ARMAMENT: The Big Guns

One hundred corporations received 61.5% of the $29.7 billion in defense contracts of more than $10,000 awarded in the last fiscal year, the Munitions Board reported last week. Though General Motors alone copped 8% of the total, the board observed that many of G.M.'s contracts were eventually parceled out to subcontractors. In World War II, the board noted, the top 100 companies got 67.2% of the total contracts of $50,000 or more. Today's top ten:

Company Amount (in millions) Percent of total

General Motors $2,372.5 8.0

United Aircraft 1,228.0 4.1

Douglas Aircraft 735.5 2.5

Grumman Aircraft 702.6 2.4

General Electric 654.2 2.2

Republic Aviation 650.4 2.2

American Locomotive 607.8 2.1

Lockheed Aircraft 607.3 2.1

North American Aviation.... 507.0 1.7

Boeing Airplane 482.2 1.6