Embraer SA (ADR) (ERJ), The Boeing Company (BA), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) – Pentagon Watch: Where Did Your Tax Dollars Go This Week?

Galaxy still flying
A smaller contract win, but still significant, was Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT)‘s receipt of a $27.9 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to do software work upon Air Force C-5 Galaxy transport aircraft. The Pentagon has caught some flak over continued support for the Galaxy, whose basic design is now close to 45 years old. But the Galaxy remains the largest transport aircraft in the U.S. fleet, capable of carrying a half-dozen MRAPs, or five combat helicopters within its capacious cargo hold.

U.S. Air Force C-5 Galaxy hold. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

The Air Force is currently in the process of upgrading more than four dozen Galaxies under a comprehensive Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program. Once completed, the planes will be dubbed “Super Galaxies” — C-5Ms, equipped with more power, a faster rate of climb, and the ability to operate off of runways 30% shorter than their predecessors require.

Opportunities on the horizon
That’s about it for the highlights of last week’s Pentagon contracting news, but now what should we be on the lookout for in the future? Well, probably the most interesting bit of news on that front was the announcement Thursday that the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency has informed Congress of plans to sell $4 billion worth of services and equipment to the government of Saudi Arabia, as part of a plan to modernize the Saudi Arabian National Guard forces.

The contractor in charge of the project, Vinell Arabia, isn’t exactly a household name here. But as it turns out, Vinell is a subsidiary of marquee defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC).

The upshot: Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)’s about to land a contract worth 16% of its annual revenue haul for a whole year. The contract hasn’t been announced yet. No one knows about it — except that now, you do.

The article Pentagon Watch: Where Did Your Tax Dollars Go This Week? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Rich Smith.

Fool contributor Rich Smith has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Embraer and owns shares of Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, and Northrop Grumman.

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