Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC), Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) – Defense News Roundup: Prepping Planes, Shifting Satellites, and Fixing Ships

Opportunities on the horizon
As far as real news goes, that was about it in a really slow week at the Pentagon. However, things could be heating up soon. On Thursday, we learned that the Pentagon has sought Congressional authorization to make not one, not two, but three separate multimillion-dollar arms sales to the government of Iraq.

Armaments destined for the Iraqi military include Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) Bell 412 EP transport helicopters — a dozen of them. Also, 50 M1135 Stryker wheeled armored personnel carriers from General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD), outfitted for survivability in a chemical warfare environment. And finally, a shipment of spare parts to be used in maintaining everything from Humvees to howitzers to heavy equipment for salvaging damaged tanks from the battlefield.

In total, the Pentagon is asking permission to sell $1.95 billion worth of military equipment to the Iraqis. Congress has 15 days to approve or disapprove the sale. If it does nothing at all, that acts as an assent, and the sale can go through as planned.

Iraqi Motorpool in Baghdad, Source: Wikimedia Commons.

The article Defense News Roundup: Prepping Planes, Shifting Satellites, and Fixing Ships 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 Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Textron.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.