ATK ACQUIRES COMPOSITE OPTICS (COI).

Transaction Creates Leader In Advanced Composite Solutions - ATK (Alliant Techsystems) (NYSE:ATK) announced today that it has acquired Composite Optics, Inc. (COI), a leading supplier of advanced composite products for the space and aerospace markets. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in San Diego, California, COI has annual sales of approximately $70 million and approximately 450 employees. The business will remain in San Diego, and will be integrated with ATK's existing composite structures operations.

COI composite products of carbon (or graphite) fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) include telescope structures, optical benches, mirrors, instrument housings, satellite structures, and antenna reflectors. These products serve as integral parts on a number of spacecraft, including:

-- Earth observation and weather satellites such as Landsat, Quickbird,

and SeaWinds.

-- Scientific space platforms such as NASA's Hubble Space Telescope,

Chandra X-ray Observatory, and James Webb Space Telescope, the European

Space Agency's FIRST telescope, the U.S. Air Force's Airborne Based

Laser and Space Based Laser, and the Mars Global Surveyor.

Paul David Miller, chairman and chief executive officer of ATK, said the acquisition of COI continues a series of strategic transactions aimed at bolstering ATK's core propulsion, composite structures, precision systems, and munitions businesses.

The largest producer of filament-wound and fiber-placed CFRP composite structures in the U.S., ATK has a 40-year heritage in the design and production of composite structures for aerospace and defense applications. The company produces structures for military and commercial aircraft, space launch vehicles, satellites, spacecraft, and weapons systems at manufacturing facilities in Magna, Utah, Clearfield, Utah, Iuka, Mississippi, Rocket Center, West Virginia, and Huntsville, Alabama.

ATK is a $2.1 billion aerospace and defense company with leading positions in propulsion, CFRP composite structures (but also using glass and aramid fibers), munitions, and precision capabilities. The company, headquartered in Edina, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, employs approximately 12,000 people and has three business groups: Aerospace, Precision Systems, and Ammunition.

ATK news and information can be found on the Internet at http://www.atk.com. Investors may contact Steve Wold, Tel: +1.952.351.3056, email: steve_wold@atk.com.