Orbital ATK receives training ammo orders

Orbital ATK has received contracts worth $53 million from the US Army to manufacture and deliver large calibre training ammunition, the company announced on 15 May.

The orders include both 120mm and 105mm ammunition types.

Used by the Abrams main battle tank, the 120mm training ammunition includes the M865 kinetic energy and the M1002 multi-purpose tank training rounds. The 105mm M724A2 is used for crew training on the Stryker Mobile Gun System vehicles. The training rounds closely replicate tactical ammunition in appearance and ballistic performance.

The contracts include production of new M1002 and M724A2 rounds to fill inventories and the recapitalisation of existing M865 and M1002 rounds to extend their service life.

Dan Olson, VP and general manager for the Armament Systems Division of Orbital ATK’s Defence Systems Group, said: ‘High-quality training ammunition is essential to the warfighter, who must be prepared to react decisively on today's battlefield.

‘By leveraging our expertise in tactical ammunition, we have produced training rounds that are visually and ballistically similar to their counterpart tactical rounds while meeting the reliability and safety performance requirements for use on US and European ranges.’