NTC Group portfolio company The Entwistle Company has developed a new prototype, in partnership with the US Navy, which functions as a reloading system for destroyer ships. This new technology is called the Transferrable Reload At-sea Method (TRAM), which promises to slash the time needed for missile reloading, potentially to just days.

This new project comes as Pentagon strategists worry that if fighting broke out in the western Pacific – potentially 5,000 miles from a secure Navy base – destroyers, cruisers and other big warships could run out of vital ammunition within days, or maybe hours. Today, the only U.S. warships that can be sustained indefinitely at sea and continue fighting are 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and nine smaller amphibious assault ships, none of which carry vertical missile silos.

TRAM could increase that number roughly fivefold, taking the total to around 100 warships without building a single new hull. At NTC Group, we’re proud to support our portfolio companies as they innovate for the future.

Learn more in the Wall Street Journal article, “China Tensions Prompt U.S. Navy Race to Reload Missiles at Sea.”