Wed, Apr 28, 2010
JSF Contracts Will Total $250 Million For The Company
Calling the JSF the "cornerstone of its growth strategy,"
composites company Alliant Techsystems said Monday that it has
received a contract in excess of $240 million from Lockheed
Martinto produce additional composite components for low rate
initial production (LRIP) lots 4 - 8 of the F-35 Lightning II - or
Joint Strike Fighter. Under the terms of the contract with Lockheed
Martin, ATK will use advanced fiber-placement technology to provide
upper wing-box skins, lower wing-box skins, and engine nacelle
skins for the conventional take-off and landing (CTOL), and short
take-off/vertical landing (STOVL) variants of the F-35. Production
will take place at ATK's Clearfield, Utah facility beginning in
2010, and continuing through 2015.
Separately, the company announced that it has successfully
expanded its content on the F-35. ATK has received a new $10
million contract from Northrop Grumman to manufacture composite
inlet ducts for the F-35. Northrop Grumman is the design authority
and primary producer of the inlet ducts and has contracted ATK as a
second source supplier for inlet duct production. ATK will begin
manufacturing inlet ducts during the low rate initial production
(LRIP) phase 4 of the program with deliveries occurring through
mid-2011. The follow-on, full-scale production phase of the
contract is potentially worth an additional $40 million. Production
of the inlet ducts will take place at ATK's facility in Rocket
Center, West Virginia.
"The F-35 is a cornerstone of ATK's growth strategy for our
aerospace structures business. Combined with existing work on
commercial aircraft such as the Airbus A350, and the potential of
new composite contracts for both military and commercial aircraft,
our Aerospace Structures business is well positioned to become one
of ATK's growth engines," said Mark DeYoung, President and CEO.
ATK pioneered the automated fiber placement process in the early
1980s and is an industry leader in the production of fiber-placed
aerospace structures. ATK has 11 fiber-placement machines and
proprietary production processes that shorten the manufacturing
cycle, and produce extremely high quality, complex composite
components with unmatched repeatability.
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