The Department of Defense awarded 12 separate defense contracts in its Wednesday evening announcement of contract awards. The total value of contracts awarded came to $292.3 million, with Lockheed Martin (LMT 0.36%) claiming the day's biggest contract.
Lockheed Martin won this award, a contract worth up to $200 million, from DARPA -- the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency -- to perform unspecified work on DARPA's Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, or LRASM, Accelerated Acquisition program.
According to DARPA, LRASM aims to use "autonomous guidance algorithms" to reduce anti-ship missiles' dependence on intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms, network links, and GPS navigation, and permit them to penetrate enemy air defenses unassisted. This contract will run through July 6, 2016.
Lockheed Martin was also awarded a smaller $29.6 million contract modification paying it to define the tasks required to update the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter to bring it into compliance with informational security functional constraints. Work on this second contract will continue through January 2017.
Among the other publicly traded companies winning contracts:
- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) was awarded a $23 million contract modification to supply the U.S. Army with Low-Rate Initial Production of M829E4 120mm armor-piercing, fin-stabilized, discarding sabot tank rounds, plus tracer cartridges. Delivery is due June 30, 2015.
- General Dynamics (GD +0.14%) was awarded a $20.2 million contract modification for integration work on the AN/BYG-1 submarine Weapons Control System. This work will be performed on behalf of both the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Navy, and should be complete by June 2015.
- Northrop Grumman (NOC 1.54%) was awarded a $10.8 million contract modification on a foreign military sales contract to provide tactical support of the Counter-Rocket, Artillery, Mortar (C-RAM) Program Office. Specifically, Northrop will be providing engineering, technical, logistics, and other support to U.S. Army forces in Afghanistan through Jan. 2, 2015.
- Accenture (ACN +3.33%) was awarded an $8.7 million delivery order to support the U.S. Navy's Enterprise Resource Planning efforts through at least June 30, 2015. This contract may be extended by exercise of a one-year option, in which case it will continue in force through June 30, 2016, and increase in value to $17.4 million.
