Orbital ATK Nets Order to Fulfill US Air Force Requirements for Precision Sensor

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Orbital ATK, Inc., a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, announced today that it has been awarded a production order from the U.S. Army to fulfill additional U.S. Air Force requirements for the DSU-33D/B proximity sensor. This order, valued at approximately $27 million, is a follow-on award to the full-rate production contract signed in 2013. The sensor provides a fire pulse to the bomb fuze, enabling precise detonation to maximize the effect of the weapon. This contract marks the fourth full-rate production contract awarded to Orbital ATK and this is the second Delivery Order issued against that contract.

“We have provided DSU-33 sensors to the U.S. Armed Forces since 1999. Additional production of this version is testament to their quality and dependability,” said Cary Ralston, vice president and general manager of the Missile Products division of Orbital ATK’s Defense Systems Group. “Accuracy and dependability on the battlefield are vital and our employees give their all to meet the expectations of the warfighter.”

The 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 bomb fuzes to detonate the weapon at a fixed height above surface targets, maximizing the warhead's blast and fragmentation effects. Orbital ATK is the sole provider of the DSU-33 sensor family, delivering more than 154,000 sensors to the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and allied nations since starting production in 1999.

The DSU-33D/B will be produced at the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory (ABL) facility in Rocket Center, West Virginia. ABL is a U.S. Navy-owned, Orbital ATK-operated facility specializing 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.

Orbital ATK Defense Systems Group is an industry leader in providing innovative and affordable ammunition, precision and strike weapons, electronic warfare systems, and missile components across air-, sea-, and land-based systems.

About Orbital ATK

Orbital ATK is a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies. The company designs, builds and delivers space, defense and aviation systems for customers around the world, both as a prime contractor and merchant supplier. Its main products include launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; missile products, subsystems and defense electronics; precision weapons, armament systems and ammunition; satellites and associated space components and services; and advanced aerospace structures. Headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, Orbital ATK employs more than 12,000 people in 20 states across the U.S. and in several international locations. For more information, visit www.orbitalatk.com.