THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 30, 1996 TAG: 9604300289
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Thanks to a $3.47 billion order for the aircraft carrier CVN-76 at its Newport News Shipbuilding subsidiary, Tenneco was the nation's third largest defense contractor in the federal fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 1995.
Lockheed Martin Corp., the defense giant created in a merger last year of Lockheed Corp. and Martin Marietta Corp., replaced McDonnell Douglas Corp. as the nation's largest defense contractor.
The Pentagon on Monday released the figures that showed for the first time in 10 years that McDonnell Douglas was not No. 1.
Lockheed Martin had $10.5 billion in contract awards in the 1995 fiscal year that ended last Sept. 30, compared with $8 billion for McDonnell Douglas, which slipped to No. 2 as its contract business fell by $1.3 billion from the previous year.
Northrup Grumman, which ranked third in 1994 fell to No. 5. It was replaced in the third spot by Tenneco Inc., which had been ranked 31st the year before. Tenneco's rise was due to the $3.47 billion contract awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding to build a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. Tenneco's total defense contracts for the year was $3.7 billion.
Lockheed Martin, based in Bethesda, Md., makes a wide range of military hardware, including Trident and Hellfire missiles, the C-5 Galaxy transport plane, the F-16 Falcon fighter jet and communications gear for defense satellites.
McDonnell Douglas, based in St. Louis, makes the Navy's F-18 Hornet fighter, the Air Force's F-15 Eagle attack plane and new C-17 transport plane, the Army's Apache helicopter and missiles, including the Tomahawk and Harpoon.
Together, the 10 biggest companies had $38.7 billion in defense contracts for 1995 - virtually the same as the year before. Ranked after Lockheed Martin, McDonnell Douglas and Tenneco last year were:
4. General Motors Corp., which makes missiles and components for many weapons such as the Army's Bradley fighting vehicle and Abrams tanks. Total: $3 billion.
5. Northrup Grumman, $2.91 billion. Its products include the B-2 stealth bomber and the MX missile system.
6. Raytheon Corp., maker of the Patriot air defense system and other missiles. Total: $2.89 billion.
7. General Electric Co., $2.1 billion. It makes many aircraft engines and missile components.
8. Loral Corp., $2 billion. It announced plans this year to merge with Lockheed Martin. Loral makes military aircraft components and several missile systems.
9. Boeing Co., $1.78 billion. It makes numerous military aircraft.
10. United Technologies Corp., maker of military aircraft engines and components, $1.77 billion. MEMO: Staff writer Christopher Dinsmore contributed to this report by the
Associated Press. by CNB