This federal contract was awarded by the Department of the Army Acquisition Support Center PEO Soldier to Engense, Inc. (doing business as Dfndr Armor), a minority-owned and Hispanic American-owned small business. The $3,075,115.66 firm-fixed-price contract is for a research and development effort to pursue the reduction of weight/thickness profile and improved ballistic performance of the Enhanced Small Arms Protective Insert (ESAPI) and X Small Arms Protective Insert (XSAPI) in both in-conjunction-with (ICW) and stand-alone (SA) configurations.
The contract is not associated with a set-aside program and the work is being performed in Camarillo, California. Dfndr Armor is the prime contractor, and no subcontractors were identified. This contract appears to be related to the Department of the Army's Vital Torso Protection - Body Armor Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, under which Dfndr Armor has received multiple delivery orders for production quantities of ESAPI hard armor plates.