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ATK Awarded $10 Million Contract to Produce Propellant for Modular Artillery Charge System

Three-Year Program has Potential Total Value of $42 Million

Dec 19, 2002

Minneapolis, Dec. 19, 2002 – ATK (Alliant Techsystems, NYSE: ATK) has been awarded a $10 million contract from the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center (ARDEC), Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., to produce propellant for the Modular Artillery Charge System (MACS) M231 Propelling Charge. The contract award represents the first-year procurement under a three-year program with a potential total value of $42 million.

ATK Ammunition and Powder, one of three operating units within ATK’s Ammunition Group, will produce the propellant at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant in Radford, Va., which it operates for the U.S. Army. The company and ARDEC jointly developed and qualified the propellant – the first environmentally friendly single base propellant in use by the U.S. Army.

The MACS is a modular propelling charge system consisting of the M231 (Low Zone) and M232 (High Zone) Propelling Charges, which replaces all current 155mm propelling charges for existing howitzers. It eliminates the need to dispose of unused propelling charges and greatly reduces the U.S. Army’s logistical costs for propelling charges.

"MACS propellant is a significant portion of the business base at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant," said Pat Nolan, president, ATK Ammunition and Powder. "This is a significant win for the plant and ATK. It maintains Radford’s role on the MACS program for the next several years, and enhances the affordability of other Radford products supplied to the Department of Defense."

ATK is a $2.1 billion aerospace and defense company with leading positions in propulsion, composite structures, munitions, and precision capabilities. The company, which is headquartered in Edina, Minn., employs approximately 11,500 people and has three business groups: Aerospace, Precision Systems, and Ammunition. ATK news and information can be found on the Internet at www.atk.com.

The statements included in this news release regarding the potential total value of the three-year propellant production program and the effect on ATK Ammunition and Powder of its role in that program, as described by the president of ATK Ammunition and Powder, are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results, including changes in governmental spending and budgetary policies, economic conditions, equity market returns, the company’s competitive environment, the timing of awards and contracts, the outcome of contingencies, including litigation and environmental remediation, program performance, and sales projections, in addition to other factors identified in ATK’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.