ATK, a leading producer of ammunition, precision weapons and rocket motors, has been awarded a production contract for the DSU-33D/B Proximity Sensor for the U.S. Air Force.

The ATK sensor uses radar signals to determine the correct height above a target for precise warhead detonation and maximum effect.

The initial order under the contract is valued at $22.8 million, with deliveries commencing in 2015. The contract also contains provisions for four optional order periods totaling up to $84 million. The U.S. Army's Contracting Center at Rock Island, Ill., issued the award to ATK as the prime contractor.

“The DSU-33 sensor is a force multiplier for U.S. air power, helping make our nation's weaponry more effective. We look forward to partnering with our Army and Air Force customers to deliver the highest quality product, and provide this essential capability to the U.S. Armed Forces,” said Cary Ralston, Vice President and General Manager of ATK's Missile Products division.

"Long-term customers of the DSU-33 rely on the extreme precision our sensor affords," said Mike Kahn, president of ATK's Defense Group. "It is a great example of how ATK provides technologically advanced product accuracy, reliability and overall effectiveness."

ATK is the sole provider of the DSU-33 sensor family, delivering more than 154,000 sensors to the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy since starting production in 1999. The DSU-33D/B is employed in aerial munitions utilizing general-purpose, blast-fragmentation warheads such as the MK80 series, including JDAM precision weapons equipped with such warheads.

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 fuzes to detonate the weapon at a fixed height above surface targets, maximizing the warhead's blast and fragmentation effects.

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, 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.

ATK Defense 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.