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Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK - News) announced today that it successfully completed testing for a new class of hypersonic propulsion systems that will enable High Speed Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to travel long distances at velocities more than five times the speed of sound. The most recent tests involved flight-weight, fuel-cooled Thermally Throated RamJet (TTRJ) technology built with conventional materials and manufacturing processes, and burning readily-available JP-10 jet fuel. This long-duration testing was funded by the U.S. Air Force and conducted at ATK's Ronkonkoma, N.Y. facility. This latest test series incorporates lessons learned during the design, manufacture and...

Alliant Techsystems, an aerospace and defense firm commonly known as ATK, will team up with FN Manufacturing LLC on a $54.5 million contract from the U.S. Army to produce Mk19 Mod-3 grenade machine guns. Minneapolis-based ATK (NYSE: ATK) will perform barrel manufacture, gun assembly and test operations at the Mesa ordnance facility it acquired from Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) six years ago. FN Manufacturing will provide gun sub-assemblies. The Mk19 will be the first crew-served weapon produced by ATK, which currently manufactures 25mm through 40mm variants of its Bushmaster cannons that serve as the primary guns on Bradley fighting vehicles...

July 9 - Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESLT) and Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) announced today that they have signed a teaming agreement to develop the Guided Advanced Tactical Rocket - Laser (GATR-L). GATR-L provides an affordable precision strike capability for all fixed-wing, rotary-wing, and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) platforms. The 70mm rocket employs a Semi-Active Laser (SAL) guidance package to achieve high accuracy against both stationary and moving targets. In addition, GATR-L provides the ability to lock-on before launch to ensure only the target of interest is engaged. GATR-L is compatible with existing 70mm launcher hardware and utilizes enhanced Insensitive...

MOJAVE - Progress on rocket engine technology continues at XCOR Aerospace, as the company this week announced the successful completion of the first round of testing of its new 56-pound thrust rocket engine, the XR-3E17. The new engine is a direct descendant of the company's first "Tea Cart" engine, which debuted in 2000 and has been used as a demonstration model of the company's capabilities. "We needed a more updated engine," said Aleta Jackson, co-founder of the company, which is based at the Mojave Air and Space Port. The new engine provides nearly four times the thrust of the original...

MOJAVE - A Mojave-built rocket engine completed its first test series for NASA under a program to aid the agency's quest to return to the moon, Alliant Techsystems announced Friday. Alliant said it has completed testing of a 7,500-pound-force thrust liquid oxygen-methane workhorse engine. The test series provided valuable insights into LOX-methane engine ignition, startup, shutdown, nominal operation, off-nominal operation and dynamic combustion stability, according to the company. The work was conducted as part of a NASA effort to develop technologies that could be incorporated into a propulsion system for the ascent stage of a lunar lander. "The workhorse engine...

Two top NASA officials, including the man in charge of developing new spacecraft for future missions to the moon and Mars, plan to leave the space agency, a spokeswoman said today. Former astronaut Scott "Doc" Horowitz, who heads NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate will leave by October, and associate administrator Rex Geveden will leave at the end of July. The timing of both decisions was coincidental, and neither was asked to leave by NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, said NASA spokeswoman Beth Dickey. Horowitz leaves at a critical time for the development of next-generation spacecraft as NASA finishes signing development contracts...

Alliant Techsystems, Lockheed Martin, and Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne have presented to NASA an oral summary of their proposal for the Ares I Upper Stage. The proposal has been delivered in stages over the last month and culminated with the submittal of the cost volume last week. The three companies have developed a complementary relationship, leveraging their strong experience and capabilities on NASA Human Space Flight programs to provide the Ares I project a springboard to minimize program costs, maintain aggressive development and test schedules, and reduce the technical risk going forward. "We have been preparing for this procurement for...

MOJAVE - XCOR Aerospace has begun test-firing its 7,500-pound-thrust methane-fueled engine, a prototype of one intended for NASA's next-generation spacecraft. The Mojave-based company is partnered with Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, in the $10.4 million contract for the first phase of developing a rocket engine that runs on liquid oxygen and liquid methane, nontoxic fuels that could help lower the overall cost of spaceflight. XCOR's engine successfully has completed six short-duration test firings at the test site on the northeast end of Mojave Airport, using a new test stand that can handle up to 40,000 pounds of thrust, said Rich Pournelle,...

U.S. Marines will be the first to receive 30mm advanced medium caliber system Minneapolis, December 15, 2006 - Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) recently received a contract from the U.S. Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, Indiana, to provide 30mm air bursting ammunition for the U.S. Marine's Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. Under terms of the contract, ATK will provide 1200 rounds within the next six months to the U.S. Navy for qualification tests. The contract contains three production options for deliveries of 30mm air bursting ammunition. This is the first ever production contract for air bursting ammunition and highlights ATK's role...

MINNEAPOLIS, June 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK - News) announced today that it successfully tested its advanced, 155mm precision projectile -- Saber. Saber offers the U.S. Army a design capability and a low per unit cost for the Block 1B upgrade to the Excalibur program. Saber was fired from a 155mm cannon, using a Zone-5 charge, the most powerful charge configuration used by U.S. forces. Saber will give artillery batteries a precision-fire capability with significantly more stand-off range than current 155mm artillery. It is designed for compatibility with all existing and future 155mm cannons. "The relatively simple design...

MOJAVE - XCOR Aerospace will help develop a rocket engine for NASA's next manned spacecraft under a multimillion-dollar contract announced Tuesday. Mojave-based XCOR is teamed with Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, for the first phase of developing a rocket engine that runs on liquid oxygen and liquid methane, nontoxic fuels that could help lower the overall cost of spaceflight. XCOR's portion of the $10.4 million contract is $3.3 million, the biggest government contract the company has had to date, CEO Jeff Greason said. "We were a significant part of this team," he said. "We are very excited about the opportunity to...

Finally, light at the end of the tunnel for the non-reloading shooter of 7.62 NATO chambered Mil-Surp rifles< Federal 308 Winchester Low Recoil Power Shock round on leftSouth African 7.62 NATO Mil-Surp on right The following paragraph is a quote from a previous article published at Surplusrifle: “Here at Surplusrifle.com, we recommend in the strongest possible terms that you do not fire .308 Winchester ammunition in any Mil-Surp rifle chambered for the 7.62 NATO round.”    It recently came to the attention of Surplusrifle.com that there may be ONE exception to the above statement.  Federal Cartridge Corporation has introduced a “low...

ATK-Designed Scramjet Flies in Excess of Mach 5 in a Missile Configuration MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK - News), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) successfully ground-launched and flew a hypersonic scramjet-powered vehicle from the Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA in a pre-dawn launch on Saturday Dec. 10th. This was the first- ever freeflight of a scramjet-powered vehicle using conventional liquid hydrocarbon jet fuel. The launch and flight test were part of the Freeflight Atmospheric Scramjet Test Technique (FASTT) program sponsored by DARPA and ONR. As the...

Booster builder to design new rocket Contract had been expected BY JOHN KELLY FLORIDA TODAY CAPE CANAVERAL -- The maker of the shuttle's solid rocket boosters is NASA's choice to design and test a new rocket meant to carry astronauts on the first leg of their journey to the moon later next decade.Wednesday's official announcement, awarding the work to Alliant Techsystems of Utah, came as no surprise. The space agency said months ago it would use a modified version of the tall, skinny shuttle solid rocket boosters as the launcher for its new Apollo-like spaceship.Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, has built...

Alliant Techsystems Inc. has been selected as the prime contractor for the first-stage propulsion system for a new NASA shuttle. Edina-based Alliant will design, develop, test and evaluate the system, which will use solid fuel instead of liquid fuel. Solid fuel is considered less volatile. The value of the new contract has not been set. Alliant (NYSE: ATK - News) also makes the solid-fuel rocket boosters for the shuttle. That deal brings the company $370 million annually. The shuttles are scheduled to be retired in 2010, but the solid-fuel boosters will be used on new replacement vehicles.

Multi-Million Dollar Contract to Demonstrate Key Technologies for Ballistic Missile System SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The U.S. Navy's Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) office has awarded a team of Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT - News) and Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK - News) a $9.2 million contract to demonstrate and validate solid rocket motor technologies suitable for developing an affordable Submarine Launched Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile System (SLIRBM). Under the 16-month contract, the team will identify the appropriate level of technology insertion that will then be demonstrated through static firings of first and second stage boost motors. The purpose of...

Griffin Favors Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster for Launching CEV NASA Administrator Mike Griffin said Monday that he favors launching the proposed Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) on a single solid rocket booster based on the ones that for the past two decades have helped lift the space shuttle off the launch pad. The so-called single stick approach, which refers to the use of a single solid rocket booster, has been touted by solid rocket maker ATK Thiokol as the safest and simplest solution to launching the CEV. The solid rocket would require an upper stage engine. Boeing and Lockheed Martin, meanwhile,...

EDWARDS AFB - Already holding the world speed record for an air-breathing engine, NASA's X-43A hypersonic research aircraft will aim to top itself with a flight to nearly 10 times the speed of sound next week. The unmanned aircraft's record-setting March flight to Mach 7 - about 5,000 mph - was the first flight test of a supersonic combustion ramjet - or scramjet - engine integrated with an airframe. "We set one (world record) in March, and we're going to do it again next week," said Vince Rauch, Hyper-X program manager at NASA's Langley Flight Research Center in Virginia. The...

MINNEAPOLIS, June 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ATK (NYSE: ATK - News) successfully conducted a static test firing of a full-scale Space Shuttle Reusable Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM) yesterday. The test took place at ATK Thiokol's Promontory, Utah, facility. The Flight Support Motor (FSM) program verifies functionality of RSRM components, materials, and processes while it evaluates and certifies various design, process, and supplier changes for the RSRM flight program. Initial results indicate that ATK achieved all 76 test objectives. Many of the test objectives will be introduced into future Space Shuttle launches. The test motor fired for two minutes, which is the...

MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ATK (Alliant Techsystems) (NYSE: ATK - News) solid propulsion and composite technologies supported the recent launch of a Lockheed Martin Titan IV B rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., that successfully placed into orbit a Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite. Two Solid Rocket Motor Upgrade (SRMU) boosters manufactured by ATK Thiokol Propulsion in Magna, Utah, provided the initial lift for the Titan IV B rocket. The boosters, which measure 112 feet in length and 10.5 feet in diameter, hold nearly 700,000 pounds of propellant and supply 3.4 million pounds of thrust. The SRMU...