Nitradyn awarded $581 million DoW contract to build new IMX-104 manufacturing plant in Kentucky, establishing a diverse modern explosives manufacturing campus

TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Nitradyn, LLC has been awarded a $581 million contract from the Department of War to design, construct, and commission a new domestic Insensitive Munition Explosive‑104 (IMX‑104) production facility in Graham, Kentucky.

IMX-104, a mixture of three explosives, RDX, NTO, and DNAN, is a critical explosive formulation used across multiple defense applications. With the commissioning of the new facility, Nitradyn will manufacture all of these constituent explosives plus the critical explosive, HMX.

Additionally, the new facility will be located at the same Graham, Kentucky site where The U.S. Army is constructing a facility for the production of TNT, creating a diverse explosives manufacturing campus. This project integrates advanced defense engineering and modern explosives manufacturing to strengthen and restore vital energetics capacity within the United States.

The award marks an important milestone for Nitradyn, which was founded in 2025 to manufacture and supply explosives, propellants, and energetic materials for both defense and commercial customers. Once complete, the facility is expected to produce approximately 8 million pounds of IMX-104 annually, and is expected to have excess capacity to produce other formulations.

Braden Lusk, President of Nitradyn said: "This contract is an investment in America's ability to produce critical munitions. The incorporation of this project into the same site as the TNT project gives the Department of War a true advanced explosives manufacturing campus, with capability to produce a diverse range of formulations, and we look forward to bringing it all online.

Building this facility strengthens our domestic industrial base, creates high-quality American jobs, and ensures that our nation has the capacity to meet the demands of tomorrow. We are proud to play our part in making America's defense industrial base stronger, more resilient, and ready."

The new facility is expected to be fully commissioned before the end of 2030.

About Nitradyn

Nitradyn, LLC was established in 2025 and is an energetic and propellants manufacturer supplying explosives, propellants, and energetic materials to defense and industrial customers. Nitradyn is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Nitradyn is a joint venture between Dyno Nobel Limited – a global leader in explosives technology and services for the mining and resources industries and Paligen Chemical, LLC. – leading defense prime operating in the US defense industry.

Media Contact 

Ashley Toohey

Paligen Technologies, Inc.

[email protected]

SOURCE Nitradyn, LLC