The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded a contract to ATK to provide lightweight (LW) 30mm ammunition in support of its AH-64 Apache helicopter fleet.
Under the $37m contract, the company will also provide the M788 TP (target practice) training round and the M789 high-explosive dual purpose (HEDP) tactical round.
The LW 30mm ammunition, originally designed for the M230 automatic cannon, provides tactical multirole, multitarget defeat capabilities against light armour and materiel targets.
The M789 HEDP round provides accurate armour penetration capabilities while the M788 training rounds improve warfighter performance in active theatres.
Production will be carried out at the company’s facilities in West Virginia, Virginia, US, with deliveries scheduled to begin in early 2012.