ATK's Pioneering Air Bursting Ammunition Technology Selected by U.S. Navy
Contract Win Highlights ATK's Total Gun System Approach
U.S. Marines Will be the First to Receive 30mm Advanced Medium Caliber System
MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) recently received a contract from the U.S. Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, Indiana, to provide 30mm air bursting ammunition for the U.S. Marine's Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. Under terms of the contract, ATK will provide 1200 rounds within the next six months to the U.S. Navy for qualification tests. The contract contains three production options for deliveries of 30mm air bursting ammunition. This is the first ever production contract for air bursting ammunition and highlights ATK's role as a gun-system provider of choice.
"Air bursting technology is the future of medium-caliber ammunition and we are proud to be selected as the system provider of this important new warfighting capability," said Mark DeYoung, President, ATK Ammunition Systems Group. "Air bursting technology will extend the life of today's gun systems by significantly enhancing their effectiveness and it will play a central role in the gun systems of tomorrow such as the U.S. Army's Future Combat System."
ATK's air bursting technology is an affordable, operator-friendly design that can be scaled down and integrated into other medium-caliber gun systems such as the 25mm M242 Chain Gun. The M242 is currently deployed on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and Light Armored Vehicle-25.
Key components of the system include ATK's Mk44 Chain Gun, a gun control unit with an inductive fuze setter; a fire control system and the 30mm x 173mm Air Bursting Munition. Milliseconds before the round is chambered, the sophisticated fuze is programmed to explode at the precise range selected by the gunner -- who uses an advanced laser range finder to determine the distance. Once the round exits the gun, the ATK-designed fuze technology computes the projectile's revolutions and velocity to determine the exact moment of detonation.
The first platform scheduled to incorporate ATK's 30mm air bursting ammunition will be the U.S. Marines Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, which is equipped with ATK's Mk44 Gun System. Other Mk44 platforms include the U.S. Navy's San Antonio Class LPD-17 amphibious ship, numerous NATO armored and ground combat vehicles, and potentially an up-gunned Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Work on the contract will be performed by ATK at facilities in Plymouth, Minnesota, Rocket Center, West Virginia, and Radford, Virginia.
ATK is a $3.4 billion advanced weapon and space systems company employing approximately 15,000 people in 22 states. News and information can be found on the Internet at http://www.atk.com/ .
Certain information discussed in this press release constitutes forward- looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although ATK believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Among those factors are: the challenges of developing next-generation air bursting ammunition, changes in governmental spending, budgetary policies and product sourcing strategies; the company's competitive environment; the terms and timing of awards and contracts; and economic conditions. ATK undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. For further information on factors that could impact ATK, and statements contained herein, please refer to ATK's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Media Contact: Bryce Hallowell Phone: 952-351-3087 E-mail: bryce.hallowell@atk.com Steve Wold Investor Contact: Phone: 952-351-3056 E-mail: steve.wold@atk.com
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