US: Halliburton Moves Up Among Top Grossing U.S. Defense Contractors

Halliburton Co., the world's second- biggest oilfield services company, became the sixth-largest U.S. military contractor last year on the strength of its work to help rebuild Iraq and care for U.S. troops, the Pentagon said.

The company, formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, moved up the list for the second straight year, with $8 billion in prime contract awards last year. It was seventh in 2003 with $3.9 billion in contracts, breaking into the top 10 for the first time. There were no changes in the rankings of the top five contractors.

The war in Iraq is fueling demand for services by Halliburton's KBR unit, which supplies everything from housing to daily meals for the 150,000 U.S. troops stationed there. Halliburton also is helping restore Iraq's oil infrastructure, and provides logistics services for the U.S. Army worldwide, including Iraq and Bosnia.

Lockheed Martin Corp. re ained the No. 1 defense contractor with $20.7 billion in prime contracts, followed by Boeing Co. with $17.1 billion, Northrop Grumman Corp. $11.9 billion, General Dynamics Corp. with $9.6 billion and Raytheon Co. with $8.5 billion.

United Technologies Corp. swapped places with Halliburton, coming in at No. 7 with $5.1 billion. United Technologies makes Black Hawk helicopters for the Army, as well as engines for Lockheed's F/A-22 jet and the Joint Strike Fighter.

Science Applications International Corp. rose to eighth from ninth with $2.5 billion. It's partners with Boeing in the development of the Army's Future Combat Systems, a new family of armored vehicles that will be linked by high-speed communications. The program, at an estimated $92 billion, is second in cost only to the Joint Strike Fighter's $244 billion.

Computer Sciences Corp. moved into ninth place with $2.4 billion, from 10th the previous year. It manages computer networks and processes data from branches of the military and intelligence services like the National Security Agency.

Humana Inc., the biggest manager of health plans for the U.S. military, made the list for the first time, coming in at No. 10 with $2.4 billion in prime contract awards.

Falling out of the top 10 was General Electric Co., which held the No. 8 spot the previous year.

Northrop is the world's largest builder of warships, including the Navy's new DD(X) destroyer. It also makes the Global Hawk spy plane used in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as defense communications.

General Dynamics is the biggest maker of armored vehicles for the Army, such as its eight-wheeled Stryker troop transports used in Iraq. It also makes the Abrams battle tank and is the second-largest shipbuilder for the U.S. Navy.

Raytheon is the world's largest missile maker, including Tomahawk cruise missiles and anti-tank missiles.

The Pentagon awarded a total of $230.7 billion in prime contracts last year, $21.7 billion more than in 2003.

With reporting by Ron Day in Princeton.

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