Category: Industry News

Helicopter Rappelling Operations using a Snap Link, Rappeller – Aluminum Carabiner NSN 8465-01-561-6950

Snap Link, Rappeller Aluminum Carabiner for climbing and Rappelling Operations

U.S. Soldiers from the Marines, Army, U.S. Air Force Special Operations and the Navy use these devices to either rappel down a building or out of a flying Helicopter like the MH-60S Sea Hawk. Helicopter Rope Suspension Techniques (HRST) rely on two basic pieces of equipment a Snap Link Rappeller otherwise known as a Carabiner and a rope.

Today most carabiners are made out of aluminum. One of the National Stock Numbers (NSNs) they buy a lot is NSN 8465-01-561-6950 Snap Link, Rappeller Aluminum Carabiner made by CAGE code 41YU4 and has been sold to DLA Troop Support Clothing and Textiles by Atlantic Diving Supply many times.

Selling to the Military can be hard especially when you are not familiar with their confusing naming conventions for the items they purchase. However, if you use the right search engine to find the open government solicitations it can be really easy. The bid search results will typically list the “government name” along with further detail on what it actually is which in turn helps you learn their naming conventions, then you can create really accurate solicitation searches saving you a ton of time.

Using a Snap Link, Rappeller to rappel down a wall

This week we found an open solicitation for these Snap Link, Rappellers: the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Troop Support Clothing and Textiles supply chain office is looking to buy 7,500 Snap Link, Rappellers. It would be much easier if the government solicitation read like this “The Defense Logistics Agency is looking to buy 7,500 Carabiners, or mountaineering equipment”. However you can easily find this government bid opportunity by searching for bids under Federal Supply Classes or FSC 8465 .

This Snap Link, Rappeller carabiner has the National Stock Number (NSN) of 8465-01-561-6950.

Tired of DIBBS / SAM and bid services that don’t understand defense contracting? Want to discover new manufacturing opportunities, Try BidLink for free at www.bidlink.net.

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The Department of Defense is actively buying Swords and Sabers through the U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command (MICC) Fort Belvoir Virginia office.

Today we were looking for open government solicitations, specifically the type of item a soldier might use as part of their personal equipment.  To find such items we searched using the category “Individual Equipment”.  The types of items that fall within this category are things like Duffel bags, Ammunition belts, sleeping bags, Knapsacks etc. One open government solicitation that piqued my interest was a RFQ for 1,000 Historically Authentic Swords, Sabers and Scabbards to be used by the 3^rd U.S. Infantry Regiment.

The 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, also known as “The Old Guard” is the Army’s official ceremonial unit and escort to the United States President. Serving our nation since 1784 and is the oldest active-duty infantry unit in the U.S. Army.

This solicitation for Swords is a potential 5-year indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract for the purchase of up to 1,000 Swords and Sabers to be used by The Old Guard military personnel performing ceremonial duties.   The specification USAFA CU 945-05 for the Stainless-Steel Non-Commissioned Officer NCO Swords, Sabers and Scabbards is included with the solicitation.

Items will be shipped directly to the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment in Fort Myer Virginia which is located right next to Arlington National Cemetery.

To find this open government solicitation (or similar ones) search for bids using the Federal Supply Class (FSC) 8465 which is for Individual Equipment. 

We did find some procurement history for Army NCO Swords sold thru GSA were priced in the $300 to $500 dollar range.  If you take the average, this potential contract for Swords could be worth near 400,000 dollars.

Tired of DIBBS / SAM and bid services that don’t understand defense contracting? Want to discover new manufacturing opportunities, Try BidLink for free at www.bidlink.net.

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The DoD posts solicitations for this specific Mil-Spec Foam Firefighting Nozzle on a fairly regular basis. It’s typically solicited out of the same office DLA Troop Support Construction and Equipment, they buy hundreds of this specific Firefighting Nozzle on a regular basis mainly from the same Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB). This specific company they have been buying from is a not a manufacturer.

Most of the past solicitations for this specific NSN have been Set-Aside (included the one posted today) to companies certified as a “Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business”. In those past solicitations including todays open solicitation, the contracting officer has also stated that the Government has a complete data package making this item Competitive. What this means is a company interesting in manufacturing this item has a chance of becoming a new supplier.

This specific solicitation could be worth around $250,000 for this single order. To see this and other solicitations like this, the simplest way is to search with using the Item Name “Nozzle”. Item Name searching is another great way to accurately find Government solicitations.

Specifications for this Firefighting Nozzle are 125 GPM, 1-1/2 inch Foam Nozzle with Pistol Grip and Bail handle for shipboard use. Mil-Spec MIL-N-24408

Tired of DIBBS / SAM and bid services that don’t understand defense contracting? Want to discover new manufacturing opportunities, Try BidLink for free at www.bidlink.net.

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The DLA Troop Support Clothing and Textiles supply chain posted an RFP last week worth potentially over 150 Million Dollars for Sleeping Bags, quotes are due August 14, 2026.

This multi-year solicitation could potentially result in the Department of Defense buying up to a total of 670,000 items including complete Season Sleep Systems, Sleeping bags, Stuff sacks and Bivy Covers.  The resulting contract awards will end up going to two (2) separate awardees, both unrestricted – Hub Zone and a Total Small Business Set Aside. DoD says there are drawings available.

The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) Natick Contracting Division initially put out a solicitation on March 31, 2009 on behaf of the US Marine Corps looking for companies to provide a Three-Season Sleep System consisting of a sleeping bag, mesh storage bag, bivy cover, and waterproof compression stuff sack.  

Today RDECOM is know known as the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Soldier Center (DEVCOM Soldier Center).  They are located at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Massachusetts, under the Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command.  This division at DEVCOM Soldier Center in Natick, Massachusetts helps develop and design equipment for soldiers.

Today troops from both the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army use these Sleep Systems and Sleeping Bags as part of their basic equipment. They are under the management of Organizational Clothing and Individual Equipment / Personal Protective Equipment or PM OCIE / PPE.

The Three Season Sleep System (3SSS) they plan to buy is designed for use in temperatures down to minus 13 degrees Fahrenheit in conjunction with designated cold weather clothing layers. They weigh less than two pounds.

This Open Government Solicitation includes both the Complete Sleep System and the individual components. All NSN are listed in the solicitation.

The two Complete Sleep System NSNs are listed below and the others can be found by viewing the open bids, simply search on the Federal Supply Class (FSC) 8465 which is Individual Equipment

8465-01-573-4326 – 3 Season Sleep System Regular size

8465-01-576-5222 – 3 Season Sleep System long size

Each Complete Sleep System contains multiple NSNs to see the component parts simply search on the NSN to see the components.

To see this solicitation as well as others relating to Sleeping Bags, search on the FSC 8465.

Tired of DIBBS / SAM and bid services that don’t understand defense contracting? Want to discover new manufacturing opportunities, Try BidLink for free at www.bidlink.net.

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The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Weapons Support Land division posted a solicitation seeking a quantity of 907 Battery Packs for use with L3harris Night Vision Goggles.  This NSN 6130-01-613-2616 Item Name “Battery Power Supply” is used within the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command Programs.  It powers the Binocular Night Vision Device (BVND) AN/PVS-31B

According to budget materials the U.S. Navy already has 2,312 Binocular Night Vision Devices (BVND) AN PVS-31B with plans on purchasing an additional quantity of 230 in 2027 at a cost of $12,800.00.

There are other versions of this Night Vision Goggle used by the services, probably needing similar battery packs.

Two companies having sold this NSN to the DoD in the past are Atlantic Diving Supply CAGE code 1CAY9 and Maxa Beam Searchlights CAGE code 02JL5 both are non-manufacturers.

This solicitation is a 100 percent Small business set aside, L3harris the manufacturer can’t bid on this item since they are a large business.  Potential contract value over $750,000.

To see this or other battery or power supply related government solicitations, search for bids using the Federal Supply Class (FSC) 6130.

Tired of DIBBS / SAM and bid services that don’t understand defense contracting? Want to discover new manufacturing opportunities, Try BidLink for free at www.bidlink.net.

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15-Pound Carbon Dioxide (Co2) steel Fire Extinguisher Used on almost Every U.S. Navy Ship

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Troop Support Construction and Equipment, Maintenance, Repair and Operations Services division is currently preparing a Massive Request for Proposal (RFP) to procure potentially 28,000 Fifteen-Pound Co2 Fire Extinguishers.

These portable 15-pound steel cylinder Fire Extinguishers are used on nearly every type of U.S. Naval ship.  Fire Extinguisher specifications are defined in Mil-Spec MIL-E-24269, It’s a Class-1, Type 1 device.

This Pre solicitation was issues under codes:
NAICS 339999 – Portable fire extinguishers manufacturing
FSC 4210 – Fire Fighting Equipment

Be sure your saved searches are set up using these codes, Item Names or the NSN 4210-00-203-0217 directly to see this RFP.

Tired of DIBBS / SAM and bid services that don’t understand defense contracting? Want to discover new manufacturing opportunities, Try BidLink for free at www.bidlink.net.

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C-130J Super Hercules on Jacks

This week in our series “Industry at a Glance” we decided to take a quick look at the Hydraulic Aircraft Jack Manufacturing Sector.

In order to see what Hydraulic Aircraft Jacks the Defense Department is currently buying we set up a few searches for open Government Solicitations using a variety of techniques, FSC’s, Item names and NAICS codes.

Hydraulic Jack manufacturing is classified under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Subsector code 333 Machinery Manufacturing.  The specific NAICS code that relates to Hydraulic Jack manufacturing is 333998.  When looking for open government solicitations using NAICS codes for Hydraulic Jacks this is your closest match.  The reason I say “closest” is the title for NAICS code 333998 is “All Other Miscellaneous General Purpose Machinery Manufacturing”, not too specific. 

A more accurate way to find open government solicitations is either Federal Supply Classes (FSC’s) or Item Names.  The Federal Supply Class defines a category of an item such as Aircraft Ground Support Equipment whereas an Item Name defines the name of the “thing” such as JACK, AIRCRAFT LANDING GEAR.

The FSC’s we used to find open government solicitations for Hydraulic Jacks were 1730, 4910, 5120, and or the more accurate Item Name such as JACK, AIRCRAFT.  The more types and variety of searches you create the better your chances of snagging ones you want to see.

Once we saw the results of all the open solicitations, we simply looked at things like the NSN past procurement history, number of buys, who sold the item etc., basic market research.

These are the Federal Supply Classes used to capture Hydraulic Jack Solicitations:

1730 – Aircraft Ground Support Equipment (GSE)

4910 – Automotive Repair Shop Equipment

5120 – Non-Powered Hand Tools

F-16 Aircraft Hydraulic Jack – One open solicitation we saw was for a quantity of 96 NSNs 1730-00-854-2237 to be used as part of the F-16 Aircraft Ground Support Equipment.  The estimated cost based on DoD unit prices probably between 5-$7K each.  Columbus Jack AKA Tronair was listed as the OEM.  This specific pre solicitation also mentions Source Approval and Buy American Clauses. If you are looking for this solicitation use NSN 1730-00-854-2237 to find it. The Defense Department is always looking for additional manufacturers as they never want ONLY ONE SOURCE.  So, Manufacturers it’s time step up, the Department of Defense wants you.

Some of the other Government solicitations for Hydraulic Jacks we found have only one source or one listed manufacturer.  Companies who manufacture Ground Support Equipment (GSE) or hydraulic jacks wanting to increase sales might take a look what the Department of Defense is currently buying or who they are currently buying from.

In whole this week’s list of open government solicitations for Hydraulic Aircraft Jacks will be worth somewhere in the $1,200,000.00 range.

Tired of DIBBS / SAM and bid services that don’t understand defense contracting? Want to discover new manufacturing opportunities, Try BidLink for free at www.bidlink.net.

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M17 9 mm Semi-Automatic Handgun

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Weapons Support Maritime, Emergency buys division has recently been posting solicitations on a fairly regular basis buying Reflex Sights for their M17 9 mm Semi-Automatic Handguns – the Modular Handgun System (MHS). The current open solicitation is for a quantity of 860.  Based on past procurement history the total value of the contract will probably result in around a half a million dollars in sales to the future awardee.

A handful of non-manufacturers have sold this item in the past Quantico Tactical, Atlantic Diving Supply, Blue Heron Tactical Supply and Focus Camera.  Since Sig Sauer is currently the only Approved Manufacturer, opportunities for new manufacturers of Gun Reflex Sights have only one competitor. This solicitation like many others is asking for new manufacturers to step up.

A familiar statement in this solicitation “OFFERORS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN QUALIFYING THEIR PRODUCT FOR PURPOSE OF FUTURE ACQUISITION MUST CONTACT THE COGNIZANT DESIGN ACTIVITY SPECIFIED ON THE SOURCE CONTROLLED DRAWING.

National Stock Number listed for the Sig Sauer Romeo M17 Red Dot is 1240-01-713-9795

The Marine Corps Security Force Regiment (MCSFR) use these Reflex Sights on the M17  9mm Combat Pistol NSN 1005-01-661-7317

Responding to an open solicitation such as this is a great opportunity to become a new manufacturer of an item. This will be the beginning of your Source Approval Request (SAR).

According to the NSN data listed in BidLink if you are seeking to become a new source, a manufacturer of this Romeo-M17 Red Dot Sight you will eventually be dealing with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Armaments Center, Logistics Research and Engineering Directorate.  Otherwise known as DEVCOM located at Picatinny Arsenal New Jersey.

Tired of DIBBS / SAM and bid services that don’t understand defense contracting? Want to discover new manufacturing opportunities, Try BidLink for free at www.bidlink.net.

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Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief, uses a C-5M Super Galaxy emergency escape slide at Travis Air Force Base, California

When the Defense Department relies on Only One Surviving company to provide a Critical Safety Item for 100’s of aircraft, that can spell disaster.  This week while reviewing some open solicitations for Escape Slides used on the C-130 Aircraft we decided to do some investigation.

In many cases with Government contracts there are multiple suppliers for a single item, however only one approved manufacturer.  For this specific NSN 4240-01-075-6640 which is an inflatable escape slide used on the C-130 aircraft there are two open solicitations coming from two different DLA buying activities equating to orders totaling 50 each with an estimated contract value over $500,000. 

After reviewing past sales (procurement history) of this NSN we looked over 50 contract awards going back 17 years, Only One Surviving Manufacture for this item.  It was sold to the DoD from a few companies like Syracuse International Technologies, All-Safe Inc., and Atlantic Diving Supply all who are Non-Manufacturers. 

Only One Company manufacturing a Critical Safety Item (CSI) for the U.S Airforce

Is this a problem?

What happens if that manufacturer shuts down?

In addition, the Sole Source manufacturer of this NSN is Air Cruisers Company a Foreign Owned corporation.  They were sold a few times, first to Zodiac then to Safran, now known as Safran Aerosystems Evacuation.

What happens if they sell again to adversarial country and decide not to sell to the US?

With this solicitation as well as many others the Defense Department welcomes new potential manufacturers to produce the items, with a statement like this: “The offeror must provide a complete data package including data for the approved and alternate part for evaluation” In many cases the current buy doesn’t go to the new manufacturer due to the time to evaluate, this is your time to prepare for the next buy.

The simple task of reviewing past procurement history, looking at who sells the item (are they a manufacturer or not) can potentially help increase your government sales.

This is only one example of 1000’s of items with only one source “SOLE SOURCE”.

For this specific case if you’re a company that has the ability to make a rubber inflatable slide maybe you can have a new source of income Selling to DOD.

The two Defense Logistics Agencies buying these items are:

DLA Troop Support Construction and Equipment – Strategic Materiel Sourcing Group Corporate Contracts

DLA Troop Support Construction and Equipment – Construction and Barriers (Class IV)

Tired of DIBBS / SAM and bid services that don’t understand defense contracting? Want to discover new manufacturing opportunities, Try BidLink for free at www.bidlink.net.

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DLA Troop Support Construction and Equipment division posted two separate Small Business Set-Aside solicitations last week for Military Goggles.  These Safety goggles / Spectacles will go directly to help stock up one of Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLAs) Third-Party Logistics (3PL) warehouses.  This specific warehouse is under the Universal Third-Party Logistics (U3PL) Program managed by a DLA contracted partner, Industries of the Blind (IOB).

What’s a 3PL Contract?

Third-Party Logistics (3PL) Contracts are awarded by DLA to companies with expertise in warehousing, transportation, inventory management, and procurement.  In fact, Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support’s Clothing and Textiles supply chain works with multiple companies using these 3PL arrangements.  The majority of DLA Troop Support’s Clothing and Textiles business of military clothing inventory, is supported by third-party logistics.

In these solicitations two different types of Goggles/Spectacles are being procured, both are Improved Ballistic Eyewear otherwise known as IBE.  The Improved Ballistic Eyewear Spectacle system consists of a spectacle and a goggle.  These were previously called Military Eyewear Protection System (MEPS).  The U.S. Marine Corps use the Eye Safety System (ESS) Crossbow.   Military units can also requisition eyewear listed on the Army’s Authorized Protective Eyewear List (APEL).

The two NSNs listed in the solicitations SPE8E6-26-Q-0541 and SPE8E6-26-Q-0539 are both manufactured by the company ESS, CAGE code 1NG39 who is a Subsidiary of Oakley, Inc.  ESS Crossbow Kit Crossbow Unit Issue Kit and the Profile NVG Unit Issue Black Kit are what they are seeking to buy.

If you are a government contractor seeking to find open solicitations for items such as these here are two simple ways your bid searches could be set up.

• Use the Federal Supply Class (FSC) 4240 which is for Safety and Rescue Equipment. 
• Search using the Item Names either SPECTACLE or GOGGLES.

These solicitations are both classified as Small Business Set-Asides and since ESS is the manufacturer, they are not permitted to bid on these items with Oakley as the parent company is classified as “large business with over 1500 employees”.

These two solicitations will equate to a Government Contract Award to a Small Business worth of over half a million dollars for Oakley Glasses.  The incumbent contractor is CAGE code 1CAY9 according to BidLink past procurement history data.   Good luck Small Business Owner Winning this Government Contract.

Tired of DIBBS / SAM and bid services that don’t understand defense contracting? Try BidLink for free at www.bidlink.net.

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