MINNEAPOLIS---ATK (Alliant Techsystems) said it has received a $63 million contract to produce 120mm training ammunition for use by the U.S. Army's M1A1/A2 Abrams main battle tank. The production represents the second-year procurement under a five-year contract valued at $397 million awarded to ATK in 1999.
Under the second-year production contract, which was awarded by the U.S. Army Industrial Operations Command, Rock Island, Ill., ATK will manufacture approximately 123,000 training rounds. A portion of the rounds will be sold to U.S. allies that use the M1A1/A2 tank. Deliveries are slated to begin in March 2001 and continue through November 2001.
The contract will be managed by Alliant Ammunition Systems Company, New Brighton, Minn. Propellant for the rounds will be produced by Alliant Ammunition and Powder Company in Radford, Va. Metal parts will be fabricated by Alliant Missile Products Company in Rocket Center, W.Va. Alliant Kilgore Flares Company, Toone, Tenn., will produce the primer and tracer. All companies are operating units of ATK's Conventional Munitions Group.
Michael McCann, president, Alliant Ammunition Systems Company, said the design, development, and high-volume production of tank ammunition is one of the company's most important core businesses.
"We have a long and proud history of providing U.S. tank crews with high-quality, repeatable 120mm rounds,'' said McCann. "Program manager Tom Rockne and his 120mm tank training ammunition team are proud to carry on this tradition with this new production contract.''
ATK has delivered more than two million training and tactical tank ammunition rounds to the U.S. Army since 1985.
ATK is a $1.1 billion aerospace and defense company with leading market positions in munitions, solid propulsion, composite structures, and precision electronic fuzes. The company, which is headquartered in Hopkins, Minn., employs approximately 5,500 people and has three business segments: Conventional Munitions, Aerospace, and Defense Systems.
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ATK Awarded $63 Million Contract to Produce Tank Training Ammunition
