Central Lake Armor Express Inc.

Central Lake Armor Express Inc., doing business as Armor Express, is a for-profit manufacturer of ballistic and protective equipment headquartered in Eden, North Carolina, that operates as a prime contractor supplying body armor systems, ballistic plates, tactical helmets, armor carriers, and related accessories to federal law enforcement, civilian, and defense agencies through full-and-open competition. The vendor competes exclusively on non-set-aside vehicles except for isolated small business set-aside task orders; across 1,508 prime awards totaling $1.88 billion in combined potential value since 2006, Armor Express has not pursued or held subcontracting roles.

Armor Express's customer concentration is split between volume and dollar dominance. By award count, the top five agencies account for 20% of awards: the Department of Justice Bureau of Prisons Federal Correctional Complex Yazoo City leads with 81 awards valued at $31.7 million, followed by the DEA (71 awards, $4 million), the US Marshals Service Training Academy (61 awards, $29.6 million), the Navy Criminal Investigative Service (53 awards, $1.3 million), and the US Coast Guard (42 awards, $622 thousand). By dollar value, however, three agencies dominate 72% of combined potential: the Department of the Army Acquisition Support Center PEO Soldier anchors the portfolio with 17 awards worth $889.4 million, primarily through a $776 million Modular Scalable Vest (MSV) indefinite delivery contract extending through 2029; the Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection accounts for 32 awards valued at $265.4 million; and the DOJ Bureau of Prisons Central Office carries 16 awards worth $110.5 million. The US Secret Service (26 awards, $56.8 million) and Federal Correctional Complex Yazoo City ($31.7 million) round out the top tier. This split reflects Armor Express's business model: frequent smaller task orders for law enforcement and correctional training, but dominant dollar exposure through the Army's MSV vehicle.

Armor Express holds a portfolio of established indefinite delivery vehicles that anchor its federal footprint. The $776 million MSV contract with the Army's PEO Soldier is the largest, running through 2029 and generating delivery orders for carrier assemblies, ballistic assemblies, and complete modular scalable vests. A $148.87 million Indefinite Delivery Contract with the Department of Defense Clothing and Textiles agency (awarded May 30, 2025, through November 29, 2028) covers modular scalable vest manufacturing and carrier assembly fabrication. The GSA Multiple Award Schedule carries the highest task order count at 653 orders worth $102.4 million across civilian agencies. The CBP Level IIIA Body Armor 2016–2023 IDIQ supplied 110 task orders valued at $104.3 million, primarily to Coast Guard, Navy, and other DHS components. Armor Express holds a $30 million Blanket Purchase Agreement with the US Secret Service under the GSA MAS, and single-award BPAs with the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service ($500,000, established March 2026) and the Central Office ($1 million, awarded July 2025). A Department of Justice indefinite delivery contract with the US Marshals Service Training Academy (contract 15M10420DA4100001) generated 81 task orders worth $1.5 million for body armor kits and cyclical replacement.

Activity has contracted sharply from historical peaks. In 2022, Armor Express received 112 awards; this dropped to 68 in 2023, 28 in 2024, 29 in 2025, and 8 year-to-date in 2026. Only 2 awards with combined potential value of $16.3 million reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, limiting near-term recompete exposure. Recent representative work spans the portfolio: a $583.2 thousand delivery order from the Army's PEO Soldier for modular scalable vests (July 2025); a $16.2 million delivery order from DoD Clothing and Textiles for carrier assemblies (April 2026); a $27.9 million delivery order from the Army for 59,600 MSV Gen II systems (September 2023); $15.4 million in carrier assembly orders (September 2025); multiple $400 thousand to $1 million delivery orders from the US Marshals Service Training Academy for full body armor kits and cyclical replacements; and recurring task orders under the Secret Service BPA and CBP Level IIIA vehicle for body armor ranging from $10 thousand to $900 thousand. Small business set-asides appear sporadically—a $136.5 thousand total small business BPA call from Fish and Wildlife Service (August 2025) and a $128.8 thousand small business set-aside from the Transportation Security Administration for ballistic rifle plates (September 2022) are exceptions in a predominantly non-set-aside portfolio.

Armor Express maintains no documented subcontracting footprint across the visible award record; all 1,508 prime awards list the vendor as the sole contractor. The company's capability portfolio—as evidenced by award titles and parent vehicle descriptions—centers on design, manufacture, and delivery of body armor systems (soft and hard armor), ballistic plates, tactical helmets, armor carriers, personal protective equipment for law enforcement and military personnel, and modular scalable vest platforms. Place of performance is consistently Eden, North Carolina, with some administrative or delivery points elsewhere. The company's SAM.gov registration dates to December 2006, establishing a twenty-year federal contracting history with a shift toward the Army's MSV platform as its anchor revenue driver in recent years.

Armor Express manufactures and markets a full line of NIJ certified ballistic and puncture resistant concealable and tactical body armor, K-9 armor, ballistic blankets, and accessories.