Thread: 3 Maritime Patrol Aircraft to be retrofitted w/ISR system

ATK Awarded $78 Million Contract to Missionize Three Maritime Patrol Aircraft for the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection Division
Wednesday July 23, 10:00 am ET
ATK's Sophisticated Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Sensor Technology Plays Key Role in Protecting U.S. Borders
ATK's Fort Worth, Texas Facility to Perform Modification and Systems Integration Work over Next Two Years

MINNEAPOLIS, July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK - News) announced today that it has been awarded contracts by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) division to retrofit three additional aircraft with ATK's proprietary integrated Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) system. The three Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) will be based at various locations in the United States and used by CBP's Air and Marine Operations to monitor drug trafficking and illegal immigration. They will also be available to perform search and rescue missions when required. These will be the fifth, sixth and seventh aircraft ATK delivers to the CBP in support of their critical border patrol mission.

ATK's sophisticated sensor suite allows the MPA aircraft to simultaneously detect numerous activities of interest at substantial stand-off range. Flight station operators using the arrays of sensors, displays and data links, can transmit critical data and intelligence instantaneously to ground and airborne control centers to assist in the interception and investigation of vehicles, aircraft, or persons of interest. The aircraft also record the data and imagery, which can subsequently be used for intelligence, investigation, and prosecution. All of the work will be performed at ATK's Fort Worth, Texas, facility.

"We are pleased to support the vital work the Department of Homeland Security performs to protect the nation's borders," stated Bill Kasting, Vice President of ATK's Integrated Systems division, headquartered in Woodland Hills, Calif. Mr. Kasting added, "The technology ATK developed for border patrol missions is attracting significant interest from international customers who are looking for affordable and very effective ways to introduce ISR into their own border security challenges."

ATK is a premier aerospace and defense company with more than 17,000 employees in 21 states and $4.5 billion in revenue. News and information can be found on the Internet at http://www.atk.com.

Certain information discussed in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although ATK believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Among those factors are: developing advanced ISR aircraft integration technologies, changes in governmental spending, budgetary policies and product sourcing strategies; the company's competitive environment; the terms and timing of awards and contracts; and economic conditions. ATK undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. For further information on factors that could impact ATK, and statements contained herein, please refer to ATK's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080723/aqw069.html?.v=57

Let's hope it is used for the border.