...BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. – MAC LLC may be a young company, but it’s
already part of a select group of some two dozen contractors nationwide
working on technologies the Department of Defense considers critical for
national security.
...In this case, it’s lightweight, small-caliber ammunition that will not only
allow troops to carry more into battle, but also has a higher muzzle velocity
and is more accurate than conventional rounds.
...With an official grand opening in April, MAC’s first goal is to finish
renovating the 30,000 square-foot facility, and its second goal is to set up the
initial pilot line that will be capable of producing a million rounds of
ammunition by the end of the year. The company hopes to have the capacity
to produce 3 million to 5 million rounds by the middle of next year.
...Employment over time will go from the current eight to 15 by the end of the
year and, eventually, 50. Not bad for a facility that was vacated in the wake
of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The company
...MAC focuses on polymer-based products for the military and law
enforcement markets. As the company itself phrases it, its focus is
“lightweighting of components” for the military and law enforcement
organizations. Its employees have years of experience in polymer and ceramic
material science.
...MAC began operations in Port Bienville in 2007 in a building it leases from
Hancock County through the Port & Harbor Commission. The state, through
the Mississippi Development Authority, awarded to Hancock County $2.5
million in Hurricane-related Community Development Block Grant funds to
repair and improve the facilities.
...That was a factor in the company choosing Hancock County, but only one
factor.
...MAC is an example of a branch of a technology family tree – a
development model that characterizes so many high-tech companies in
California. It occurs when former employees or groups of employees go out
and form a new company, taking a technology in a different direction.
...In this case, the company traces its roots to Mississippi Polymer
Technologies, a long-time tenant of Port Bienville Industrial Park. MAC’s
chairman, Robert Gagne, and its president, Nick Malkovich, both worked for
MPT before it was purchased by Belgium conglomerate Solvay.
...Gagne, in fact, is the man responsible for moving MPT from California to
Mississippi.
...It was at MPT that work began on the light-weight munitions.
...“The whole thing started as a dare,” said Malkovich. He said that in many
high-tech companies filled with bright, innovative people, “you get sucked into
all kinds of side projects.”
...“You get a whole bunch of geeks in a room, with me one of them, and I
said ‘I think we can solve it,’” said Malkovich. It was later that they came up
with something that “closely resembled the solution.”
...The problem was, ammunition was not part of the strategic thrust of MPT.
Then when MPT was sold – and renamed Solvay Advanced Polymers – the
munitions project became even more peripheral. Though the new owners
were not interested, Gagne and Malkovich believed the government was.
...Opportunity knocked.
...“We wrote a patent application at time. That was the genesis of MAC,” said
Malkovich.
Essential technology
...MAC’s work on light-weight ammo is funded by the Defense Production
Act Title III program. Run by the Air Force, it’s designed to ensure domestic
sources of production for critical technologies. Its mission is to “create
assured, affordable, and commercially viable production capabilities and
capacities for items essential for national defense.”
...The list of critical technologies and the companies doing the work isn’t long.
There are 27 contractors nationwide involved in the development and
production of 25 critical technologies. These are materials and technologies
that might not exist if subjected to market pressures, in part because of the
degree of research required.
...The products are all of use to the military and range from lithium ion
batteries, silicon carbide monolithic microwave integrated circuit devices,
military lens systems, high temperature superconductors and more.
...Of the 27 companies, only three are located on the Gulf Coast – one in
Pinellas Park, Fla., and two in South Mississippi. The Mississippi companies
are Hybrid Plastics of Hattiesburg, which works on nano-scale material that
can, among other things, improve shielding of aerospace electronics, and
MAC for its lightweight ammunition work.
...The brochure says this about the lightweight-munitions:
...“The objective of this effort is to establish a domestic source for the
production of light-weight ammunition cartridge casings using an ultra-high
strength, melt-processible, isotropic, amorphous, rigid-rod, self-reinforcing
polyparaphenylene material. Ammunition casings produced with this material
provide significant advantages over traditional brass casings such as decreased
combat carrying weight, increased muzzle velocities, improved weapons
accuracy, better corrosion-resistance, lower cost and increased savings from
production synergies as well as lower deployment and transportation cost.”
...Technical, yes, but that’s the way DoD sees MAC’s work.
...“We’ve replaced about 80 percent of the brass with plastic,” said
Malkovich, with the main goal being to save weight – as much as 25 to 35
percent. People have been trying to do that for 50 years, he said, with shotgun
shells the most successful. But the high pressure and high demand of military
munitions poses problems for plastics. It’s only been in recent years that
materials became available that could address the problems. - David Tortorano
April 2009
already part of a select group of some two dozen contractors nationwide
working on technologies the Department of Defense considers critical for
national security.
...In this case, it’s lightweight, small-caliber ammunition that will not only
allow troops to carry more into battle, but also has a higher muzzle velocity
and is more accurate than conventional rounds.
...With an official grand opening in April, MAC’s first goal is to finish
renovating the 30,000 square-foot facility, and its second goal is to set up the
initial pilot line that will be capable of producing a million rounds of
ammunition by the end of the year. The company hopes to have the capacity
to produce 3 million to 5 million rounds by the middle of next year.
...Employment over time will go from the current eight to 15 by the end of the
year and, eventually, 50. Not bad for a facility that was vacated in the wake
of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The company
...MAC focuses on polymer-based products for the military and law
enforcement markets. As the company itself phrases it, its focus is
“lightweighting of components” for the military and law enforcement
organizations. Its employees have years of experience in polymer and ceramic
material science.
...MAC began operations in Port Bienville in 2007 in a building it leases from
Hancock County through the Port & Harbor Commission. The state, through
the Mississippi Development Authority, awarded to Hancock County $2.5
million in Hurricane-related Community Development Block Grant funds to
repair and improve the facilities.
...That was a factor in the company choosing Hancock County, but only one
factor.
...MAC is an example of a branch of a technology family tree – a
development model that characterizes so many high-tech companies in
California. It occurs when former employees or groups of employees go out
and form a new company, taking a technology in a different direction.
...In this case, the company traces its roots to Mississippi Polymer
Technologies, a long-time tenant of Port Bienville Industrial Park. MAC’s
chairman, Robert Gagne, and its president, Nick Malkovich, both worked for
MPT before it was purchased by Belgium conglomerate Solvay.
...Gagne, in fact, is the man responsible for moving MPT from California to
Mississippi.
...It was at MPT that work began on the light-weight munitions.
...“The whole thing started as a dare,” said Malkovich. He said that in many
high-tech companies filled with bright, innovative people, “you get sucked into
all kinds of side projects.”
...“You get a whole bunch of geeks in a room, with me one of them, and I
said ‘I think we can solve it,’” said Malkovich. It was later that they came up
with something that “closely resembled the solution.”
...The problem was, ammunition was not part of the strategic thrust of MPT.
Then when MPT was sold – and renamed Solvay Advanced Polymers – the
munitions project became even more peripheral. Though the new owners
were not interested, Gagne and Malkovich believed the government was.
...Opportunity knocked.
...“We wrote a patent application at time. That was the genesis of MAC,” said
Malkovich.
Essential technology
...MAC’s work on light-weight ammo is funded by the Defense Production
Act Title III program. Run by the Air Force, it’s designed to ensure domestic
sources of production for critical technologies. Its mission is to “create
assured, affordable, and commercially viable production capabilities and
capacities for items essential for national defense.”
...The list of critical technologies and the companies doing the work isn’t long.
There are 27 contractors nationwide involved in the development and
production of 25 critical technologies. These are materials and technologies
that might not exist if subjected to market pressures, in part because of the
degree of research required.
...The products are all of use to the military and range from lithium ion
batteries, silicon carbide monolithic microwave integrated circuit devices,
military lens systems, high temperature superconductors and more.
...Of the 27 companies, only three are located on the Gulf Coast – one in
Pinellas Park, Fla., and two in South Mississippi. The Mississippi companies
are Hybrid Plastics of Hattiesburg, which works on nano-scale material that
can, among other things, improve shielding of aerospace electronics, and
MAC for its lightweight ammunition work.
...The brochure says this about the lightweight-munitions:
...“The objective of this effort is to establish a domestic source for the
production of light-weight ammunition cartridge casings using an ultra-high
strength, melt-processible, isotropic, amorphous, rigid-rod, self-reinforcing
polyparaphenylene material. Ammunition casings produced with this material
provide significant advantages over traditional brass casings such as decreased
combat carrying weight, increased muzzle velocities, improved weapons
accuracy, better corrosion-resistance, lower cost and increased savings from
production synergies as well as lower deployment and transportation cost.”
...Technical, yes, but that’s the way DoD sees MAC’s work.
...“We’ve replaced about 80 percent of the brass with plastic,” said
Malkovich, with the main goal being to save weight – as much as 25 to 35
percent. People have been trying to do that for 50 years, he said, with shotgun
shells the most successful. But the high pressure and high demand of military
munitions poses problems for plastics. It’s only been in recent years that
materials became available that could address the problems. - David Tortorano
April 2009
Advanced materials
MAC: Aiming to lighten the load
MAC: Aiming to lighten the load
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