Defense Industry Daily July 23, 2009
Alliant to Supply M1028 120mm Tank Rounds
Alliant Techsystems in Minneapolis, MN received a firm-fixed-price contract with a maximum value of $7.6 million to supply M1028 120mm canister catridges to the U.S. Army. The contract has a base year and 4 one-year options.
The U.S. Army Joint Munitions & Lethality Life Cycle Management Command (JM&L LCMC) manages the contract (W15QKN-08-C-0473).
The M1028 is a tank fired, anti-personnel canister cartridge intended to be used against advancing dismounted infantry armed with hand held anti-tank and automatic weapons at close range.
The cartridge is to be fired from the M1A1/M1A2 Abrams main battle tank with the M256 smoothbore cannon.
DID has more on the M1028 as well as the Army facilities that Alliant will be supplying…
According to Globalsecurity.org, the M1028 is a tank round comprised of 1150 (est.) tungsten balls, which are expelled upon muzzle exit. There is no fuse on this round. While the dispersion pattern increases with range as the velocity of the balls decreases, the dense tungsten balls are used to minimize the velocity fall-off. The cartridge has been successfully tested against vehicles, structure walls and for obstacle reduction capabilities.
The Army facilities that will receive the canister catridges are:
* Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD
* Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond, KY
* Crane Army Ammo, Crane, IN
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