General Dynamics Corporation (GD), Raytheon Company (RTN), United Technologies Corporation (UTX) – Defense News Roundup: Army Gets Ray Guns, Allies Get Rockets

Last week, the Air Force placed a follow-on order with United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) for $18 million, to supply it with 5,434 replacement fan blades for the F119 PW-100 turbofan engines that power the F-22. To date, UTC has won orders worth $1.8 billion under this contract.

You get a Javelin! And you get a Javelin! Everybody … gets … a Javelin! — from Raytheon
The Pentagon also spent some cash on weapons that may actually get used, of course. With war talk heating up over Syria, Friday saw the Navy place a $68 million order for anti-tank missiles for the Marines — and not just the Marines.

The Javelin Joint Venture between Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) and Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN) has been instructed to supply the USMC, and also the allied militaries of militaries Indonesia and — here’s the crucial part — Jordan, and Oman, with 260 Javelin tactical anti-tank missiles. Up-arming these Gulf allies may suggest preparations for allied intervention in the Syrian civil war, or it may indicate only that nations in the area are taking steps to prepare against any expansion of hostilities beyond the Syrian border.

Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN)’s “Javelin”: Not just for the Olympics anymore. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Either way, in combination with a similar $53.4 million Javelin contract placed back in May, and assuming a $260,000-per-Javelin cost, this suggests there will soon be as many as 465 more Javelins in the world soon, spread out among the U.S. and its allies. At whom will all these anti-tank missiles be pointed?

Stay tuned.

The article Defense News Roundup: Army Gets Ray Guns, Allies Get Rockets 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, and Raytheon.

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