Apr 28, 2025 | The Texas A&M University System
The BAM Range, a giant high-tech tool in the race for the world’s best weapons systems, is open for business on the Texas A&M-RELLIS Campus.
At a dedication ceremony Thursday, Lt. Gen. Miles Brown, deputy commanding general of Army Futures Command, was among federal and state leaders who applauded The Texas A&M University System for designing and building the BAM for the nation’s use.
“We want to bring hope to our allies and fear to our enemies, and we can’t do that without overmatch,” Brown said. “The BAM is a perfect example of product innovation” to overmatch potential adversaries “in emerging technologies.”
The BAM, an acronym for Ballistic Aero-Optics and Materials, is the nation’s biggest and most advanced enclosed testing range for laser and hypersonic weapons innovation, including new types of materials that can withstand hypervelocity impacts.
Advancing these technologies rapidly is vital if the U.S. is to have a technological edge over China, Russia and other potential adversaries.
“We’re living in dangerous times, perhaps the most dangerous since World War II,” U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in a video message to 150 stakeholders outside of the BAM in the late-morning ceremony. “The work being done here at the George H.W. Bush Combat Development Complex will bolster our defense and strengthen our national security.”
The BAM was built to close a critical gap in the U.S. research and development infrastructure between wind tunnels in laboratories and open-air testing ranges on military bases.
Compared with lab wind tunnels, the BAM’s larger scale — eight-feet in diameter and a half kilometer long — allows for more realistic experiments. Unlike open-range testing, the BAM is enclosed so researchers can leverage advanced diagnostic tools to measure weather effects and aerothermodynamics.
“We want to bring hope to our allies and fear to our enemies, and we can’t do that without overmatch. The BAM is a perfect example of product innovation” to overmatch potential adversaries “in emerging technologies.”
Testing on military bases takes months to arrange and costs tens of millions of dollars apiece. The BAM will host multiple tests weekly at a fraction of the cost.
“We cannot afford for our enemies to eclipse us militarily,” said Congressman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, in a separate video. “The BAM will put weapons in the hands of our war fighters faster and at a lower cost, ensuring that we can compete and win.”
Air Force Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Tim Green, director of Bush Combat Development Complex (BCDC), presided over the dedication of the BAM, the newest BCDC facility at Texas A&M-RELLIS.
The BAM range was built for about $65 million with funds from the U.S. Army, NASA, the State of Texas and the System. Plans are underway to extend the BAM to a full kilometer in the coming years.
Green stressed that Texas A&M University and the Texas A&M System have world-class scientists and engineering researchers who operate and use the BAM. They will play key roles in the discoveries and advancements.
These researchers have already begun using the BAM for directed energy research. Hypersonic-related experimental testing will now begin as well.
Although envisioned through a partnership between the Texas A&M System and Army Futures Command, the BAM will conduct national security experimental testing for government and industry partners as well as for space exploration and other types of advancements.
“It’s a research and test center like no other in the United States,” said John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M System. “The BAM represents the best of Texas: our unmatched commitment to serving and protecting our beloved nation.
Robert Albritton, chairman of the Texas A&M Board of Regents, said investing in national security is a top priority of the System’s governing board.
He also said the BAM and Texas A&M RELLIS reminds him the famous baseball movie expression: “If you build it, he will come.”
“We have built a “Field of Innovation,” Albritton told stakeholders. “With help from people like yourselves, we have assembled the best possible combination of physical facilities, high-tech know-how, and academic expertise. I look forward to watching as the BAM and the rest of this astounding research campus attracts more investment.”
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar, who will become the System’s chancellor when Sharp retires June 30, said he intends to nurture the development of the BAM, the BCDC, and the RELLIS research complex as a whole.
“With our partners,” Hegar added, “with the Army Futures Command and other national partners, we will continue to keep our country free.”