Hottinger Bruel & Kjaer Inc.

Hottinger Bruel & Kjaer Inc., doing business as Hottinger Baldwin Measurements Inc., is a foreign-owned manufacturer of test and measurement instrumentation that operates as a prime contractor (90% of recent awards) supplying federal agencies with data acquisition systems, vibration analysis tools, acoustic measurement devices, calibration equipment, and specialized software solutions. The company competes on a full-and-open basis with no set-aside posture; all recent awards carry no set-aside designation. Hottinger Bruel & Kjaer is headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts, and is a subsidiary of parent company Particle Measuring Systems, Inc., with a named subsidiary Hottinger Bruel & Kjaer Solutions LLC. The company manufactures products across multiple countries including Denmark, Germany, Finland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Taiwan, and the United States, with production facilities spanning Europe and Asia.

The top five customer agencies account for 48% of recent awards by count and 14% of combined potential value. NASA's Shared Services Center leads by award count (60 awards, $2.3 million combined potential value), reflecting consistent small-dollar renewals of BK Connect software maintenance, data acquisition modules, and specialized instrumentation for Glenn Research Center and Johnson Space Center acoustic and vibration testing. The Department of the Navy Naval Air Systems Command Naval Air Warfare Center anchors the largest dollar share (43 awards, $3.5 million combined potential value) through recurring maintenance and repair contracts for proprietary Perception software and Genesis data acquisition systems, plus a $718 thousand vibration shaker definitive contract. Naval Sea Systems Command (38 awards, $1.2 million combined potential value), Naval Supply Systems Command (11 awards, $1.7 million combined potential value), and the Army Research Development and Engineering Command (18 awards, $1.1 million combined potential value) round out the primary customer set, with work spanning accelerometers, force transducers, software licenses, and reliability analysis tools. Recent representative prime work includes a $409.8 million Army Corps of Engineers delivery order for equipment and software license renewal through September 2029 under the GSA Schedule; a $366.3 thousand FAA purchase order for a vibration table for electric aviation propulsion testing; a $353.6 thousand NASA delivery order for a Bruel & Kjaer LAN-XI data acquisition system at Glenn Research Center; a $718 thousand Naval Air Warfare Center definitive contract for a V8900 vibration shaker; and a $274.9 thousand Naval Supply Systems Command order for mechanical accelerometers.

Hottinger Bruel & Kjaer holds a $32.5 million Federal Supply Schedule contract with the General Services Administration running through July 2029, approved under four Special Item Numbers (334519ENV Environmental Measuring Instruments, 334515 Diagnostic Measuring and Testing Equipment, 334516 Analytical Instruments, 513210 IT Software). The vendor places 25 delivery orders annually under the Multiple Award Schedule, with typical order values ranging from five thousand to four hundred thousand dollars. Two indefinite delivery contracts with the Department of the Navy—one valued at $249.5 thousand for maintenance and repair services, another at $250 thousand—enable direct task orders for sole-source software maintenance and calibration support at Naval Air Systems Command facilities. Recent activity has declined from 49 awards in 2023 to 28 in 2025, with thirteen awards (combined potential value $899 thousand) completing in the next twenty-four months and facing recompete.

In its subcontractor role, Hottinger Bruel & Kjaer supplies data acquisition systems, vibration shakers, acoustic measurement equipment, and specialized software to major defense primes including Lockheed Martin, Fluor Marine Propulsion, BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services, Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies, and Bell Textron on weapons systems integration, submarine propulsion testing, vibration testing platforms, aircraft development, and reliability analysis programs. Named sub-award examples include MK48 Mod 7 components supplied to Lockheed Martin, C-130J sustainment work, Trident production support, and Integrated Battle Command System hardware supplied to Northrop Grumman. Sub-awards account for approximately 10% of the recent footprint and involve modular amplifier and QuantumX data acquisition systems delivered under multi-year agreements.

Hottinger Bruel & Kjaer's capability portfolio centers on proprietary hardware and software platforms—BK Connect data acquisition and signal conditioning, Genesis data acquisition systems, LAN-XI modules, Perception diagnostic software, Reliasoft reliability analysis suites (including Weibull++, BlockSim, XFMEA), and nCode Glyphworks fatigue analysis tools—alongside manufactured measurement devices including accelerometers (electronic and mechanical), free-field microphones, force transducers, vibration shakers and exciters, acoustic cameras, power analyzers, torque transducers, and calibration systems. Most federal awards are sole-source justified under FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i) based on proprietary software ownership or original equipment manufacturer status, particularly for BK Connect renewals and ReliaSoft licensing. The company also supplies commercial-off-the-shelf equipment such as sound level meters and strain gauges, often procured under blanket purchase agreements and delivery orders with minimal competition.