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| ==Depleted Uranium Weapons== | ==Depleted Uranium Weapons== | ||
| Alliant Techsystems makes ] shells for use in U.S. tanks, armored personnel carriers, and howitzers. |
Alliant Techsystems makes ] shells for use in U.S. tanks, armored personnel carriers, and howitzers. The use of these rounds is the subject of great controversy because of their impact on the environment and human health, both in the long and short term. | ||
| ⚫ | Alliant has produced over 15 million 30 mm PGU-14 shells (used in the A-10's Gattling gun) for the U.S. Air Force and over a million 120mm M829 rounds (described by the Army as the world's most lethal kinetic energy shell) for the U.S. Army. | ||
| Alliant Techsystems’s DU shells are the subject of great controversy because of their impact on the environment and human health. Soldiers and civilians in the warzones of ] and ] and on testing ranges like the one in ], ] where open air testing of DU was conducted for more than 20 years, have suffered the short and long term health effects of ingesting radioactive dust, such as kidney problems, birth defects, cancers and death. | |||
| Weapons analyst ] estimates that 300 tons of depleted uranium was dispersed during the ] (1991), mostly from the 30mm and 120mm DU shells. In Kosovo, DU rounds were used with the ] warthog, which ran about 100 missions. | |||
| ⚫ | Alliant has produced over 15 million 30 mm PGU-14 shells (used in the A-10's Gattling gun) for the U.S. Air Force and over a million 120mm M829 rounds (described by the Army as the world's most lethal kinetic energy shell) for the U.S. Army. |
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| In February 2006, U.S. Army quietly placed an order for $38 million in depleted uranium rounds, bringing the total order from the Alliant Techsystems to $77 million for fiscal year 2006. | In February 2006, U.S. Army quietly placed an order for $38 million in depleted uranium rounds, bringing the total order from the Alliant Techsystems to $77 million for fiscal year 2006. | ||
Revision as of 15:44, 7 April 2006
Alliant Techsystems NYSE: ATK is a major US aerospace and defense contractor with sales of approximately USD $2.8 billion (fiscal year 2005) and strong positions in propulsion, composite structures, munitions, precision capabilities, and civil and sporting ammunition.
Background
Alliant Techsystems was spun off from Honeywell in 1990. Their headquarters are in Edina, Minnesota. ATK owns a number of famous brands, including Thiokol, Federal (ammunition), and others. It provides most of the small caliber ammunition for US police and military units. ATK has a large share of the sporting ammunition market as well. The company is also a leader in providing "green" ammunition to hunters and to military organizations, greatly reducing the use of heavy metals (e.g., lead) in wetlands, training ranges and combat settings.
Since 2000, ATK has moved to compete for larger, more complex systems, and has won a number of contracts for guided weapons. The company has also acquired several smaller firms, including Mission Research Corporation, an established contractor providing specialized, and often highly classified electronics to the USAF and other customers. Mission Research is said to be providing a number of innovative systems, including small low cost sensors for homeland security (monitoring for hazardous materials) and non-lethal beam weapons to disable people, cars, and explosives.
The firm makes a number of non-military products, such as propulsion systems for NASA. Nearly every NASA planetary probe has used some form of propulsion from the one of the company's divisions, and ATK also participated in the X-43A project.
The company produces a number of weapons the use of which is controversial, including depleted uranium rounds and cluster bombs, considered indiscriminate weapons. As a result, the company has been a target of peace movement protests, with weekly vigils held at Alliant Techsystems headquarters as well as occasional organized acts of civil disobedience.
Unlike some defense contractors who have been very aggressive with protesters, ATK has generally taken a low-key approach; while some arrests for trespassing have taken place, ATK employees have also provided cookies and coffee, since the weather in Minnesota is not conducive to year round picketing.
Trident II (D5) ballistic nuclear missile
Alliant Techsystems is responsible for the propulsion system for the Trident II (D5) submarine-launched ballistic missile, a multiple warhead, nuclear armed missile. Each missile can carry 8 independently targetable nuclear warheads. The D5 is a major long-range nuclear delivery vehicles being produced for U.S. and British forces. There are about 400 D5 missiles in the U.S. arsenal. The D5, whose main contractor is Lockheed Martin, has a range of more than 7000 kilometers and costs $40 million a piece.
Depleted Uranium Weapons
Alliant Techsystems makes depleted uranium shells for use in U.S. tanks, armored personnel carriers, and howitzers. The use of these rounds is the subject of great controversy because of their impact on the environment and human health, both in the long and short term.
Alliant has produced over 15 million 30 mm PGU-14 shells (used in the A-10's Gattling gun) for the U.S. Air Force and over a million 120mm M829 rounds (described by the Army as the world's most lethal kinetic energy shell) for the U.S. Army.
In February 2006, U.S. Army quietly placed an order for $38 million in depleted uranium rounds, bringing the total order from the Alliant Techsystems to $77 million for fiscal year 2006.
Corporate governance
Current members of the board of directors of Alliant Techsystems are: Frances Cook, Gilbert Decker, Ronald Fogleman, David Jeremiah, Roman Martinez, Robert RisCassi, Michael T. Smith, and William Van Dyke.
See also
External links
- Alliant Techsystems Inc.
- AlliantAction Protest Site
- RightWeb pfofile of Alliant Techsystems (ATK)
- SourceWatch profile of Alliant Techsystems (ATK)
- ATK - war is hell...unless you're making money
- Dirty Dozen: Alliant Techsystems
- Director of ATK is David Jeremiah of Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, JINSA
- John K. Byrne. U.S. signs $38 million deal for depleted uranium tank shells with ATK, The Raw Story, March 2, 2006.