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Force Protection (Nasdaq: FRPT)
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AVERAGE RETURN
S&P 500
DIFFERENCE
Source: Yahoo! Finance. *Tracking begins on 10 July, 2009.
Here's why I'm picking them:
General Dynamics
Whether you're U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, or Marines, General D has got your six. On the ground, this company dominates the battlefield with its M-1 Abrams main battle tank. At sea, "Admiral Dynamics" is rebuilding the navy from the keel up with its revolutionary Littoral Combat Ship. And although it sold the bulk of its piloted plane operations to Lockheed way back when, the General has recently begun playing Sky Marshal again as it attempts to construct the air force of the future -- unmanned aerial drones.
Raytheon
Did someone say drones? Raytheon's got your drones right here, buddy. Building on decades of expertise in the field of rocket science, Raytheon is developing new and more interesting ways to visit exotic locales, meet interesting people, and ... kill them. The company recently licensed the KillerBee UAV from Northrop Grumman , and plans to evolve it into an entire family of flying robots for the military. It's also got a great new toy in the Miniature Air-Launched Decoy -- essentially a drone capable of making people who look at it think it's a full-size aircraft. Cool.
Lockheed Martin
Next, let's bring Lockheed up on stage -- singing "anything you can do, I can do better." If General D and Raytheon have their hearts set on building tiny robot planes, Lockheed has its sights set higher. Much higher. Partnered with Boeing (NYSE: BA), it's the biggest name in international space exploration. Lockheed also manufactures the F-35 Lightning II, which surveys say will become the world's first trillion-dollar warplane -- and maybe more.
AeroVironment
But we were speaking of UAVs. AeroVironment may not be the biggest defense contractor in the world, or build the biggest flying robots -- but it's doing a mighty fine job of building, and selling, small UAVs. So far it's gone head-to-head with the big boys in four separate competitions for Pentagon business -- and won every one of 'em.
iRobot
Closer to ground level we find iRobot -- they of the humble Roomba. But this company does more than just vacuum floors. Like the Three Billy Goats Gruff, the tiny Roomba has a big brother, the Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle, and an even bigger brother, the PackBot. What everybody else is trying to do in the air, iRobot has already accomplished on the ground.
Force Protection
And speaking of the ground, did you know that in some armies, not all the fighting is done by robots? Honest. I kid you not. And when humans fill the role of providing boots on the ground, Force Protection is there was a whole range of armored vehicles to protect them from bad guys' bullets, and improvised explosive devices alike.
What next?
This week, all we've time for are a brief introductions to the companies making up my portfolio. Every week from here on out, though, I'll update you on how this model defense portfolio is performing -- and if not, why not -- and generally prattle-on about defense industry goings-on.
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