Alliant Techsystems Inc. is getting another shot at keeping a long-held and important U.S. Army ammunition contract.
The Eden Prairie-based defense and aerospace company said Friday it plans to submit a revised proposal for an $850 million, 10-year contract to run a large Army ammunition plant in Radford, Va. In May, the Army announced that it was awarding the contract to British defense company BAE Systems.
Alliant had held the contract and won renewals since 1995, when it bought a company that had run the facility since it was established in 1941. The Radford operation is spread over 6,900 acres and is the country's only producer of a key material used in explosives and propellants.
Alliant protested the decision. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it has been told by the Government Accountability Office that the Army will request and evaluate revised proposals for the contract.
"We look forward to providing a revised proposal," Alliant said in a prepared statement.
BAE said it will compete again. "We are confident that our revised proposal will again provide the U.S. government the best value," the company's U.S.-based operation in Arlington, Va., said in a statement.
Alliant stock fell more than 7 percent on the day the contract award to BAE was announced. On Friday, Alliant shares closed at $57.65, down less than 1 percent on a day when the overall market fell about 1.5 percent.
Alliant has previously said its sales for this year would be from $4.6 billion to $4.8 billion and would fall in the lower end of that range if it were not awarded the Radford contract. That compares with $4.8 billion in sales last year.
