Alliant Techsystems [ATK] said yesterday it has opened two new high-technology composite manufacturing facilities, one that will serve the nuclear power industry and the other aircraft parts for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and other high performance military applications.
The facilities are located at the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory in Rocket Center, WVa., and are expected to add more than 200 jobs. Production operations are expected to begin next year.
The company’s new composite rotor tube manufacturing operations will support United States Enrichment Corp.‘s American Centrifuge Uranium Enrichment Technology Program. ATK has identified the nuclear power industry as a market it hopes to exploit its existing technological know-how, in this case in composites.
“The Allegany Ballistics Laboratory has become a national asset for the production of critical military systems including Ammunition, Guided Weapons, Precision Fuzing, Tactical Propulsion, and Advanced Composites,” Jack Cronin, president of ATK Mission Systems Group, said in a statement. “Soon, we will be producing composite cases for the nuclear industry, vital to our Navy and to the nation.”