Who won December's biggest contracts?

2013 ends on a high note, with December seeing some of the highest activity all year, with 62 contracts being reported.

When the year began, contract activity was very low, with just 13 contracts in February. From February until July, however, the number of reported contracts rose each month, hitting 62 in July. August saw a modest drop with 57 reported contracts, and then activity spiked again in September with 67 reported contracts.

October, during which the government shutdown occurred, understandably saw a considerable dip in contract activity, with 44 reported contracts. November was worse, with 41, as the marketplace slowly got back on its feet.

December's 62 is an optimistic note to end a very difficult year.

To make the list, you had to have won a contract worth $135 million or above.

Here’s a month by month breakdown of contracts so far:

February (13)

March (30)

April (45)

May (52)

June (61)

July (62)

August (57)

September (67)

October (44)

November (41)

So, this month's top contracts roundup begins with No. 10:

10. Jacobs prevails in LOGCAP fight with Serco

The Government Accountability Office has ruled against Serco Inc.’s bid protest of a $135 million Army contract award to Jacobs Technology for logistics support.

Serco held the incumbent contract to support the Army Logistics Civil Augmentation program known as LOGCAP. The company held the contract since 2007 and had earned about $165 million in task orders for support services such as program office support, program manager support and contracting support.

9. BAE, Lockheed win U.S.-U.K. navy engineering contracts

BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin each won contracts with the U.S. Navy to provide engineering support services to the U.S. and British navies.

BAE's contract is worth $171.4 million; Lockheed's is $114.2 million. The contracts cover a variety of engineering services including support for nuclear weapons. The work includes logistics, testing, evaluation, configuration management and documentation.

The companies will support the Common Missile Compartment program and assure that as the concept is developed it will be compatible with the Trident II submarine in areas such as weapon systems coordination, class engineering, configuration management, logistics engineering, network development and maintenance and facility engineering and design support.

8. Interstate Electronics wins $177.3M contract to support Trident II flight tests

Interstate Electronics Corp. has won a $177.3 million sole-sourced contract to provide the Navy with specialized technical support for flight test instrumentation systems for Trident II flight tests.

Under the contract, Interstate Electronics Corp. will provide engineering services for flight test mission support requirements for strategic systems programs, flight test operations and data acquisition, operations and maintenance, systems engineering, post-mission processing and analysis, instrumentation refreshes, and strategic weapons system training program support.

7. HP wins $180M contract to enhance Ohio’s Medicaid system

HP Enterprise Services has won a $180 million to continue to manage and enhance the Ohio Medicaid Information Technology System and transform the hardware that it runs on.

Under the contract, HP will ensure that the Medicaid system is flexible, scalable and stable. The company will also support federal policy changes, including the Affordable Care Act and state requirements, the company said in a release.

6. Lockheed Martin wins $200M contract to produce two more GPS III satellites

Lockheed Martin has won more than $200 million in options with the Air Force to complete production of its fifth and sixth next-generation Global Positioning System satellites, or GPS III.

The GPS III program replaces GPS satellites in orbit while improving capability to meet the evolving demands of the military, commercial and civilian users.

The company won a contract in February to provide long lead parts for a second set of four GPS III space vehicles, and this new contract provides funding to complete the first two satellites in this order. Full production funding for the next two space vehicles is expected in 2014, the company said in a release.

5. General Atomics wins $362.2M contract to provide logistic support

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems won a $362.2 million contract to provide the Air Force with contractor logistic support sustainment for the Predator (MQ1)/Reaper (MQ9) Unmanned Aerial Systems.

4. Lockheed Martin wins $574.5M contract to support Aegis Weapon System

Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training won a $574.5 million contract with the Navy to produce the Aegis Weapon System MK7 equipment sets in support of the DDG 51 Shipbuilding Program, as well as an option for Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System, Host Nation Poland, and engineering services.

3. Boeing wins $750M contract to provide engineering services

Boeing Co. won a $750 million contract with the Air Force to provide integrated engineering services for the B-1 weapon system to include detailed design engineering, maintenance engineering and systems engineering support, computer network support and technical analysis.

2. Seven win $4B contract to help combat WMDs

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency has tapped seven contractors to help combat weapons of mass destruction under a $4 billion contract.

The winners are:

• Alion Science and Technology
• Applied Research Associates
• Engility Corp.
• Exelis Inc.
• Northrop Grumman
• Raytheon
• Leidos

The contract, called the Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction Research and Technology Development, is for research and development  that aims to provide scientific and technological solutions to meet the Defense Department’s non-proliferation, counterproliferation and consequence management objectives, the department said in a release.

And the biggest contract in December is…

1. $5B VA contract clears protest hurdle

A $5 billion Veterans Affairs small-business contract got the green light to proceed after the Government Accountability Office denied the lone protest it received.

Not surprising for a small-business contract with a $5.3 billion ceiling, the contract, known as CEC, was hotly contested. VA received 28 proposals, of which 21 were found acceptable.

From that pool, VA picked Red River Computer Co., Valador Inc. and All Points Logistics LLC as the winners of the hardware contract.