:

• Smooth bore launch tube, roughly 0.5” in diameter and 120” long.

• High pressure reservoir with fast-opening value.

Reservoir pressures capable of up to 5000 psi.

• Blast tank to contain gas exit from the muzzle of the launcher. Blast tank should contain a sabot stop assembly and a port to vent.

• Floor mount to support entire launch assembly and blast tank (42” centerline height).

• Drift tube at downrange end of blast tank with two pairs of ports for optical velocity measurement system. Drift tube should have a square cross section.

• 2-station optical (light screen) projectile velocity measurement system.

• Target chamber past the velocity measurement system, 12” diameter by 12” long with three radially oriented instrumentation ports.

• Catch tank (12” diameter by 30” long) to collect impact debris.

• Stand to support garget tank and catch tank and position them on the range centerline.

The catch should be able to be slide off-axis for easy servicing.

• Remote operated gas handling system to fill reservoir and activate the fast release valve to launch the sabot/projectile.

• Air-driven gas booster system to increase pressure of user-supplied bottled gas up to 6000 psi. 1.5 cubic feet, 6000 psi storage cylinder with connecting hose should be included and ready to hook up to shop air supply (80-100 psi).

• Shipping to NPS applied physics facility.

• Operation manual.



Item 2: Sabots for 0.5” bore gas launcher to conduct ballistics testing. These sabots must be ensured to work with the gas launcher system in Item 1. Sabots should meet the following specifications:

• 4-piece serrated sabot to launch sub-caliber projectiles from smoothbore launch tube described in Item 1.

Sabots should be made from glass-reinforced polymer.

• Sabot design should be able to accommodate either spherical or cylindrical projectiles with diameters from 2mm to 10mm.

• NPS requires 50 sabots to launch spherical 10mm projectiles, and 50 sabots to launch 10mm diameter cylinders. A total of 100 sabots are requested for this contract.



Item 3: An enclosed ballistic range that will be coupled to an electromagnetic launcher system. The system must be able to contain the muzzle blast, plasma, and impact debris associated with a small-caliber electromagnetic launcher. The following items must be included in this range system:

• Blast tank to contain the muzzle blast of electromagnetic launcher.

This should contain features downrange for mountain of a sabot stop assembly. The tank should be supported on four legs at a 42” centerline height. Must include a port to vent the tank.

• Drift tube downrange of blast tank with two pairs of ports for break-screen holders. Drift tube will have a square cross section.

• 2-station break screen projectile velocity measurement system.

• Target chamber (12” diameter and 24” long) with three radially oriented instrumentation ports.

• Catch tank (12” diameter by 24” long) to collect impact debris.

• Stand to support target tank and catch tank on the range centerline and allow catch tank to be easily moved off-axis for servicing.

• Shipment to NPS via a standard carrier.



Delivery must occur within four months of award of contract.