Ballistic Aero-Optics and Materials (BAM) Facility

The Ballistic Aero-Optics and Materials (BAM) facility includes a 1-km-long testing tunnel for hypersonic missiles, the nation’s largest hypersonic tunnel. The Pentagon has previously done the majority of its hypersonics testing in Ames, CA at the NASA facility’s wind tunnel, which measures 80x120ft. The federal government appropriated $35M in FY24 and is considering an additional $30M appropriation in FY25 for the necessary specialized equipment to expand the range to 1 km. The BAM Range is located at Texas A&M-RELLIS in Bryan, TX and Phase I is scheduled to be completed in spring 2025, with a total length of 565 meters.