alms ‘Tests of Assemblies and Components These include: Wind-tunnel ballistic tests (case assembly); static load tests; environ- mental tests (actual and simulated); vibration tests; climatic tests (arctic, tropic, desert); stability tests (physical stability); functional tests; tool-made sample evaluations, Tests of warhead installations for missiles and rockets are analogous to those for the free-fall bombs. Complete installations and their components are flight tested with the carriers for which they are being developed. Some of the tests are made at widely separated places. Warhead installation tests are made at White Sands (New Mexico), Holloman AFB (New Mexico), Inyokern (California), Point Mugu (California), LRPG (Florida), as well as at Salton Sea (California). Environ- mental tests are made at locations in Minnesota, Florida, and Alaska. Wind-tunnel tests are made at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, Cal. Tech. in California, Cornell in New York, and Langley Field, in Virginia; and tests of gun-type weapons were made at Aberdeen, Maryland, and Dahlgren, Virginia. Most of the drop tests of free-fall bombs are made at Salton Sea and at Muroc, California. . In carrying on their development operations and test activities, both LASL and the Sandia Corporation have been assisted appreciably by Bendix-Royal, another member of the SFO family, and by other Government agencies such as the Bureau of Ordnance (Navy), Office Chief of Ordnance (Army), AMC (USAF), NOL (Navy), National Bureau of Standards, and the NACA, Procurement The purchasing organization, in addition to its current procurement operations, as- sumed responsibility on July 1, 1950, for the completion of all open contracts and purchase actions previously negotiated by the AEC procurement offices at New York, Los Angeles, and Santa Fe, for materials and services applying on Sandia Laboratory research and development and production. At the time the average number of purchase orders placed per month was 1,400 on vendors and 80 on the AEC. The monthly payments averaged $2, 600, 000 to vendors, and transfers from the AEC amounted to $1, 100, 000. With the rapid increase in the research and development and production programs in the succeeding three years, heavy responsibilities were placed on all organizations to obtain the necessary materials and services required. By June 1953, the volumeof orders and contracts placed per month was 3,500 on vendors and 164 on the AEC with monthly payments to vendors of $7,000, 000 and $2, 500, 000 for AEC transfers. The number of recorded vendors increased from 4, 200 to 5, 700 during ‘the three-year period. In placing this increased volume of business, full consideration was given to small businesses qualified to Se hd handle the Sandia work. A controlled material plan which provided for the allotment of critical materials, both for the Corporation and its vendors, was placed in operation and as a result no serious delays were encountered due to the lack of materials. Production ALGO Production activities of the Laboratory were divided between the model shop and the weapons assembly. shop. ORD aa ac 71