A Kuwaiti firm has been awarded the largest non-energy project ever given by the U.S. military to an Arab contractor.

The award stipulates that the Kuwaiti firm provide a range of vital supplies for U.S. Central Command in and outside of the Gulf region. Public Warehousing Co. has been a leading contractor to the U.S. military since 2002, Middle East Newsline reported.

The Defense Department has awarded the $3.2 billion contract for the supply of what was termed "subsistence items" to the U.S. military throughout the Gulf region. The department said Public Warehousing would provide supplies to U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps for at least the next year.

A Pentagon statement termed the award an "indefinite quantity contract" for the U.S. military. The statement said the contract, awarded on Feb. 15, stipulated a maximum amount of more than $3.2 billion.

The Pentagon did not detail the supplies under what was termed a sole source contract, which meant no bidding was conducted. So far, Public Warehousing has provided logistics and storage for the army and other services in Iraq and Kuwait. They included warehouse facility improvements for the former Coalition Provisional Authority.

In June 2004, Public Warehousing signed an agreement with the U.S. Army for the lease of a vehicle retrograde facility and associated vehicle handling services. The company has maintained vehicle retrograde facility in Kuwait that includes pressure washers, air compressors and vacuum cleaners.

Officials said the contract would be conducted in two areas outside Iraq. They comprised the Qatari capital of Doha, where Central Command has prepositioned weapons and equipment, as well as the Mersyn Free Zone in Turkey.

The contract was called the largest won by any single Arab firm, and officials said represented the U.S. designation of Kuwait as a major non-NATO ally in 2004. The sheikdom was the most active in supporting the U.S.-led war in Iraq and contains the largest military presence in the region outside of Iraq.

Public Warehousing, traded on the Kuwaiti stock exchange, has grown rapidly amid contracts for the U.S. military in Iraq and Kuwait. In November 2004, the company reported $231 million in net earnings, an increase of a nearly 300 percent, for a nine-month period.