Judging by the contract announcements coming out of the Department of Defense these past few days, Pentagon spending is drying up faster than a Midwest cornfield in July.
Yesterday, the Pentagon announced awards of just $347 million in new contracts to contractors. Some were not the kind of companies you'd expect. For example:
- Dell (DELL.DL) landed a $9.6 million contract to supply the U.S. Army with desktop computers and tablets.
- Cardinal Health (CAH -0.59%) won $18.6 million as a contract modification exercising an option year on a contract to supply various Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps locations, and federal civilian agencies, with laboratory supplies through April 12, 2014.
On the other hand, traditional defense contractors are still earning money by working for the Pentagon. On Tuesday, Raytheon (RTN) was awarded a $35.2 million order for AN/ALE-50 towed decoys, which aircraft can deploy to distract incoming missiles. Raytheon is expected to complete deliveries on this contract by March 31, 2015.
