The aerospace firm ATK announced a $178 million deal on Wednesday for composite components of Atlas V and Delta IV rockets utilized by the Air Force for launch activities. The initial contract includes deliveries of composite structures beginning this fiscal year and continuing to early 2018, with an option period to include deliveries in Fiscal 2017 through Fiscal 2019, according to an April 16 company statement. The order also includes various composite structures for both launch vehicles, including fairings, payload adapters and diaphragms, interstages, nose cones, and structures that provide main engine thermal and aerodynamic protection. All components will be fabricated in ATK’s Large Structures Center of Excellence in Iuka, Miss. “ATK’s continued involvement in the Atlas V and Delta IV launch vehicles is a strong demonstration of our workforce’s engineering and manufacturing abilities,” said Joy de Lisser, vice president and general manager of ATK’s aerospace structures division.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.