ATK to Develop Hard Target Void Sensing Fuze for BLU-109 and BLU-113 Penetrators

Released on Wednesday, April 23, 2008

MINNEAPOLIS, April 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) has received a nine million dollar contract from the U.S. Air Force to develop a Hard Target Void Sensing Fuze (HTVSF) under the Joint Capabilities Technology Demonstration (JCTD) program. The contract was awarded by the Air Armament Center, Eglin AFB, Fla. The JCTD program will span 27 months and cover the design, testing, and demonstration of ATK's HTVSF against specified Air Force requirements. If ATK is selected to complete all phases of the program, System Demonstration and Development (SDD), and full- rate production, the company believes the value of the program could exceed $250 million.

The HTVSF is a cockpit programmable system that will provide multi-delay arming and detonation, as well as a void sensing function, for the BLU-113 or BLU-109 weapon to penetrate and destroy hardened targets.

ATK is an industry leader in advanced fuze technology. The company's all- electronic HTVSF design builds on this extensive design experience and production expertise and incorporates advanced impact-hardened electronics technology to offer the warfighter unprecedented capability against the most sophisticated buried targets.

"ATK has been developing hard target defeat fuze technology for nearly a decade," said Bart Olson, Vice President and General Manager, ATK Tactical Propulsion and Controls division. "By taking the best attributes from our previous programs and applying the latest technologies, we will deliver a fuze that puts unprecedented precision into the hands of our warfighters," he added.

ATK was one of two contractors awarded a contract for the JCTD phase. Following the JCTD phase of the program, the Air Force will down-select to one contractor who will be awarded a follow-on SDD contract valued at approximately $40 million. The SDD phase will be followed by the low-rate initial production phase and will transition into full production in the 2013 time frame.

ATK will perform the design work and testing of the HTVSF at its Plymouth, Minn. facility. Fuze production will occur at ATK's manufacturing center of excellence in Rocket Center, W.Va.