ATK (Alliant Techsystems)
said a joint venture between ATK Thiokol Propulsion Company and Pratt &
Whitney Space and Missile Propulsion has been awarded a one-year contract
option worth $191 million from TRW, Inc. for the U.S. Air Force Minuteman
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) System Propulsion Replacement
Program.
ATK will receive approximately 60 percent of the total contract
value for its work as the joint venture lead contractor.

The joint venture will refurbish and remanufacture all three solid
propulsion stages of the Minuteman ICBM system.
ATK Thiokol Propulsion
Company is responsible for demilitarization of each stage and production of
first-stage motors and ordnance systems.
Pratt & Whitney Space and Missile
Propulsion produces the third-stage motors.
The companies jointly produce the
second stage motors.

Carroll Bobb, vice president, Air Force programs, ATK Thiokol Propulsion
Company, said the contract option — the first for full-rate production —
follows a successful low-rate production program with completion of all Air
Force critical milestones, including deployment of the first refurbished
Minuteman ICBM to an operational silo in 2001.

“We are pleased to move into full-rate production on this important
strategic deterrence program, which is vital to our nation’s security,” said
Bobb.
“Our success during low-rate production was due to the work of a
professional and dedicated team.
We are committed to continuing this
outstanding performance as we transition to the next phase of the program.”

ATK Thiokol Propulsion Company, Promontory, Utah, is the world’s leading
supplier of solid propulsion motors.
The company produces rocket motors for
NASA’s Space Shuttle and for a number of unmanned space launch vehicles,
including Delta, Titan IV, Athena, Pegasus®, and Taurus®.

ATK is a $2 billion aerospace and defense company with leading positions
in propulsion, composite structures, munitions, and precision capabilities.
The company, which is headquartered in Edina, Minn., employs approximately
11,400 people and has two business groups:
Aerospace and Defense.
ATK news
and information can be found on the Internet at http://www.atk.com