The Department of Defense announced a staggering 51 new contracts Monday, the most contracts it's awarded on any single day, at any time this year. In total, the value of these contracts exceeded $2.14 billion, and while defense contractor United Technologies (RTX -0.13%) didn't win the biggest of these contracts, it did win what was arguably the second-biggest.
UTC's award, a contract modification worth $214.8 million, will provide additional funds to its Pratt & Whitney subsidiary to make advance acquisition of parts needed to produce Lot VI Low Rate Initial Production Lot VI of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter jet. Specifically, the initial spare modules, initial spare parts, replenishment spare parts, and production non-recurring efforts, including tooling funded by the contract modification relate to the Pratt & Whitney F135 engines that UTC is producing to power the jet.
These parts will be used to build F-35s not only for the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marines, but also F-35s on order by international customers Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
This contract is scheduled for completion by April 2016.
