Alliant Techsystems has received follow-on production contracts valued at $32 million to produce rocket motors and warheads for the precision-strike laser-guided HELLFIRE II missile. ATK will manufacture approximately 7,100 rocket motors and 2,200 metal augmented charge (MAC) warheads at its manufacturing facility in Rocket Center, West Virginia. The contracts were awarded by Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor for the HELLFIRE II missile.

ATK was awarded the HELLFIRE II baseline contract in November 2008 to produce and deliver rocket motors and warheads. The most recent follow-on contracts represent the first option to the baseline, with deliveries scheduled to begin in April, 2011, and completed by July, 2012. A second option could be awarded in late 2010.

"This order builds on ATK's HELLFIRE heritage of reliability and effectiveness. Our goal is to provide our Warfighters with the highest quality rocket motors and warheads possible to ensure mission success," said Bart Olson, interim President of ATK Missile Products Group.

"The HELLFIRE II missile's in-theater reliability exceeds 95 percent, and the reliable performance of the ATK motor is a major contributor to achieving that level of mission success," said Ken Musculus, Air-to-Ground Missile Systems director at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "At a recent users' conference, Warfighters from all four US services told us how the HELLFIRE missile has enhanced their ability to minimize collateral damage during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom."

Dating back to HELLFIRE I in the 1980s, ATK has produced nearly 80,000 HELLFIRE rocket motors and over 6,400 MAC warheads. In addition, ATK manufactures the copper liner for the main shaped-charge warhead for the high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) Hellfire, the AGM-114K.

The HELLFIRE II can be launched from several rotary-wing aircraft, special mission fixed-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, ground-based tripods and boats. HELLFIRE is effective against a wide variety of targets, including tanks, ships, bunkers, caves and buildings. Its precision-strike semi-active laser guidance system minimizes collateral damage on the battlefield.

Source: ATK