Judging by the contract announcements coming out of the Department of Defense these past few days, Pentagon spending is drying up faster than a Midwest cornfield in July.

Yesterday, the Pentagon announced awards of just $347 million in new contracts to contractors. Some were not the kind of companies you’d expect. For example:

• Dell landed a $9.6 million contract to supply the U.S. Army with desktop computers and tablets.
• Cardinal Health won $18.6 million as a contract modification exercising an option year on a contract to supply various Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps locations, and federal civilian agencies, with laboratory supplies through April 12, 2014.

On the other hand, traditional defense contractors are still earning money by working for the Pentagon. On Tuesday, Raytheon was awarded a $35.2 million order for AN/ALE-50 towed decoys, which aircraft can deploy to distract incoming missiles. Raytheon is expected to complete deliveries on this contract by March 31, 2015.

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The article Pentagon Announces Contracts With Dell, Cardinal Health, Raytheon originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Rich Smith has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Raytheon Company. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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