Federal Contracting Activities and Contract Types Research Paper

Federal Contracting Activities and Contract Types - Research Paper Example Many governments nevertheless have continued to use these machines. The Department of Defense plans to issue a $400,000 government contract to a company that specializes in drone navigation technologies. This paper will review two companies Lockheed Martin and Boeing Company. Further, it will determine which of the two should win the contract. In 1916, an idea to build a better airplane was conceived by William Edward Boeing in a boathouse on Seattle’s Lake Union when he assembled a group of expert to bring this dream to life. Today, the Boeing Company is the largest aerospace company in the world manufacturing commercial aircraft, satellites and military aircrafts. With over 145 countries as customers, the company boasts of over fifty billion dollars annual profits (Yenne, 2005). Currently, it is the leading contractor to the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). By the turn of the century, the company employed over 150,000 people in over 60 countries. Curr ently the company is headquartered in Chicago. Boeing Co. brings together five of the most influential corporations in aerospace history. This cooperation includes Hughes space and communication, McDonnell and Douglas, Boeing, North America aviation and North America Rockwell. McDonnell and Douglas had previously merged in 1967 while Hughes space and communication merged with Boeing Co. in 2000. Boeing’s business model is carried out by two major groups, Boeing commercial airplanes and integrated defense systems. The current chairman and CEO of the company is James McNerney. Lockheed Martin is an American security, advanced technology, defense and aerospace company founded in 1995 by the merger of Martin Marietta and Lockheed corporations. In 1996, it acquired Loral corporations. Its headquarters are in Maryland, Washington; currently, the company employees over one hundred thousand people in over five countries. Primarily, the company is involved in research, design, develop ment, manufacture, and sustainability of advanced technology systems. The journey of Lockheed Martin began in 1912 when Glen Martin founded the Glen L. Martin Company. From a rented church building, Glen built his first airplane. In the same year, Malcolm and Alan Lockheed established the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company. This company was later renamed the Lockheed Aircraft Company. Malcolm and Alan were competent mechanics who in their garage built seaplanes. Lockheed Martin Corporations grew from a church and a Garage. These were very humble beginnings but the founders were unrelenting and visionary men who saw a better future for their businesses. Lockheed Martin produces a number of aerospace and defense machines. Some of their several unmanned aero vehicles manufactures by Lockheed Martin include, K-max, tracer, stacker UAS, X56A, desert hawk III just to name but a few. In recent times, the Boeing Company has won a number of military contracts from several countries. In 1999, the B oeing Integrated Defense Systems was chosen to design and manufacture unmanned orbital vehicle. Boeing, Nasa and the US air Force jointly funded the project in a span of four years. The project cost was 194 million. In 2013, the Boeing Company in, St. Louis, Missouri was awarded a fifteen million firm-fixed-price contract by the US Navy. The contract was for