AAR Manufacturing, Inc.

AAR Manufacturing, Inc., doing business as AAR Mobility Systems, manufactures specialized shipping and storage containers, palletized seating systems, and 463 legacy air cargo pallets for the Department of Defense as a prime contractor, operating as a child entity within parent company Aarcorp and competing in full-and-open federal procurements across multiple defense contract vehicles.

AAR Manufacturing is a for-profit manufacturer headquartered in Cadillac, Michigan, and a subsidiary of Aarcorp. The vendor competes exclusively in unrestricted (full-and-open) federal procurements with no SBA set-aside designations across its prime award portfolio. Primary NAICS framing centers on Other Metal Container Manufacturing (332439) and Prefabricated Metal Building and Component Manufacturing (332311); the PSC footprint is dominated by Specialized Shipping and Storage Containers.

The vendor's concrete capabilities center on manufacturing Individual Storage Units (ISUs) in multiple configurations, 463L legacy air cargo pallets for the Air Force, specialized shipping and storage containers, palletized seating systems, and components such as shelf assemblies, mobility caster sets, container door seals, and divider panels—all delivered under firm fixed-price terms with economic price adjustment provisions. Recent representative prime work includes a $579.462 million single-award indefinite-delivery contract awarded March 20, 2026, by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Robins Air Force Base for production of 463 legacy air cargo pallets through March 2032, with an initial delivery order valued at $13.133 million (completion June 19, 2027); a $55 million blanket purchase agreement with AFLCMC at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for palletized seating systems under the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (running through March 2026), supporting multiple call orders including $10.92 million and $5.16 million orders in 2025; and an $85 million single-award indefinite-delivery contract with the Defense Department's Construction and Equipment division for specialized shipping and storage containers, Individual Storage Units, and associated components across 136 National Stock Numbers in Federal Stock Class 8145 (running through July 8, 2030).

Customer concentration reflects overwhelming Defense Department exposure. The top five funding agencies account for approximately 90% of recent awards by count. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support Construction and Equipment division dominates the footprint with 11,552 awards carrying $1.16 billion combined potential value, anchored by thousands of small delivery orders for containers and components. By potential value (68% of combined totals), the Air Force Materiel Command Life Cycle Management Center at Robins Air Force Base leads with 130 awards valued at $1.97 billion—a sharp divergence from award-count ranking that reflects the $579.462 million pallet-production IDC and multiple higher-dollar-value orders. The Defense Logistics Agency (across sub-organizations) accounts for the vast majority of the portfolio by both count and dollars; Army, Navy, and specialized commands (Naval Special Warfare, U.S. Special Operations, Coast Guard, Air Mobility Command) represent smaller shares but demonstrate breadth of defense customer reach.

AAR Manufacturing places work under five primary parent vehicles. The Indefinite Delivery Contract SPM8ED07D0003 carries 4,543 task orders totaling $216 million; Indefinite Delivery Contract SP050001D0155 accounts for 3,847 task orders; SPE8ED20D0001 supports 2,183 task orders valued at $80.4 million; SPE8ED14D0001 carries 1,632 task orders worth $38.2 million; and the Buildings and Building Materials category encompasses 960 task orders at $86.4 million combined potential value. These vehicles reflect the vendor's core business as a component supplier within DLA's broad procurement infrastructure for military logistics and construction-equipment requirements.

Activity has declined from a 2022 peak of 435 awards to 44 awards through mid-2026 in the source data, reflecting the vendor's historical reliance on high-volume, low-dollar-magnitude transactional awards. Nine awards totaling $17.9 million face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months and will therefore require recompete action. Recent SCI-reported (Service Contract Inventory) activity is minimal: the vendor invoiced $14.9 million across three service contracts between FY2022 and FY2024, delivering roughly 19.5 FTEs. Government-paid hourly rates on SCI work ranged from $238.50/hr (10th percentile) to $526.75/hr (90th percentile, median $516.85/hr). SCI-reportable service work is a negligible slice of the vendor's total federal revenue, which is dominated by goods (containers, pallets, components) rather than labor-hour services.

AAR Manufacturing operates primarily as a direct prime contractor (100% of awards by count in the vendor portfolio), with minimal subcontractor footprint. The vendor subcontracts to Raytheon Company on advanced technology and microelectronics programs, to Oshkosh Defense on Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicle components, and to Science Applications International Corporation on mobile command vehicle support—representing lower-value specialized work rather than core container manufacturing. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, sub-hours represent 0% of total contractor hours, confirming AAR Manufacturing builds its own delivery and manufacturing capability internally rather than scaling through subcontracts.

The $579.462 million indefinite-delivery contract for 463 legacy air cargo pallet production, awarded March 20, 2026, represents a watershed shift in the vendor's portfolio scale and duration. Prior to this vehicle, AAR Manufacturing's business model relied on sustained high-volume, low-value transactional awards—primarily DLA call orders for specialized containers, components, and related items. This new strategic contract with the Air Force, combined with the existing $55 million palletized-seating BPA and the $85 million construction-and-equipment IDC, positions the vendor as a long-term, mission-critical supplier to defense logistics and cargo-handling operations. Competition in this space is driven by technical capability, pricing discipline, and delivery reliability rather than set-aside eligibility or size status—AAR Manufacturing competes on capability and cost across full-and-open federal procurements.