And Yet Again, No. 1

Steve LeSueur, EditorSomebody forgot to tell the federal government that Lockheed Martin Corp. had a tough year overall in 1999. For the sixth consecutive year, Lockheed Martin ranked No. 1 among Washington Technology's Top 100 government IT prime contractors, despite a year that saw both its earnings and stock price plummet.But that should be no surprise, given the size and diversity of the company. Underscoring this point is the fact that the No. 2 company on our list, United Space Alliance, is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing Co.We found few surprises on the Top 100 list, which is appropriate if we've truly been on top of the news throughout the year. Still, it was interesting to see General Dynamics Corp. jump from No. 86 last year to No. 7 on this year's list, due largely to its $1 billion acquisition of three GTE Corp. government IT divisions.I don't think we have ever published one of these Top 100 issues without touting the huge opportunities that lay in store for government systems integrators, probably because, when those opportunities dry up, so will we. And if you turn to the front page, you will see Nick Wakeman's story on one of the largest opportunities out there, the Customs Service's $2 billion project to modernize its import and export systems. Pursuing that contract are teams led by Andersen Consulting (No. 55), Electronic Data Systems Corp. (No. 13), IBM Corp. (No. 12) and Logicon Inc. (a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Corp., No. 10)Federal Sources Inc. of McLean, Va., and Eagle Eye of Fairfax, Va., provided the analysis of federal IT spending that allowed us to compile this year's list.The 2000 Top 100 issue, by the way, is our largest ever. Tell us what you think.XXXSPLITXXX-