#^Northrop Grumman tests second solid motor developed under 2025 SMART program
Northrop Grumman has successfully tested the Bombardment Attack Missile Motor 29! 2.0, also known as BAMM29! 2.0, solid rocket motor from a test stand at its facility in Promontory, Utah.
The BAMM29! 2.0 motor was developed in eight months on an accelerated timeline, as opposed to 18 to 24 months for traditional development programs. During the SMART program’s four years, it has demonstrated the ability to progress from trades to manufacturing readiness review in as few as six months.
BAMM29! 2.0 and its sister prototype motor, Solid Motor Adaptable Scalable Half Time/Cost !22 (SMASH!22), were both developed within a year as part of Northrop Grumman’s 2025 Solid Motor Annual Rocket Technology demonstrator (SMART) effort.
Two for two! We’ve successfully tested the BAMM!29 2.0, the second of two solid rocket motors designed and manufactured in less than a year as part of the SMART Demo program.https://t.co/0ZakF5CcPr pic.twitter.com/9LusxiWe16
— Northrop Grumman (@NGCNews) January 29, 2026
SMART was created to enable Northrop Grumman to test new technologies and suppliers more quickly and with higher technical risk than existing solid motor development methods. Existing development methods can take up to three years to develop a new solid rocket motor; SMART aims to reduce this time and costs.
SMASH!22 was tested on Dec. 4, 2025, and the 100,000 N (22,000 lbf) thrust motor fired for 26 seconds while testing multiple new technologies, manufacturing methods, and supply chain providers. Pre-test conditions agreed with performance data, and the company considers the test a success.
The 29-inch diameter BAMM29! 2.0 motor, wider but slightly shorter than the 22-inch diameter SMASH!22, is the second motor to be tested as part of the 2025 SMART effort after SMASH!22’s successful test last month.
The BAMM29!2.0 motor test on Jan. 29, 2026. (Credit: Northrop Grumman)
BAMM29! 2.0 is not a replacement for an existing system, but some of its technologies and methods could be applied to future production motors. The BAMM design can be applicable to air launch, ground launch, strike, and hypersonic missions. The BAMM motor tested new additively manufactured tooling and components, including a hybrid polymer propellant mold set and casting tool components.
BAMM29! 2.0 also tested a lightweight nozzle, an elastomer environmental seal, and elastomer propellant cast interfaces. Elastomers are rubber-like solids that are highly elastic polymers and can regain their original shape after being stretched.
The lining on the inner diameter of the motor case was sprayed robotically, and the hard tooling for this motor was modular to reduce lead time while still using complex geometries to increase performance. Lead time for tooling can exceed a year in the traditional development process.
The BAMM motor also tested alternate suppliers for carbon-carbon and insulators used in the nozzle. This test used advanced ablation and ballistic modeling methods.
The BAMM29! 2.0 motor after finishing its 35 second long test firing. (Credit: Northrop Grumman)
The motor, capable of up to 151,200 N (34,000 lbf) of thrust, was scheduled to fire for 35 seconds. The test was scheduled for 1:00 PM MST (20:00 UTC), but an issue with the data collection system occurred during the first dry run of the day. The issue was resolved, and controllers successfully completed a second dry run, allowing the test to proceed, but with a 90-minute delay until 2:30 PM MST (21:30 UTC).
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BAMM29! 2.0 successfully fired for a full duration burn, and initial analysis shows good agreement between pre-test predictions and measured data for key parameters. The new technologies being tested also showed nominal performance during the initial analysis, though the company will assess the data more deeply in the weeks ahead.
The BAMM29! 2.0 uses advanced manufacturing methods, reduces weight, and offers increased performance compared to the earlier BAMM 1.0 motor. Northrop Grumman tested one motor each in 2023 and 2024 under SMART before developing two motors in 2025.
Northrop Grumman is currently conducting trades to downselect a final configuration for the 2026 SMART campaign. The company is also partnering with customers to understand emerging needs in these trades.
Allegany Ballistics Laboratory in Rocket Center, West Virginia. (Credit: Northrop Grumman)
The chosen motor configuration may be tailored to meet a particular requirement or might be capable of multiple mission configurations. The final configuration is expected to be selected in the near future.
The company has spent over $1 billion since 2018 on production facilities in Utah, with 500,000 square feet of production space and an additional 100,000 square feet. Northrop Grumman also tripled its capacity at the Allegany facility in West Virginia and doubled its capacity at its Elkton, Maryland, facility. Technologies, methods, and suppliers tested by the SMART program could be used in production designs at these facilities.
(Lead image: Northrop Grumman BAMM29! 2.0 motor test firing in Promontory, Utah, on Thursday, Jan. 29. Credit: Northrop Grumman)
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Northrop Grumman tests second solid motor developed under 2025 SMART program appeared first on
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