Sig Sauer aims to build firearms testing facility at its Pease HQ in Newington

Jeff McMenemy, Portsmouth Herald
·2 min read

NEWINGTON — Gunmaker and defense contractor Sig Sauer recently received concept approval from the Pease Board of Directors to build an addition on its Pease Boulevard headquarters.

The addition is needed to “meet contract obligations with the U.S. military, and will house facilities required for testing firearms,” according to Michael Mates, director of engineering for the Pease Development Authority.

“The new 1,550-square-foot expansion will be used to house two new bullet trap rooms and storage area,” Mates said. “These trap rooms are equipped with sand traps and bullet harvesting equipment used to collect spent bullets from firearm tests.”

Sig Sauer has corporate headquarters and a production facility in Newington, New Hampshire, at Pease International Tradeport.
Sig Sauer has corporate headquarters and a production facility in Newington, New Hampshire, at Pease International Tradeport.

The Board of Directors granted concept approval for the addition, which will be located on the south side of the company’s existing facility, earlier this month.

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The project is not anticipated to create any additional vehicular traffic, Mates said.

It will also likely not lead to the hiring of new employees, according to documents filed by Sig Sauer’s representatives with the PDA.

The news about the addition comes a year after Sig Sauer officials announced that between 130 to 180 people would work at its new building off Arboretum Drive at the Pease International Tradeport, including a mix of workers “in new jobs in addition to the movement of current departments within Sig Sauer that have space limitations,” the company said at the time.

In 2022, Sig Sauer was awarded “the largest small arms contract in history by the U.S. Army with the Next Generation Squad Weapons contract valued at over $4 billion with an aggressive delivery schedule,” said Samantha Piatt, Sig Sauer's director of communications and media relations.

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Sig Sauer already supplies every branch of the U.S. military with the Modular Handgun System for the M17 and M18, according to Piatt.

“These awards, in large part, have necessitated our expansion,” she added at the time.

“We are honored to be afforded the opportunity to support the U.S. Military as a premier defense contractor and proud to be one of New Hampshire’s largest employers,” Piatt said.

Two International Group – the well-known Seacoast developer – has been hired to build the new Sig Sauer facility on a 20-acre site, which will be home to the roughly 200,000-square-foot new building, according to documents filed with the PDA. Sig Sauer will be its tenant.

Because the Tradeport is home to the company’s headquarters and its main assembly facility, according to Piatt, “the proximity of the Arboretum property to our headquarters is optimal.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Sig Sauer plans firearms test facility at Pease in Newington NH