ATK (NYSE: ATK) will build a proximity sensor for the U.S. Air Force under a potential $84 million contract out of a ballistics laboratory owned by the Navy and operated by the company.
The company designed the DSU-33D/B Proximity Sensor to detonate at a pre-determined height above surface targets by using a ranging radar designed to sense the height, ATK said Tuesday.
DSU-33D/B Proximity Sensors are also designed to work with MK80 and Joint Direct Attack Munition weapons, as well as the FMU-139 and FMU-152 fuzes.
Cary Ralston, vice president and general manager of ATK’s missile products division, said ATK aims for the sensor to act as a “force multiplier” that enable the military to better use currently deployed weapons.
Production of the sensors started in 1999 and the company has delivered more than 154, 000 units to the Air Force and Navy since then.
The contract’s initial order is worth $22.8 million and four option periods will raise the value to its full ceiling amount.
