Pentagon Awards $92 Million in Defense Contracts

On Wednesday, the Department of Defense announced a number of smallish (in defense industry terms) contracts awarded to several publicly traded companies. Among these:

• Shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls (NYSE: HII  ) won the largest award, a $40 million add-on to a previously awarded contract for the Refueling Complex Overhaul (RCOH) of the nuclear reactor aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). The Pentagon explained that the award will help to "mitigate" the impact of the current sequestration debacle by helping to "preserve the skilled work force" that maintains the U.S. fleet. Work on this portion of the RCOH contract is to be completed by April. 
• Computer Sciences' (NYSE: CSC  ) Applied Technologies division won the next largest award, $17.3 million, funding maintenance and operation of the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center, "a major range and test facility base providing both deep and shallow water test and training environments." Work on this contract should be complete by March 2014.
• Munitions supplier Olin (NYSE: OLN  ) landed a $14.5 million contract for its Winchester Division, exercising an option on an existing contract to procure "various types and quantities of small caliber ammunition." Estimated completion date: Aug. 30, 2014.
• Communications specialist Harris (NYSE: HRS  ) followed up on yesterday's half-billion-dollar radio contract with a smaller $10.8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contact to upgrade Fibre Channel Network Switch (FCNS) components aboard Navy F/A-18E/F, EA-18G and E-2D aircraft. This work should be done by September 2015.
• Finally, Honeywell International (NYSE: HON  ) was awarded a $9.7 million firm-fixed-price contract for the sale of gas turbine engines for Army aviation ground power units. Completion date: Feb. 14, 2016.