Hardwire LLC

Hardwire LLC, headquartered in Pocomoke City, Maryland, manufactures advanced composite armor and ballistic protection solutions as a prime contractor (94% of recent awards) and subcontractor to major defense primes. The company is an SBA-certified HUBZone small business structured as a for-profit limited liability corporation, competing predominantly under full-and-open federal procurement but holding several single-award HUBZone Sole Source IDIQs that anchor its law enforcement customer base. Hardwire specializes in concrete product categories spanning Small Arms Protective Inserts (SAPI), ceramic and steel ballistic plates, ultra-low-visibility body armor systems, soft body armor, enhanced ballistic shields, and vehicle-mounted spall liners—capabilities grounded in a federal contract footprint exceeding $1.3 billion in potential value across 346 awards.

The customer concentration reflects a mix of defense production and law enforcement equipment supply. The top five funding agencies by award count account for 66% of recent awards, led by the Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration (71 awards, $1.4 million combined potential value), followed by the Department of the Army Materiel Command Security Assistance Command (56 awards, $62.1 million), United States Marine Corps (39 awards, $68.7 million), Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation Headquarters Division (36 awards, $53.9 million), and Department of Justice US Marshals Service Training Academy (27 awards, $11.7 million). However, potential-value concentration diverges significantly: the Army's Program Executive Office Soldier anchors the portfolio with a single $814.7 million multiple-award IDIQ for Vital Torso Protection Lares Small Arms Protective Insert (LSAPI) production awarded March 14, 2025, through March 13, 2032. Recent delivery orders under this vehicle include a $37.9 million order (January 21, 2026, completing July 16, 2027) and a $39.34 million order (September 15, 2025, completing March 15, 2027). A secondary concentration sits with law enforcement and specialized protective equipment: a $22 million FBI Headquarters Division single-award IDIQ for low-visibility soft body armor (November 1, 2024, through October 31, 2029) has generated 36 task orders with values ranging from $678 to $162,042, predominantly for body armor and ultra-low-visibility vests supporting fugitive apprehension operations at the U.S. Marshals Service Training Academy and field offices. A $7 million HUBZone Sole Source IDIQ with U.S. Marshals Service Training Academy for personal protective equipment and enhanced ballistic shields (September 20, 2024, through September 22, 2027) has issued approximately $3.2 million in delivery orders. The Defense Logistics Agency Clothing and Textiles holds a $29.3 million single-award IDIQ for small arms protective inserts (November 4, 2024, through May 5, 2029) designated as total small business set-aside.

Vehicle position across the portfolio reveals multiple contracting channels. Hardwire places task orders under the Foreign Military Sales Small Arms Protective Inserts indefinite-delivery contract (55 task orders, $18.4 million combined value), a Defense Logistics Agency vehicle for FMS cases supporting allied nations' ballistic protection procurement. Drug Enforcement Administration BPAs (15F06725D0000083 and 15F06722D0000505) generate 106 combined task orders ($7.2 million) for ultra-low-visibility vests, ceramic plates, and ballistic plates. A Navy SECNAV Criminal Investigative Service Quantico BPA for REACT ballistic plates ($250,000 ceiling, awarded May 14, 2024, through May 14, 2027) has issued three calls totaling $57,510. Most recent delivery orders carry firm fixed-price structures with no additional set-asides beyond the underlying IDV designation.

Activity growth accelerated in 2025 with 102 awards (up from 44 in 2024 and 35 in 2023), driven by multiple large-dollar Army PEO Soldier and FMS-related orders. Twenty-three awards totaling $93.9 million in combined potential value reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing recompete exposure concentrated in Army LSAPI production and FMS SAPI delivery orders.

Subcontractor footprint centers on fabricated armor components and spall liners for vehicle-mounted protection. Oshkosh Defense LLC is the dominant prime, with Hardwire providing fabricated components and products for Stryker vehicle armor upgrades, spall liner work directives, and risk-management testing under multiple task orders (December 2024–August 2025). BAE Systems Land & Armaments receives armor material for the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) program (November 2024). Deloitte Consulting LLP engaged Hardwire for submarine industrial-base workforce development and manufacturing capability expansion (March 2026). Subcontract work represents 6% of the total award footprint and surfaces Hardwire's role as a fabricated-armor supplier within larger defense vehicle modernization efforts.

Hardwire's NAICS and PSC profile confirms specialization in armor manufacturing: top NAICS categories include Apparel Accessories and Other Apparel Manufacturing (143 awards), Surgical Appliance and Supplies Manufacturing (99 awards), and Military Armored Vehicle, Tank, and Tank Component Manufacturing (42 awards). Primary PSC is Armor, Personal (255 awards), with secondary categories in Vehicular Cab, Body, and Frame Structural Components (15 awards). The company manufactures all products at its Pocomoke City, Maryland facility, with some task orders specifying performance at Brunswick, Georgia, El Paso, Texas, and other customer locations. Recent awards reflect a balance between large-dollar Army and Marine Corps production contracts and recurring small-to-medium law enforcement replenishment orders from DEA, FBI, and U.S. Marshals Service.

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.