ATK awarded UK MOD ammunition contract

ATK has been awarded a $37 million contract to provide lightweight (LW) 30mm ammunition - including the M788 TP (target practice) training round and the M789 High Explosive Dual Purpose (HEDP) tactical round - to the United Kingdom's (UK) Ministry of Defence (MoD). The contract reinforces ATK's position as a preferred provider of medium-caliber ammunition to allied forces worldwide. Both rounds will support the UK's fleet of AH-64 Apache Helicopters.

These two rounds make up ATK's family of LW30mm ammunition and were originally developed and fielded for the M230 automatic cannon and the AH-64 Attack helicopter. The M789 HEDP round provides the accuracy and armor penetration capabilities necessary to effectively defeat today's threats, and the cost-effective, ballistically-matched M788 training rounds enable improved warfighter performance in active theaters around the globe. ATK has produced more than 14 million LW30mm cartridges rounds since 1977.

"Lightweight 30mm ammunition provides superior multi-role, multi-target defeat capabilities," said Dan Olson, Vice President and General Manager, ATK Integrated Weapons Systems. "Our M789 rounds are currently in use supporting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we are proud to provide US and allied forces worldwide with the medium-caliber munitions necessary to prevail in mission-critical scenarios."

ATK's Mesa, Arizona-based Integrated Weapon Systems Division was awarded the contract. Production of the LW30mm rounds will take place at the company's facilities in Rocket Center, W. Va. and Radford, Va., with delivery to the UK Ministry of Defence scheduled to begin in early 2012.

Source: ATK