Kill Vehicle Intercepts and Detonates to Destroy Threats to Low
Flying Aircraft
DULLES, Va.Dec. 10, 2015--
Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense
technologies, announced it was granted a patent by the United States
Patent and Trademark Office for the Helicopter Active Protection System
(HAPS), a system to protect helicopters against airborne threats. This
represents the first patent awarded to Orbital ATK for its development
of methods and systems of active protection from aerial threats by
dispensing a kill vehicle from either aerial or ground platforms.
Orbital ATK's Helicopter Active Protection System (HAPS) Kill Vehicle (Photo: Business Wire)
The kill vehicle is the key component in HAPS. Orbital ATK recently
performed a live-fire demonstration validating the basis of the
invention including the performance of its kill vehicle s ability to
launch, perform pitch maneuvers and fly to a detonation point that
simulated the location of an incoming rocket-propelled grenade (RPG).
Orbital ATK is dedicated to maturing the development of this
first-of-a-kind active protection system for helicopters and to put it
into the hands of our armed forces, said Cary Ralston, Vice President
and General Manager of Orbital ATK s Defense Electronic Systems division
of the Defense Systems Group. Using advanced technologies to help
protect our armed forces is a key focus for our company and our
innovative design will fill a critical gap in technology, addressing a
real problem.
This newly-patented innovation has a direct benefit to helicopters and
their crew members. Helicopters are vulnerable to damage from RPGs
because the aircraft often hovers in position at low altitude, making it
easy to target by an enemy on the ground. Orbital ATK s HAPS system is
designed to identify an incoming threat, launch and guide a kill vehicle
to a precise location and detonate a warhead at a point where the RPG is
rendered ineffective. All of this is designed to occur within a fraction
of a second and far enough away from the helicopter to ensure the crew
and aircraft are not harmed by fragments from the destroyed RPG. The
system also serves as a last line of defense against advanced
man-portable air-defense systems, or MANPADS.
Orbital ATK s aircraft survivability product portfolio includes the
AAR-47 missile, laser and hostile-fire threat warning sensor and the
ShotFinder acoustic hostile-fire detection system. The AAR-47 missile
warning system is installed on more than 3,200 fixed and rotary-wing
aircraft and is flown by the U.S. and its allies in more than 16
countries.
Orbital ATK s Defense Systems Group is an industry leader in providing
innovative and affordable precision and strike weapons, advanced
propulsion and hypersonics, missile components across air-, sea-
and land-based systems, ammunition and related energetic products.
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 approximately 12,000 people in 18 states across the U.S. and in
several international locations. For more information, visit www.orbitalatk.com.
Source: Orbital ATK
Orbital ATK
Media Contact:
Bryan Kidder (410) 864-4932
Defense
Systems Group Communications
bryan.kidder@orbitalatk.com
or
Investor
Contact:
Barron Beneski (703) 406-5528
Public and Investor
Relations
barron.beneski@orbitalatk.com