ATK to produce U.S. Air Force DSU-33D/B sensor for precision detonation
ARLINGTON, Va., 13 Nov. 2013. ATK (NYSE:ATK), a producer of ammunition, precision weapons, and rocket motors, won a production U.S. Air Force contract for the DSU-33D/B Proximity Sensor, which uses radar signals to determine the correct height above a target for precise warhead detonation and maximum effect.
The initial $22.8 million order, with deliveries commencing in 2015, includes provisions for four optional order periods totaling up to $84 million. The U.S. Army's Contracting Center at Rock Island, Ill., issued the award to ATK as the prime contractor.
"The DSU-33 sensor is a force multiplier for U.S. air power, helping make our nation's weaponry more effective," says Cary Ralston, vice president and general manager of ATK's Missile Products division.
"Long-term customers of the DSU-33 rely on the extreme precision our sensor affords," says Mike Kahn, president of ATK's Defense Group. "It is a great example of how ATK provides technologically advanced product accuracy, reliability, and overall effectiveness."
ATK is the sole provider of the DSU-33 sensor family, delivering more than 154,000 sensors to the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy since starting production in 1999. The DSU-33D/B is employed in aerial munitions utilizing general-purpose, blast-fragmentation warheads such as the MK80 series, including JDAM precision weapons equipped with such warheads.
DSU-33D/B is an all-weather, active, radio-frequency, ranging radar that senses the height of the weapon above the target area. It is used in conjunction with FMU-139 and FMU-152 fuzes to detonate the weapon at a fixed height above surface targets, maximizing the warhead's blast and fragmentation effects.
The DSU-33D/B will be produced at the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory (ABL) facility in Rocket Center, a U.S. Navy-owned, ATK-operated facility in W.Va. ABL specializes in advanced manufacturing technologies for a variety of programs supporting current and future U.S. industrial base needs in advanced fuzing and integration, conventional munitions assemblies, solid rocket motor propulsion, and advanced material structures.
Courtney E. Howard | Chief Editor, Intelligent Aerospace
Courtney enjoys writing about all things high-tech in PennWell’s burgeoning Aerospace and Defense Group, which encompasses Intelligent Aerospace and Military & Aerospace Electronics. She’s also a self-proclaimed social-media maven, mil-aero nerd, and avid avionics and space geek. Connect with Courtney at [email protected], @coho on Twitter, on LinkedIn, and on Google+.
