The Department of Defense issued $1.3 billion worth of new contract awards Friday. However, a single, $950 million award for engineering services accounted for the bulk of the spending -- and that one went to a series of privately held companies. Publicly traded names fared less well. Among the few winners:

  • L-3 Communications (LLL) was awarded a $10.5 million firm-fixed-price foreign military sales contract to supply Egypt with RT-1606 digital radio transceivers.
  • General Dynamics' (GD -0.25%) Electric Boat subsidiary won a $9.5 million firm-fixed-priced modification to a previously awarded contract for maintenance and modernization work on the nuclear fast attack submarine USS Hartford (SSN 768) through September. (Trivia: the Hartford was the first U.S. submarine to successfully launch and recover an unmanned underwater vehicle -- the underwater equivalent of an airborne drone -- from a torpedo tube.)
  • Alon USA (NYSE: ALJ) won a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to supply aviation turbine fuel to the Defense Logistics Agency -- Energy. The ceiling value on this award is $11.6 million, and its performance completion date is Sept. 30.