The Department of Defense awarded 15 defense contracts in its Thursday evening announcement of contract awards, released after stock markets closed for the day. The total value of contracts awarded was $590.9 million. The bulk of these awards went to privately owned companies, including a group of small construction firms awarded $240 million to build infrastructure at U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force facilities located "primarily" within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hawaii.

As for the publicly traded companies winning contracts, these included:

  • General Dynamics (GD 1.17%), which received a $65.2 million foreign military sales contract modification to provide additional training, logistics support, and maintenance services to the Iraqi M1A1 Abrams Program through Feb. 28, 2015. General Dynamics is the manufacturer of the Abrams main battle tank. A nearly identical award for the same value was announced Wednesday.
  • Exelis (NYSE: XLS) subsidiary EDO Professional Services, which was awarded a one-year option exercise worth $24.9 million, funding the provision of continued technical services supporting Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific unmanned maritime systems. These sea-going "drones" perform such activities as minesweeping and force protection. The contract will now continue in force through July 21, 2015.
  • Huntington Ingalls (HII 1.05%), which was awarded a $23.5 million contract modification funding design work on the U.S. Navy's planned "LHA 8" amphibious assault ship through May 2015.
  • AAR Corp (AIR 1.73%), which won a $23.5 million firm-fixed-price contract to supply the U.S. Army with 60-520 gas turbine power units for use aboard Black Hawk helicopters. This contract will run through July 30, 2019.
  • GenCorp's (AJRD) Aerojet Rocketdyne subsidiary, which won an $18.5 million firm fixed-price contract to supply the U.S. Army with as many as 2,550 flight motors for Stinger man-portable anti-aircraft missiles (MANPADS). The base contract here will see GenCorp supply between 1 and 1,500 flight motors through Dec. 31, 2016, and this number may be increased (and the contract extended) by the exercise of options to supply up to 505 motors (Option 1), and then up to 545 motors (Option 2).
  • Britain's BAE Systems (BAES.Y 0.15%), which was awarded a $15.2 million contract modification to continue maintenance and upgrades work on the amphibious transport dock USS New Orleans (LPD 18) while it is in port in San Diego through December 2014.