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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). Nimitz (U.S. Navy photo by Samuel Osborn)
Come see the U.S. Aircraft Carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) in New York City in the before its Dismantling which is scheduled to happen the year 2027. It will be in the International Naval Review (INR) 250 in for celebration of America’s 250th birthday. Honoring 250 Years of Navy and Marine Corps history.
The USS Nimitz (CVN 68), the lead ship of the U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers was first deployed on July 7, 1976
Events Happening in the New York Harbor July 3-8, 2026
For details see https://www.navy.mil/Navy-250/Events/INR-2026/
Tired of DIBBS / SAM and bid services that don’t understand defense contracting? Try BidLink for free at www.bidlink.net.
cFolders access disappeared, What’s TDMT and how can I get access?
Anytime someone makes a change to a Government website there are sure to be issues, well, this week is no different.
If you sell to the Defense Department, use DIBBS or SAM to look for open government solicitations you’ve probably lived through many website disasters. Looking for Government solicitations on the DLA Internet Bid Board System or DIBBS was challenging this week as there were several days of NO POSTED solicitations. This just happen to coincide with the rollout of the New Drawing Access System on June 22, 2026.
If you are a regular DIBBS user who needs access to DoD drawings you might rely on the link in the thousands of PDF solicitations posted every day that says “WHEN TECHNICAL DATA IS PROVIDED IT MUST BE OBTAINED” AT: https://pcf1x.bsm.dla.mi…
Well, that link goes to the now retired cFolders Tech Data access portal, showing the following message shown below.
If you’ve ever called this help desk, well probably not the best way to handle this issue, especially when there is a direct path to the answer. Who had the great idea to put up a splash page to a general help line instead of fixing the issue like to change the text in the PDFs or possibly redirect the URL – Maybe AI created their website.
The current way to access DoD Technical Data and Drawings from the DIBBS website is to click on the link Technical Data Management Transformation (TDMT) https://tdmt.dla.m… Shown below
Technical Data Management Transformation (TDMT) Drawings Site
HOWEVER, if you don’t have a login already then what? This webpage shows no other links, How do you get a login? Government – Maybe show a link “Don’t Have an Account Click here.” Probably another AI generated web page.
So How do I get access to DoD Drawings?
There is a solution, 1st you need to create an AMPS account. Once the account is set up you will have the ability to set up your TDMT account. Make sure when registering in AMPS the email address you use is the same for your DIBBS account and your AMPS account.
Account Management and Provisioning System (AMPS) is the Defense Logistics Agency’s management system that sets up your access to DoDs computers to provide the resources you need such as drawings. If you are a DLA Vendor you only need a basic AMPS account which in turn will provide a TDMT Vendor Role to get Drawings.
Once set up in AMPS you should be able to log into TDMT to get Drawings at https://tdmt.dla.mil/ this will provide access to procurement technical data relating to DIBBS RFPs, and RFQs. TDMT registration questions they can be submitted via email to: techdatapmo@dla.mil
Tired of DIBBS / SAM and bid services that don’t understand defense contracting? Try BidLink for free at www.bidlink.net.
NAVAIR Testing a Mantis SHH in the Helicopter Maritime Strike (HSM) Squadron
The Department of Defense (DoD) has a few open solicitations relating to Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) items. The RFPs, RFI, and Solicitations showing this week are out of various Department of the Navy and Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) offices.
Specific offices that were found buying parts for Navy Ships:
Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) Lakehurst
Naval Supply (NAVSUP) Systems Command, Fleet Logistics Center Jacksonville
Southwest Regional Maintenance Center (SWRMC)
DLA Troop Support Construction and Equipment Division
New Aircraft tugs Wanted
RFI: NAVAIR NAWC is interested in information potentially leading to the replacement of the A/S32A-47, Shipboard Helicopter Handler Extra Low Profile (SHH-ELP) and the Multi-Aircraft Nose/Tail Integrated System (MANTIS). This GSE is basically a battery powered remote control Aircraft Tug that grips the front wheel of the aircraft be able to move the aircraft around the deck. These specific Aircraft Tugs are used on the Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) to move Helicopters. Aviation Ground Support Equipment (GSE) such as this is typically called either Aircraft Handlers or Aircraft Tugs. They are currently used on the Littoral Combat Ships to move the MH-60R Sikorsky SEAHAWK helicopters and MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter between the flight deck and the hangar bay. Curtiss-Wright INDAL Technologies division has manufactured this type of item
Other RFPs – Items used Littoral Combat Ship:
Main Propulsion Diesel Engine (MPDE) Hour Maintenance Kits
Flight Deck Nets
Pressure Tank
Power Operated Winch Drums
Specific Littoral Combat Ships mentioned were the USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) and USS Oakland (LCS 24).
A simple keyword search in BidLink such as “LCS” or use the Federal Supply Class (FSC) 1730 for Ground Support Equipment bids or FSC 2815 for Diesel Engines and Components bids or if you like NAICS codes use 333618 to show Engine Part results.
Tired of DIBBS / SAM and bid services that don’t understand defense contracting? Try BidLink for free at www.bidlink.net.
DLA Aviation will be issuing a five year contract for supply of duct assemblies for the B1-B aircraft. The solicitation is for the Transition Engine Bleed Air Duct Assembly NSN 1560-01-470-6681. It includes a sub assy, tubes, support flange, transition, nameplate, flange, check valve, clamps, doubler, and bellows. Weight not to exceed 7.62lb, made of Steel Comp 321. Technical data is available for this item.
This item was produced by Senior Operations and was last sold to the military by Corgistics, Inc. for $78,235 each in quantity of two. A larger order of 11 units was sold for $74,592. DOD anticipates buying 40 ducts assemblies each year over the five year contract term.
The maximum value of the solicitation is $14,999,999. All offers due by July 27, 2026.
To learn more, log into BidLink and put SPE4A7-26-R-0624 into Search for Anything at the top.
Tired of DIBBS / SAM and bid services that don’t understand defense contracting? Try BidLink for free at www.bidlink.net.
