Kaydon Corporation

Kaydon Corporation, doing business as Kaydon Corp, manufactures precision ball and roller bearings and specialized bearing components for naval weapons systems, aircraft platforms, and defense equipment as a prime contractor (95% of recent awards) and subcontractor, competing in full and open federal procurement with no set-aside designations. The company is a foreign-owned, for-profit manufacturer headquartered in Norton Shores, Michigan, with operations centered at its Muskegon facility. Kaydon is a subsidiary of SKF USA Inc., itself a foreign-owned bearing manufacturer, and operates under primary NAICS 332991 (Ball and Roller Bearing Manufacturing), with 1,316 recent federal awards spanning 1990 to present.

Kaydon's federal portfolio concentrates heavily in bearing procurement and evaluation services for naval systems. The Defense Logistics Agency Aviation represents 556 awards ($50.1 million combined potential value) and dominates by volume, followed by the Naval Sea Systems Command (139 awards, $20.1 million), the Department of the Army (50 awards, $13.6 million), the Army Materiel Command TACOM Life Cycle Management Command (23 awards, $16.4 million), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (8 awards, $8 million) — collectively representing 79% of recent awards. The two customer rankings diverge notably: DLA Aviation's volume does not translate to proportional dollar share, while NAVSEA's 139 awards anchor $20.1 million in potential value, signaling higher-value individual awards. Top PSC categories include Bearings, Antifriction, Unmounted (1,006 awards), Radar Equipment except Airborne (51 awards), and Gears, Pulleys, Sprockets, and Transmission Chain (27 awards).

Representative prime work includes a March 2025 sole-source Indefinite Delivery contract with NAVSEA for evaluation, manufacturing, and repair of AN/SPQ-9B bull gear bearings — a critical naval radar and weapons targeting component — with a $911.3 thousand ceiling through March 2030, justified under 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) on proprietary rights to detailed technical drawings and specialized testing procedures. Kaydon has issued multiple delivery orders under this vehicle, including a $37.9 thousand order in January 2026 and a $27.6 thousand order in March 2025, both for SPQ-9B bull gear evaluation and repair. A $241.6 thousand August 2025 purchase order from NAVSEA for repair and evaluation of bull gears used in AN/SPS-48, AN/SPS-49, and SPQ-9B naval fire control and radar systems exemplifies Kaydon's role in maintaining critical fleet equipment. Earlier awards include a $71.3 thousand delivery order (May 2023) for SPS-49 and SPQ-9B bull gear evaluation and repair, and a $88.6 thousand delivery order (April 2023) for AN/SPS-48 bull gear bearing evaluation and overhaul.

Activity grew sharply from four awards in 2022 to 36 in 2024, declining to 20 in 2025 and five in early 2026, reflecting the timing of DLA Aviation purchase orders. Only two awards totaling $476 thousand face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating minimal recompete exposure in that window. Kaydon places task orders under five parent IDIQs, led by Indefinite Delivery Contract N0016413DGR42 (43 task orders, $2.6 million combined potential value), IDC SP044100D0350 (42 task orders), and IDC N0016419DWP47 (28 task orders, $1.5 million).

Kaydon subcontracts extensively to major defense primes, supplying bearing assemblies and specialized bearing configurations to Raytheon (recurring orders for MK 144 MOD 3 guided missile launcher bearings, F-22 sensor enhancements program bearings, and production engineering support), Lockheed Martin (M-TADS/PNVS bearing duplex pairs and GPS III follow-on space vehicle bearing angular contact pairs), The Boeing Company (Apache aircraft full-rate production and performance-based logistics common aerospace commodities), BAE Systems Land & Armaments (MK 45 MOD 2 to MOD 4 upgrade material and Bradley A4 production material), General Dynamics-OTS (guided missile director bearings), Serco (engineering services and spare parts), and Renk America (UCA hardware and ancillary parts). This subcontract footprint, covering roughly 66 recent sub-awards, reflects Kaydon's role as a specialized bearing supplier within the broader weapons system integration ecosystem. Kaydon's combined potential value across all awards stands at $163.7 million with $158.9 million (97%) obligated, indicating strong cash conversion and contract maturity.