Kitco Fiber Optics Inc.

Kitco Fiber Optics Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, manufactures and supplies specialized fiber optic products—cable assemblies, connectors, test equipment, tool kits, and installer training—to the Department of Defense as a prime contractor (96% of recent awards) competing predominantly full-and-open with no SBA set-aside footprint. The company has been a registered federal contractor since April 2002 and operates across NAICS codes centered on fiber optic cable manufacturing, electronic connector manufacturing, and instrument manufacturing for testing electrical systems, with corresponding PSC codes for fiber optic kits, cable assemblies, and test equipment.

Customer concentration sits heavily with Navy and Defense Logistics Agency components. The top five funding agencies by award count account for 75% of recent awards, led by Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime (437 awards, $3.5 million combined potential value), Naval Sea Systems Command (321 awards, $7.4 million), and United States Marine Corps (313 awards, $160 thousand). However, the dollar-value ranking diverges significantly: the Army's PEO Combat Support and Combat Service Support (14 awards) anchors the highest dollar share at $42.8 million, while Naval Supply Systems Command (287 awards) sits second at $25.2 million and Naval Air Warfare Center (139 awards) third at $20.6 million. This split reflects Kitco's role as both a high-volume provider of individual fiber optic components through DLA and a specialized supplier of test equipment and optical instruments under larger single-award and multi-year delivery vehicles.

Kitco's recent activity has declined markedly. Awards per year dropped from 122 in 2023 to 83 in 2024 and 51 in 2025, with only 7 awards recorded in 2026 through the snapshot date. Across all recent activity, combined potential value stands at $119.9 million with $81.8 million obligated (68%). The recompete cliff is modest: seven awards (combined potential value $1.6 million) reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months.

The vendor holds three active indefinite delivery contracts: a $14.9 million single-award IDC with Naval Air Warfare Center for fiber optical test sets (awarded December 2025, running through December 2030); a $766,738 single-award IDC with Naval Supply Systems Command for optical microscopes and related equipment (running through August 2028); and a $665,085 single-award IDC with DLA Aviation for fiber optic tool kits (through December 2023, likely renewed). The Multiple Award Schedule vehicle carries 110 task orders valued at $1.2 million. Additionally, Kitco holds positions on at least five named indefinite delivery contracts issued by Army acquisition support and DLA entities, supporting ongoing delivery-order activity across test equipment, tool kits, and cable assemblies.

Representative prime work includes a $7.2 million delivery order from Army PEO CSCSS for optical time domain reflectometers (awarded December 2023, completing October 2024); a $2.5 million firm fixed-price purchase order from Naval Supply Systems Command for optical loss test kits (June 2023, completing December 2023); a $4.8 million purchase order from Naval Supply Systems Command for optical loss test kits (June 2025, completing June 2026); a $1.3 million purchase order from Missile Defense Agency for fiber optic staging kits (October 2025, completing June 2026); and a $224,860 purchase order from Naval Sea Systems Command for fiber optic fabricator training across U.S. East Coast, West Coast, and Crane, Indiana locations (September 2023, completing September 2026). Training and installation work typically ranges from $2,200 to $201,655 per award. Smaller routine procurements of cable assemblies, connectors, polishing film, and repair kits populate the long tail of the award list at sub-$25,000 values.

Kitco operates as a subcontractor to major defense contractors on fiber optic component and installation work. Recent sub-awards name Leidos (SMIT orders and undersea warfare combat systems product support), General Dynamics Mission Systems (Littoral Combat Ship Independence-class engineering and life-cycle support), HII Fleet Support Group and HII Mission Technologies (carrier and submarine C4I hardware installations and fiber optic kit work), QED Systems (USS John C. Stennis fiber optic cabling repair and USS Green Bay alteration installation), Huntington Ingalls (LPD-30 blown fiber machine rental), Lockheed Martin (cable assemblies and trainer courses), BAE Systems (NAVSEA installer training), Raytheon (AN/TPY-2 radar electronic test systems), Atlantic Diving Supply (fiber optic installation and polishing kits), and others. This subcontracting pattern—fiber optic components and installation labor embedded in larger ship construction, modernization, and combat systems support contracts—represents a secondary revenue channel but remains subordinate to Kitco's dominant prime footprint.

The Service Contract Inventory dataset shows minimal SCI-reportable service activity: six records across FY2022–FY2024, all as named subcontractor (zero as prime), with workforce declining from 27.4 FTEs in FY2022 to 2.6 FTEs in FY2024. This indicates that Kitco's federal service delivery—when captured in SCI—is modest relative to its goods-centric prime footprint. GSA Schedule labor rates span $44.87/hr (Field Technician, high school education, no clearance) through $142.91/hr (Training Manager, bachelor's degree, 10 years experience, no clearance), with mid-tier roles in fiber optic training ($85.74/hr) and program management ($102.90/hr). The company does not hold security-cleared labor positions on the Schedule, consistent with its role in manufacturing and technician-level support rather than classified intelligence or defense analysis work.