New Hampshire Ball Bearings Inc.

New Hampshire Ball Bearings Inc., doing business as Astro Division, is a foreign-owned manufacturer of precision bearing components that operates as a prime contractor to the Defense Logistics Agency, placing the vast majority of its federal work through single-award indefinite delivery contracts with DLA Aviation and DLA Land & Maritime with no set-aside designations.

Astro Division manufactures self-lubricating plain bearings, annular ball bearings, plain spherical bearings, rod bearings, bearing sleeves, bushing sleeves, and connecting link rigging components that support military aircraft, vehicles, vessels, and weapon systems across the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The company is headquartered in Laconia, New Hampshire and competes in the open market without SBA certifications. Recent prime work includes a $4.23 million firm fixed-price purchase order from DLA Aviation (April 8, 2025) for plain, self-aligning bearings (NSN 3120-01-206-8699); a $1.81 million purchase order for self-aligning bearings (July 30, 2025); and a $1.06 million definitive contract from DLA Land & Maritime (April 9, 2026) for connecting link rigging components approved as a source-controlled item under strict manufacturing source requirements.

Customer concentration is extreme and singular: DLA Aviation dominates with 2,283 awards worth $177.2 million in combined potential value, accounting for the large majority of Astro Division's federal footprint. DLA Land & Maritime accounts for 161 awards worth $27.9 million, and the broader Defense Logistics Agency entity holds 629 additional awards worth $15.7 million. Together, these three DLA components represent 86% of award count across the portfolio and 62% of total potential value. The remaining 14% of awards are scattered across the Department of the Army, Department of the Air Force, Department of the Navy, and other federal customers in sub-million-dollar volumes.

Astro Division holds at least twelve single-award indefinite delivery contracts with DLA Aviation and DLA Land & Maritime with ceilings ranging from $250,000 to $1.55 million, with combined potential value exceeding $4.7 million and performance periods extending through 2029. Recent IDCs awarded include a $632,662 contract (September 10, 2025) for plain self-lubricating bearings, a $481,836 contract (September 3, 2025) for bushing sleeves, and a $1.55 million contract (May 14, 2025) for bearing sleeves, all with completion dates through 2028–2029. These vehicles generate steady delivery-order activity: the company received 93 awards in 2025 and 20 awards year-to-date in 2026, though activity has remained relatively flat at 70–81 awards annually from 2022–2024.

Astro Division subcontracts to major defense primes on military rotorcraft programs. Named subcontract primes include Bell Boeing Joint Project Office (bearing and tube assemblies, rod end assemblies for V-22 Osprey production and performance-based logistics); Bell Textron Inc. (bearings and bearing fitting assemblies for Future Vertical Lift FLRAA and H-1 variants); The Boeing Company (aerospace commodities for CH-47F production); RTX Corporation (engine spare parts for F119/Raptor sustainment); and GE Aviation Systems LLC (ball bearings for engine kits). Subcontract work represents approximately 2% of the total award count but carries strategic significance for rotorcraft sustainment across the military.

The recompete cliff shows 43 awards with ultimate completion in the next twenty-four months carrying $10.8 million in combined potential value, principally renewal of existing DLA Aviation and DLA Land & Maritime single-award IDCs. The company operates entirely within the defense spare-parts supply chain, competing without set-aside shelter, and demonstrates deep, long-standing relationships with DLA that anchor its business model on precision bearing components for military readiness.