Hardwire LLC

Hardwire LLC, an SBA-certified HUBZone small business headquartered in Pocomoke City, Maryland, manufactures advanced composite armor and ballistic protection solutions for federal law enforcement, defense, and national security agencies as a prime contractor (94% of recent awards) and as a subcontractor on defense platform modernization programs. The company specializes in Small Arms Protective Inserts (SAPI), body armor systems, ceramic and steel ballistic plates, ultra-low-visibility soft body armor, enhanced ballistic shields, and vehicle-mounted protective systems—all manufactured at its Pocomoke City facility.

Hardwire's federal customer base is heavily concentrated in law enforcement and defense. The top five funding agencies by award count—the Drug Enforcement Administration (72 awards, $1.4 million), the Army's Security Assistance Command (56 awards, $62.1 million), the FBI Headquarters Division (41 awards, $54.2 million), the U.S. Marine Corps (39 awards, $68.7 million), and the U.S. Marshals Service Training Academy (25 awards, $4.7 million)—account for 65% of recent award activity. By dollar value, however, the Army's Program Executive Office Soldier dominates with a single $814.7 million multiple-award Indefinite Delivery Contract for Vital Torso Protection Lares SAPI plate variants (awarded March 14, 2025, running through March 13, 2032), followed by the Marine Corps ($68.7 million), the Army's Research, Development and Engineering Command ($66.1 million), the Security Assistance Command ($62.1 million), and the FBI ($54.2 million). The concentration split reveals that while DEA places the most task orders, the Army's PEO Soldier anchors the majority of dollars—a recompete-critical distinction.

Hardwire holds seven named indefinite-delivery vehicles. The PEO Soldier LSAPI contract at $814.7 million is the anchor; recent delivery orders from that vehicle range from $105,994 to $39.3 million, with four orders placed since March 2025. A $29.3 million single-award Defense Logistics Agency contract for small arms protective inserts (awarded November 4, 2024, running through May 5, 2029) has generated delivery orders of $228,000 to $351,000. An $22 million single-award FBI Headquarters Division contract for low-visibility soft body armor (awarded November 1, 2024, running through October 31, 2029) has supported recurring orders from the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, and affiliated offices ranging from $678 to $162,720. An $8.5 million single-award U.S. Marshals Service Investigative Operations Division HUBZone Sole Source contract (awarded September 20, 2024, running through September 22, 2027) for personal protective equipment and enhanced ballistic shields has generated orders between $7,500 and $2.0 million. A $14 million single-award FBI Headquarters Division contract for rifle-rated large-size shields without viewport (awarded April 1, 2024, running through March 31, 2029) has yielded orders from $7,900 to $129,000. A $250,000 Navy SECNAV Criminal Investigative Service Blanket Purchase Agreement for ballistic plates and REACT plates (awarded May 14, 2024, running through May 14, 2027) has generated three calls ranging from $7,330 to $49,600. An older $2 million single-award Department of Defense Headquarters Division contract for rifle-resistant ceramic plates (awarded September 1, 2022, running through August 31, 2027) sits in the portfolio. Five task-order vehicles—the DEA's 15F06725D0000083 (60 task orders, $3.8 million), Foreign Military Sales SAPI (55 task orders, $18.4 million), DEA's 15F06722D0000505 (51 task orders, $4.7 million), the Army's M6785419D1566 (31 task orders, $16.1 million), and the FBI's 15F06722D0000870 (20 task orders, $2.4 million)—structure most of Hardwire's recurring order flow.

Activity has scaled significantly: four awards in 2023, 44 in 2024, 102 in 2025, 41 in 2026, and two through mid-January 2027. Twenty-four awards with combined potential value of $100.8 million face ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months and therefore trigger recompete exposure, concentrated in the Marine Corps, PEO Soldier, and Foreign Military Sales vehicles. As a subcontractor, Hardwire supplies fabricated armor components and spall liners to Oshkosh Defense (the dominant prime, with fourteen sub-awards for Stryker platform upgrades and protective systems), BAE Systems Land & Armaments (Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle work), and Deloitte Consulting (submarine industrial base expansion support).

Hardwire competes predominantly full-and-open or under HUBZone sole-source set-asides on its own IDVs; the FMS and DEA vehicles frequently carry total small business set-asides. Recent awards span military and law enforcement: a $37.9 million PEO Soldier delivery order for full-rate LSAPI production (January 21, 2026, completing July 16, 2027), a $4.9 million Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Other Transaction Agreement for Turning Block Underfloor Modular Ballistic Armor—Lightweight (September 29, 2025, completing September 28, 2027), a $1.84 million U.S. Marine Corps delivery order for soft armor (September 28, 2023, completing September 20, 2024), and recurring DEA and FBI task orders for ultra-low-visibility vests and ceramic plates at the $15,000 to $50,000 scale. The company also holds a $7.3 million Army R&D contract for laminated metallic armor research (awarded May 17, 2024) and a $247,474 SBIR Phase I award from the Army for laminated metallic armor (November 12, 2024).

Hardwire's federal portfolio spans 42 distinct customer agencies, with 1.31 billion dollars in combined potential value and 209 million dollars obligated to date. The company's HUBZone certification and track record as a sole supplier on $8.5 million to $22 million single-award contracts position it as a preferred vendor for recurring protective-equipment procurement across law enforcement and defense, with particular leverage in soft body armor, ballistic shield, and SAPI plate production for both domestic and foreign military sales channels.

Hardwire produces high-tensile steel reinforcements & valued-added products for advanced composite applications. Hardwire products are in blast-resistant structures, infrastructure armor, concrete repair, storm resistant structures, vehicle armor.