thedrifter
09-07-07, 09:05 AM
Weapon maker in Mesa sees promise in cannon
Max Jarman
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 6, 2007 07:41 PM
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/pics/breaking/0906biz-atk0907-ON.jpg
Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic
Jeffrey Smith, Alliant Techsystems' director of business development in Mesa, says the Minnesota defense contractor's Mesa unit could grow substantially as the federal government works to modernize the military.
The maker of the lightweight 30mm cannons found on Apache attack helicopters has spent the past few years positioning itself to claim some of the billions of dollars the federal government plans to spend to update its fleets of tanks, aircraft and ships.
But many of those programs have yet to be fully funded, so Alliant Techsystems Inc.'s Medium-Caliber Systems unit in Mesa has kept busy selling weapons to foreign countries and refurbishing guns on the U.S. military's Apaches and Bradley fighting vehicles.
That business has resulted in the Mesa unit's annual revenue doubling in the past two years to $250 million and its workforce growing from about 100 to 160.
The local division could grow substantially more with the thousands of weapons itcould sell to the government under the military's various modernization programs, said Jeffrey Smith, the company's business-development director in Mesa.
"We see a great opportunity unfolding in the next few years," Smith said.
The division has developed new lines of sophisticated guns and ammunition that it hopes will become standard equipment on an array of new fighting vehicles, aircraft and ships planned by the U.S. military.
The latest product is a lightweight cannon suited for smaller vehicles, aircraft or ships, such as the Stryker armored combat vehicle or the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, or MRAP.
MRAP vehicles are designed to survive improvised explosive device, or IED, attacks and ambushes and replace Humvees in combat. The Marine Corps could buy as many as 7,000.
The cannon also is suited as a secondary weapon for larger vehicles.
The 60-pound, 25mm gun gives Alliant, known as ATK, a versatile weapon to offer the military. The LW25 system is a lightweight version of the 25mm automatic cannon found on the U.S. Army's Bradley fighting vehicles and other combat vehicles.
The new gun is dual-loaded and can switch between two types of ammunition.
Smith said the company is developing a new line of ammunition for the gun, including non-lethal shells.
"The LW25 system gives the war fighter greater flexibility, increased lethality and substantially higher reliability than many of the currently fielded weapon systems," said Jim Cates, vice president and general manager of ATK Medium-Caliber Systems.
Another recently developed weapon, the MK 44 30mm cannon, can accommodate ATK'ssmart ammunition, which can detonate at a specific range instead of on impact.
Smith noted that the shells, which are in the final stages of testing, are programmed by the gunner with a laser range-finder and are effective against targets in areas that bullets can't reach, such as foxholes or corners.
The 30mm cannons have been developed for the expeditionary fighting vehicles planned by the Marines and for the projected replacement for the Army's Bradleys.
The expeditionary fighting vehicle is an amphibious armored personnel carrier used to transport troops to shore.
The Marines plan to buy 1,000 of the vehicles by 2015.
Edina, Minn.-based ATK is the successor to the business started by industrialist Howard Hughes to make integrated weapons for Apache Helicopters.
ATK bought the business in 2002 from the Boeing Co., which had acquired it in its 1997 purchase of McDonnell Douglas Corp.
Boeing continues to produce the Apaches in Mesa.
Reach the reporter at max.jarmanarizonarepublic .com or (602) 444-7351.
Ellie
Max Jarman
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 6, 2007 07:41 PM
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/pics/breaking/0906biz-atk0907-ON.jpg
Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic
Jeffrey Smith, Alliant Techsystems' director of business development in Mesa, says the Minnesota defense contractor's Mesa unit could grow substantially as the federal government works to modernize the military.
The maker of the lightweight 30mm cannons found on Apache attack helicopters has spent the past few years positioning itself to claim some of the billions of dollars the federal government plans to spend to update its fleets of tanks, aircraft and ships.
But many of those programs have yet to be fully funded, so Alliant Techsystems Inc.'s Medium-Caliber Systems unit in Mesa has kept busy selling weapons to foreign countries and refurbishing guns on the U.S. military's Apaches and Bradley fighting vehicles.
That business has resulted in the Mesa unit's annual revenue doubling in the past two years to $250 million and its workforce growing from about 100 to 160.
The local division could grow substantially more with the thousands of weapons itcould sell to the government under the military's various modernization programs, said Jeffrey Smith, the company's business-development director in Mesa.
"We see a great opportunity unfolding in the next few years," Smith said.
The division has developed new lines of sophisticated guns and ammunition that it hopes will become standard equipment on an array of new fighting vehicles, aircraft and ships planned by the U.S. military.
The latest product is a lightweight cannon suited for smaller vehicles, aircraft or ships, such as the Stryker armored combat vehicle or the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, or MRAP.
MRAP vehicles are designed to survive improvised explosive device, or IED, attacks and ambushes and replace Humvees in combat. The Marine Corps could buy as many as 7,000.
The cannon also is suited as a secondary weapon for larger vehicles.
The 60-pound, 25mm gun gives Alliant, known as ATK, a versatile weapon to offer the military. The LW25 system is a lightweight version of the 25mm automatic cannon found on the U.S. Army's Bradley fighting vehicles and other combat vehicles.
The new gun is dual-loaded and can switch between two types of ammunition.
Smith said the company is developing a new line of ammunition for the gun, including non-lethal shells.
"The LW25 system gives the war fighter greater flexibility, increased lethality and substantially higher reliability than many of the currently fielded weapon systems," said Jim Cates, vice president and general manager of ATK Medium-Caliber Systems.
Another recently developed weapon, the MK 44 30mm cannon, can accommodate ATK'ssmart ammunition, which can detonate at a specific range instead of on impact.
Smith noted that the shells, which are in the final stages of testing, are programmed by the gunner with a laser range-finder and are effective against targets in areas that bullets can't reach, such as foxholes or corners.
The 30mm cannons have been developed for the expeditionary fighting vehicles planned by the Marines and for the projected replacement for the Army's Bradleys.
The expeditionary fighting vehicle is an amphibious armored personnel carrier used to transport troops to shore.
The Marines plan to buy 1,000 of the vehicles by 2015.
Edina, Minn.-based ATK is the successor to the business started by industrialist Howard Hughes to make integrated weapons for Apache Helicopters.
ATK bought the business in 2002 from the Boeing Co., which had acquired it in its 1997 purchase of McDonnell Douglas Corp.
Boeing continues to produce the Apaches in Mesa.
Reach the reporter at max.jarmanarizonarepublic .com or (602) 444-7351.
Ellie