The US Army has awarded a $9.7m contract to aerospace and defence company Alliant Techsystems to produce additional M228 practice grenade fuses.

The M228 fuse is used with the M69 practice grenade, to accurately measure the time delay before detonating a small black powder charge that creates realistic audio and visual cues for soldiers on training exercises.

Work will be performed by Atk at the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory in Rocket Center, West Virginia.

The value of the contract could rise to $50m if all options are exercised over the expected production run from 2010 to 2015.