Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT), Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) – This Week in Defense: Italy’s 1st F-35, and Rockets From Raytheon Company (RTN)

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General Electric Company (NYSE:GE)
And finally, industrial conglomerate General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) got a bit of (probably unwelcome) publicity this week, when it won a $14 million contract to supply Service Life Extension kits to the Egyptian Air Force. Egypt’s been in the news a lot of late, and not exactly flatteringly so, as its ruling military-led government uses live ammunition to quell political disturbances around the country.

General Electric Company (NYSE:GE)‘s sale doesn’t directly support these activities, however. The “kits” it will be selling are used to extend the service life of GE F110 engines used to power Egyptian F-16 fighter jets.

Opportunities on the horizon
So much for the contracts that everyone knows about. Now let’s move on to contracts that may not yet be incorporated into defense contractors’ stock prices.

Early in the week, we learned of one such potential contract, when the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress that Australia has asked for permission to buy up to 4,002 M1156 Precision Guidance Kits from munitions maker Alliant Techsystems Inc. (NYSE:ATK). These kits are used to convert basic “dumb” howitzer rounds into “smart munitions” — projectiles that can change their trajectory in-flight, and use GPS signals to guide them to within 50 meters of their intended target.

If approved by Congress, or indeed, even if Congress simply fails to deny approval of the sale within 15 days of notification, this sale should go through, and result in $54 million in incremental revenues for Alliant Techsystems Inc. (NYSE:ATK). It hasn’t been officially announced yet, and most investors aren’t factoring it into their valuations. No one knows about it — except that now, you do.

The article This Week in Defense: Italy’s 1st F-35, and Rockets From Raytheon 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 owns shares of General Electric, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon.

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