The Department of Defense awarded Lockheed Martin (LMT 1.23%) a $104.7 million defense contract Monday -- but semiconductor maker Xilinx (XLNX) could be the real winner in this contract.
According to a DoD summary of contracts issued Monday, Lockheed won the firm-fixed-price contract to procure and deliver 83,169 Xilinx field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) needed for the manufacture of several "lots" of Lockheed's F-35 Lightning II fighter jet. Specifically, Lockheed needs the devices for "low rate initial production Lot VII" all the way through "full rate production Lot III" of the Joint Strike Fighter.
Thus, it seems likely that much, if not all, of the revenue awarded to Lockheed via this contract will actually go to Xilinx, as it builds the chips needed to build Lockheed's birds.
Once manufactured, the planes in question will be destined for use by the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy, as well as for the militaries of Australia, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, and the U.K.
Lockheed is expected to obtain all necessary semiconductor parts by September 2014, or the third quarter of next fiscal year.
