Orbital ATK and Airbus finalise agreement on A350-1000 variant

Orbital ATK, Inc., a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today announced that it has finalized an agreement with Airbus to expand its current contract to include the manufacture of composite stringers and frames on the –1000 variant of the A350 program, adding to the work already being performed on the A350 program. This agreement builds on Orbital ATK's valuable working relationship with Airbus and its partners.

The Aerospace Structures Division of Orbital ATK's Flight Systems Group is executing the A350 program at its state-of-the-art Aircraft Commercial Center of Excellence facility in Clearfield, Utah.

“Our work with Airbus is an important component of growth for Orbital ATK in the commercial aerospace structures business,” said Steve Earl, Vice President and General Manager of Orbital ATK's Aerospace Structures Division. “We are excited about the possibilities the –1000 variant presents, and our team is eager to continue our long-term partnership with Airbus on the A350 program.”

Orbital ATK is currently producing composite stringers and frames for the A350-900 and has successfully delivered more than 44,000 parts since the inception of the program.

“The execution of these early program deliveries demonstrates Orbital ATK's ability to meet customers' high quality standards and schedule requirements. The company is fully prepared to meet the planned production rate increases over the next several years to support Airbus' A350 program delivery schedule,” Mr. Earl added.

Orbital ATK expects that the contract expansion will require future hiring of additional professional and manufacturing employees, benefiting the local job market in Utah.

Orbital ATK's proprietary process has been instrumental in the development and manufacture of high-rate production composite stringers and frames. This highly engineered technology is essential to manufacture the A350 composite stringers and frames, which enables Orbital ATK to produce extremely high quality, dimensionally precise and highly repeatable composite components.