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ATK and BAE Systems Team Awarded $32.2 Million Contract to Develop Joint Allied Threat Awareness System (JATAS) for U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps Aircraft

ATK and BAE Systems to Begin 16 Month Technical Demonstration Phase Immediately
Work to be Performed at ATK's Woodland Hills, California and Clearwater, Florida Facilities and BAE Systems' Nashua, New Hampshire Facility

Nov 04, 2009

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) and BAE Systems announced they have been awarded a $32.2 million contract to develop the Joint Allied Threat Awareness System (JATAS). JATAS is the next-generation missile warning system that will provide protection for U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps helicopter and tilt-wing aircraft. The ATK and BAE Systems team was one of two industry teams selected to execute the JATAS Technology Demonstration (TD) phase, scheduled for 16 months. This phase will culminate in flight demonstrations of prototype systems and a final down-select award by the Navy. Work on the contract will be performed in ATK's Woodland Hills, California and Clearwater, Florida facilities and at BAE Systems' facility in Nashua, New Hampshire.

As the manufacturers of the AAR-47 and AAR-57 missile warning systems, respectively, ATK and BAE Systems bring experience from over 5,000 rotary-wing threat warning installations that span the U.S. military as well as several allied nations. The ATK and BAE missile warning systems have protected aircraft in Iraq and Afghanistan from Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS), known more familiarly as shoulder-fired missiles.

The JATAS system will protect aircrews from MANPADS, and also detect laser-guided weapons and hostile fire from small arms and rockets. JATAS is synthesized in an open architecture design that allows easy updates with other self-protection functions in the future. For example, the current expendable countermeasure can be augmented by a directable, infrared countermeasure (DIRCM) using existing interfaces.

"ATK and BAE Systems have developed and fielded combat-proven systems which have saved dozens of aircraft and their crews from hostile fire," said Bill Kasting, vice president and general manager of ATK's Integrated Systems division. "Our JATAS team brings together the best capabilities of our industry to develop an affordable, innovative and more capable system that aircrews can trust with their lives when flying in harm's way."

"The team is committed to providing the best protection available to Navy and Marine aircrews," said Jim Crouch, vice president and general manager of Survivability & Protection Solutions at BAE Systems. "The entire team brings a rich blend of competencies in electronic warfare, and we're poised to execute this important program for the warfighter."

Other members of the JATAS industry team include DRS, Goodrich, and Symetrics.

About ATK

ATK is a premier aerospace and defense company with more than 18,000 employees in 22 states, Puerto Rico and internationally, and revenues of approximately $4.8 billion. News and information can be found on the Internet at www.atk.com.

About BAE Systems

BAE Systems is a premier global defense, security and aerospace company delivering a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, security, information technology solutions and customer support services. With approximately 105,000 employees worldwide, BAE Systems' sales exceeded pounds Sterling 18.5 billion (US $34.4 billion) in 2008.

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: changes in governmental spending, budgetary policies and product sourcing strategies; assumptions related to the capabilities of the ATK/BAE teaming relationship and the challenges of developing next-generation missile warning technologies; the companies' 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.

    ATK Media Contact:                    ATK Investor Contact:
    Rod Gibbons                           Jeff Huebschen
    Phone:  410-864-4932                  Phone:  952-351-2929
    E-mail:  rod.gibbons@atk.com          E-mail:  jeff.huebschen@atk.com