The U.S. Department of Defense has confirmed an offer of two contracts by the government to Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS) and National Air Cargo Group Inc. From the two contracts, which are worth $95 million, Harris Corp’s Space & Intelligence Systems division won $35.4 million of the contract while its counterpart shelved $59.6 million.
Each of the two contract winners will be delivering on different roles. The Global defense firm Harris Corp will be proving the company’s Space Superiority Systems with a program that helps in maintaining awareness of space activity. The National Airlines’ contract will be focusing on the international commercial multimodal transportation services and will run until April 30, 2018.
Harris Corp has been at the helm of big government contracts
Harris Corp’s new contract, which will terminate on Jan. 31, 2018, is not the first of its kind. The Melbourne-based company has previously been awarded other contracts of similar or higher magnitude. The most recent, which is hardly a month old was with the U.S Air Force. It is part of a five-year contract worth $875 million.
According to an Orlando Business Journal research, the company is the region’s No. 2 technology firm. It is also one of the top traded companies in Central Florida having collected $5.08 billion in 2015 revenue. With its presence in more than 125 countries, it supports both commercial customers and the government departments.
Military contracts contribute to the local economy
Central Florida plays a significant role in defense contracts given that it hosts the nation’s Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines simulation operations. This explains why it gets a majority of government contracts annually. The contracts contribute to the nation’s economy given that they provide jobs and subcontractor opportunities, though at the expense of other employment opportunities that may be more productive.
It is also worth noting that Harris Corp employs close to 22,000 employees with more than 400 workers being located at its Melbourne headquarters. Meanwhile, Harris Corp’s stock was trading at $109.25 a decline of $0.29 or 0.26%
