Our Story

• Founded in 1958 as Hanley Industries on the grounds of the St. Louis Army Ammunition Plant, our company has over six decades of experience innovating in energetics. We began by supplying explosive bolts for NASA in the 1960’s (contributing to early U.S. space missions), and during the Vietnam War we achieved prodigious output, at one point delivering 40,000 detonators per day to support U.S. munitions. In the years since, we have reached many milestones, including:
• 1995: Selected to provide critical energetics for the Army’s new M783 mortar fuze, enhancing mortar system reliability.
• 1998: Developed a safety-critical rocket motor igniter for an Air Force ejection seat parachute deployment system – a device credited with saving 130+ lives to date through successful ejections.
• 2016: Awarded a contract to supply energetics for the Hydra-70 rocket system’s fuze/safe & arm sequence, underscoring our role in advanced rocket munitions.
• 2023: Rebranded as Riverbend Energetics under new leadership, positioning the company for growth while building on its rich heritage of quality and innovation.

Throughout our history, we have been driven by the needs of our end customs – the U.S. warfighter and our allied partners. Our mission aligns with the DoD’s imperative to field dominating capabilities rapidly and reliably. Looking ahead, Riverbend Energetics is actively expanding our capacity and investing in new technologies to support emerging defense programs.