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ATK Awarded $7.5 Million Contract to Produce Composite Launch Tubes For Javelin Anti-Tank Weapon

Nov 29, 2000

ATK (Alliant Techsystems, NYSE: ATK) said it has been awarded a contract valued at $7.5 million from the Raytheon-Lockheed Martin Javelin Joint Venture to continue production of composite launch tubes for the Javelin Anti-Tank Weapon System. The contract represents the first of four annual procurements that could bring the total value of the multi-year program to nearly $27 million by 2004.

The medium-range Javelin system is the world's first one-man transportable and employable fire-and forget missile system. It entered full-rate production in 1997, and has been approved for international sales through the U.S. Army's Foreign Military Sales program.

ATK Missile Products Company will produce the Javelin launch tubes at its composite structures manufacturing facility at the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory in Rocket Center, W. Va.

Alex Priskos, president, ATK Missile Products Company, said the light weight, high strength, and overall reliability of ATK's composite materials make them ideally suited for tactical weapon systems such as Javelin.

"U.S. combat forces in the 21st century will be lighter, more lethal, and more rapidly deployed," said Priskos. "The highly effective lightweight Javelin system is at the forefront of this transformation. We are proud to be part of the Raytheon-Lockheed Martin team that is providing this important weapon to our nation's soldiers and Marines."

Priskos said ATK has produced more than 6,000 Javelin composite launch tubes since 1995.

Patented manufacturing techniques together with strict and uncompromising attention to process control, schedule, and low cost have made ATK one of the world's leading manufacturers of composite structures. The company operates more fiber placement machines than any other supplier in the world, and is also an industry leader in both hand laid-up and filament-wound composite structures.

Headquartered in Rocket Center, W. Va., ATK Missile Products Company is part of ATK's Aerospace segment, which comprises the corporation's propulsion and composite structures operations. The Aerospace segment employs approximately 2,300 people in California, Florida, Mississippi, New York, Utah, and West Virginia. Sales in fiscal year 2000 were $530 million.

ATK is a $1.1 billion aerospace and defense company with leading market positions in munitions, smart weapons and precision capabilities, propulsion, and composite structures. The company, which is headquartered in Hopkins, Minn., employs approximately 6,400 people and has three business segments: Conventional Munitions, Aerospace, and Defense Systems. ATK news and information can be found on the Internet at http://www.atk.com/

SOURCE: Alliant Techsystems

Contact: Media, Rod Bitz, 612-931-5413, rod_bitz@atk.com, or Investors,
Steve Wold, 612-931-6747, steve_wold@atk.com, both of Alliant Techsystems