Under the terms of the contract, ATK will 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 also received a $10m contract from Northrop Grumman to manufacture composite inlet ducts for the F-35.
Northrop Grumman is the 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 phase of the programme, with deliveries occurring through mid-2011.
The follow-on, full-scale production phase of the contract is potentially worth an additional $40m. Production of the inlet ducts will take place at ATK’s facility in Rocket Center, West Virginia.
Five ways to prepare for your first day
If I may add my own personal Tip No. 6 it goes something like this: From time to time a more senior member of staff will start explaining something...