Aerial Machine & Tool Corporation

Aerial Machine & Tool Corporation, doing business as Capewell Aerial Systems, is a veteran-owned small business manufacturer of specialized aviation combat equipment and life support systems operating as a single-award prime contractor across defense and civilian federal agencies. The company manufactures personnel harnesses, parachute assemblies, aircrew survival vests, flotation devices, breathing apparatus, CO2 cylinders, and associated aviation safety components at its facility in Meadows of Dan, Virginia, competing predominantly under total small business set-asides on the Army Contracting Command and Defense Logistics Agency vehicles that anchor its prime footprint.

Capewell competes as a prime on 2,726 awards (99% of its recent activity) and as a subcontractor on 14 awards, with recent work split between full-and-open and small-business-set-aside procurements. The vendor holds exclusive technical data rights on much of its product line, enabling OEM-based sole-source procurement authority across federal customers. Representative prime work includes a $49.2 million total-small-business Indefinite Delivery Contract with Army Contracting Command-Redstone (awarded September 2024) for five-year aircrew combat equipment supply covering vests, harnesses, life preserver units, and CO2 cylinders; a $7 million DLA Aviation IDC (February 2025) for O-ring kits supporting breathing gas regulators; a $2.56 million PEO Soldier delivery order (March 2025) for ACE vests and spares extending through June 2030; a $699,687.65 DoD Aviation purchase order (July 2026) for personnel harnesses with completion through October 2028; and a $2.7 million DLA Clothing and Textiles definitive contract (February 2024) for survival vests valued at over $2.7 million potential value.

Customer concentration sits heavily with aviation logistics and Army programs. DLA Aviation dominates by volume and dollars — 1,023 awards contributing $60.8 million of combined potential value — followed distantly by Army Materiel Command Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management (34 awards, $60.3 million), PEO Soldier (24 awards, $53.1 million), DLA Troop Support Construction and Equipment (135 awards, $16.3 million), and the U.S. Coast Guard (300 awards, $8.1 million). The top five customers account for 72% of awards and anchor most large-dollar vehicles. Army's $49.2 million ACE IDC and DLA's $7 million regulator kit IDC represent the highest-value vehicles; DLA Aviation's GSA Multiple Award Schedule seat generates $42.8 million across 119 task orders.

Capewell holds a diverse portfolio of parent vehicles structured as single-award IDCs and delivery order contracts set aside for small businesses. The $49.2 million Army Contracting Command-Redstone Aircrew Combat Equipment IDC (total small business, September 2024–September 2029) is the anchor vehicle, with delivery orders issued by PEO Soldier ranging from $97,000 to $4.8 million for ACE vests, harnesses, flotation units, and Foreign Military Sales orders to Egypt, Latvia, Brazil, and Lithuania. DLA Aviation holds multiple $250,000 set-aside IDCs (awarded June 2023, April 2023, September 2025, February 2025, May 2025, May 2026) covering personnel harnesses, parachute strap assemblies, interior lining panels, webbing straps, and fabric loop components; the company also holds a $641,304 DLA Aviation IDC (May 2026) for aircraft safety harnesses and a $7 million DLA Construction and Equipment IDC (February 2025) for regulator parts kits. DLA Land and Maritime awarded a $250,000 IDC (April 2025) for fuel tank parts kits. The vendor's GSA Multiple Award Schedule position supports commercial-item procurements from multiple agencies.

Activity has held steady over the past five years at 67–85 awards annually; 2026 shows 36 awards in the partial year. Fifty-four awards with ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $12 million, including renewal or recompete exposure on established DLA and Army vehicles. The vendor obligated $204.2 million against $2.25 billion in combined potential value (9% obligated), typical for IDIQ and schedule vehicles with staggered task order issuance. Primary NAICS framing includes 336413 (Other Aircraft Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing, 1,132 awards), 314999 (All Other Miscellaneous Textile Product Mills, 268 awards), and 332510 (Hardware Manufacturing, 97 awards); PSC 16-M (Parachutes and Aerial Delivery Systems, 1,154 awards) and PSC 16-P (Miscellaneous Aircraft Accessories, 697 awards) dominate the work.

In its subcontractor role, Capewell supplies aviation maintenance service kits, emergency breathing system components, and materials to Amentum Services and BAE Systems Land & Armaments on Army aviation maintenance and self-propelled howitzer system efforts. The vendor operates as a subsidiary of Capewell Aerial Systems LLC, a Connecticut-registered parent company, but conducts all manufacturing in Virginia. The company's veteran-owned small-business status, exclusive technical data rights on parachute and life-support product lines, and established relationships with DLA Aviation and Army Contracting Command position it as a primary sole-source supplier for specialized aircrew survival and aviation combat equipment across DoD and Coast Guard aviation readiness missions.

Mil-spec sewing and machining of Harnesses, belts, vests, rescue equipment, search equipment, life support equipment, bags, cases, pockets, slings, helicopter hooks, buckles, vehicle armor, flotation collars, parachute accessories, risers, d-bags