Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) announced today that it has received a contract in excess of $240 million from Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) to produce additional composite components for low rate initial production (LRIP) lots 4 - 8 of the F-35 Lightning II - or Joint Strike Fighter. Under the terms of the contract with Lockheed Martin, ATK will use advanced fiber-placement technology to provide upper wing-box skins, lower wing-box skins, and engine nacelle skins for the conventional take-off and landing (CTOL), and short take-off/vertical landing (STOVL) variants of the F-35. Production will take place at ATK's Clearfield, Utah facility beginning in 2010, and continuing through 2015.

Separately, the company announced that it has successfully expanded its content on the F-35. ATK has received a new $10 million contract from Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) to manufacture composite inlet ducts for the F-35. Northrop Grumman is the design authority and primary producer of the inlet ducts and has contracted ATK as a second source supplier for inlet duct production. ATK will begin manufacturing inlet ducts during the low rate initial production (LRIP) phase 4 of the program with deliveries occurring through mid-2011. The follow-on, full-scale production phase of the contract is potentially worth an additional $40 million. Production of the inlet ducts will take place at ATK's facility in Rocket Center, West Virginia.

The F-35 Lightning II is a 5th generation fighter, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations, advanced sustainment, and lower operational and support costs.

"The F-35 is a cornerstone of ATK's growth strategy for our aerospace structures business. Combined with existing work on commercial aircraft such as the Airbus A350, and the potential of new composite contracts for both military and commercial aircraft, our Aerospace Structures business is well positioned to become one of ATK's growth engines," said Mark DeYoung, President and CEO.

ATK pioneered the automated fiber placement process in the early 1980s and is an industry leader in the production of fiber-placed aerospace structures. ATK has 11 fiber-placement machines and proprietary production processes that shorten the manufacturing cycle, and produce extremely high quality, complex composite components with unmatched repeatability.