By STEPHEN MANNING, AP Business Writer
32 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Defense contractors continue to reap the bounty of robust Pentagon spending on military equipment and the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, with several top military suppliers reporting big third quarters this week.
General Dynamics Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp., two of the nation's largest makers of military equipment, posted double-digit earnings on Wednesday, and predicted more profit strength for the rest of the year.
Northrop's 62 percent earnings spike and the nearly 25 percent improvement for General Dynamics compared with the same period a year ago follows a 22 percent earnings increase reported Tuesday by the sector's biggest company, Lockheed Martin Corp.
The big profits come from a variety of Pentagon priorities, from General Dynamics building armored vehicles to quickly replace war-worn equipment in Iraq to the longer term programs like Northrop's warships and Lockheed's fighter jets.
more Iraq, Afghan wars could cost US 2.4 trillion: report:
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The total cost, including debt servicing, of the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could reach 2.4 trillion dollars by 2017, a report by the Congressional Budget Office found Wednesday.