Indian Head Naval Surface Warfare Center

{{Short description|United States naval military installation in Charles County, Maryland}}

{{Infobox military installation

| name = Naval Support Facility Indian Head

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| partof = Naval Support Activity South Potomac

| location =

| nearest_town = Indian Head, Maryland

| country = the United States

| image = Indian Head NSWC image.png

| alt =

| caption = An aerial view of NSF Indian Head

| image2 = 150px

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| type = Naval Support Facility and military proving ground

| coordinates = {{Coord|38|35|18.88|N|77|10|9.12|W|display=inline,title}}

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| pushpin_map = Maryland#USA

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| pushpin_map_alt =

| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Maryland##Location in the United States

| pushpin_relief =

| pushpin_image =

| pushpin_label = Indian Head

| pushpin_label_position = bottom

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| ownership = Department of Defense

| operator = US Navy

| controlledby = Naval District Washington

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| built = {{Start date|1890}}

| used = 1890 – present

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| fate =

| condition = Operational

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| current_commander = Captain Steve Duba

| past_commanders =

| garrison = Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division

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| website = {{Official website|https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NSWC-Indian-Head/}}

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Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division (NSWC IHD) is a United States Navy installation in Charles County, Maryland. Part of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), it is one of ten divisions of the Naval Surface Warfare Center (WFC). Its mission is to research, develop, test, evaluate, and produce energetics (i.e., explosives, propellants, pyrotechnics, reactive materials, related chemicals and fuels and their application in propulsion systems and ordnance).

The U.S. Navy's presence in Indian Head dates to 1890, when the Bureau of Ordnance dispatched Robert B. Dashiell to establish a naval ordnance center.{{cite news|last1=Hoyer|first1=Steny H.|title=Hoyer celebrates 125th anniversary of Naval Support Facility Indian Head|url=https://hoyer.house.gov/press-releases/hoyer-celebrates-125th-anniversary-of-naval-support-facility-indian-head/|accessdate=November 21, 2016|date=September 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916071050/https://hoyer.house.gov/press-releases/hoyer-celebrates-125th-anniversary-of-naval-support-facility-indian-head/ |archive-date=September 16, 2016 |via=Wayback Machine}} Dashiell served as Inspector in Charge of Ordnance there from 1890 to 1893.{{cite book|last1=Carlisle|first1=Rodney|title=Powder and propellants : energetic materials at Indian Head, Maryland, 1890-2001|date=2002|publisher=University of North Texas Press|location=Denton, Tex.|isbn=9781574411492|page=121|edition=2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LGRLJMWT3DUC|accessdate=21 November 2016}} During World War I, the facility served as Naval Proving Ground, Indian Head.

It is the United States Department of Defense (DoD)'s largest full-spectrum energetics facility. It employs more than 1,900 people,{{Cite web |title=NSWC Indian Head Division Employees Recognized at Command Honorary Awards Ceremony |url=https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Media/News/SavedNewsModule/Article/3035621/nswc-indian-head-division-employees-recognized-at-command-honorary-awards-cerem/https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Media/News/SavedNewsModule/Article/3035621/nswc-indian-head-division-employees-recognized-at-command-honorary-awards-cerem/ |access-date=2022-09-29 |website=Naval Sea Systems Command |language=en-US}}{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} including more than 850 are scientists, engineers, and technicians that develop and sustain explosives, propellants, pyrotechnics, high-energy chemicals, and their application to weapons. In addition, NSWC Indian Head has the WFC's largest concentration of Ph.Ds working in energetics, including the highest number of synthetic chemists, detonation physicists, and formulation scientists.{{Cite web |last=Coordinator |first=Site |date=2022-07-10 |title=NSWC IHD Holds NEST Collaboration Event At CSM Velocity Center |url=http://thebaynet.com/nswc-ihd-holds-nest-collaboration-event-at-csm-velocity-center/ |access-date=2022-09-29 |website=The BayNet |language=en-US}}

The Division pursues basic research, applied technology, technology demonstration, prototyping, engineering development, acquisition, low-rate production, in-service engineering/mishaps and failure investigations, surveillance, and demilitarization.{{Cite web |date=2022-08-23 |title=The Dangerous Depletion of U.S. Weapon Arsenals |url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2022/august/dangerous-depletion-us-weapon-arsenals |access-date=2022-09-29 |website=U.S. Naval Institute |language=en}}

As the U.S. Navy’s lead technical authority in the United States, NSWC Indian Head performs more than 60% of all Navy energetics workload, and has an unmatched record of 13 Navy-qualified explosives used in 47 Navy, Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps weapons. Seventy-five percent of all explosives deployed in U.S. weapons were developed by NSWC Indian Head.

The main site for NSWC IHD is at Naval Support Facility Indian Head, a 3,500-acre peninsula along the Potomac River in southern Maryland, at the southern terminus of the Indian Head Highway. It also has operations in McAlester, Oklahoma; Colts Neck, New Jersey; Ogden, Utah; Louisville, Kentucky, and Picatinny, New Jersey.