Patten Co., Inc.

Patten Co., Inc., doing business as Patten Group, is a Jacksonville, Florida-based manufacturer of inflatable life rafts, survival equipment, and marine safety products that operates as a prime contractor to defense agencies and the civilian space program, competing predominantly in full-and-open procurements without set-aside restrictions. The company is a subsidiary of Wing Inflatables Inc., a parent manufacturer also based in California.

Patten's federal footprint centers entirely on prime contracting—577 awards spanning from 1980 through April 2026, with no subcontractor presence. The company specializes in military-specification inflatable life rafts (PSC 42—Marine Lifesaving and Diving Equipment), inflatable boats, sea anchors, and life raft maintenance and repair services delivered under NAICS 326299 (All Other Rubber Product Manufacturing). Representative prime work includes a $5.59 million single-award IDC from the Defense Logistics Agency Construction and Equipment division through June 2030 for inflatable life raft procurement, an $8.28 million single-award IDC from Naval Supply Systems Command through September 2029 for life raft repair services in Philadelphia, a $2.54 million delivery order from DLA Construction and Equipment (July 2025) for inflatable life rafts with January 2027 completion, a $216,188 delivery order from DLA (August 2023) for inflatable life rafts under a Total Small Business set-aside, and a $78,600 purchase order from NASA's Shared Services Center (July 2023) for inflatable life raft assemblies for the Orion vehicle program.

Customer concentration is extreme and singular. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support Construction and Equipment division accounts for 177 awards (82% of all awards) with $86.2 million in combined potential value, dwarfing all other customers. The Department of the Navy Naval Supply Systems Command places a distant second with 38 awards valued at $15 million combined. Three other Navy components—Naval Air Warfare Center, Naval Air Systems Command, and Naval Sea Systems Command—account for an additional eight awards and $1.2 million. This concentration creates substantial recompete risk: seven awards with combined potential value of $11.3 million reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, all concentrated within the DLA and Navy customer base.

Patten holds five active parent IDCs serving as primary procurement vehicles. The largest are the June 2025 DLA Construction and Equipment life raft procurement IDC ($5.59 million ceiling through June 2030) and the August 2024 Naval Supply Systems Command life raft repair IDC ($8.28 million ceiling through September 2029). The Naval Air Warfare Center awarded a $1,000 IDC through April 2028 for equipment maintenance and technical support. Two additional DLA IDVs—SPM50005D0211 and SPM8EJ11D0501—carry task-order activity valued at $9.8 million and $6.5 million respectively. DLA also issues delivery orders against other vehicles such as SP050004D0221 (27 task orders across the visible period) and Air Force vehicles F4160890D1499 and F4162499D1100 (11 task orders each).

Activity has been volatile. The company received 14 awards in 2022 and 13 in 2023, dropped to two in 2024, recovered to 12 in 2025, and received one award in 2026 to date. The combined potential value of $103.7 million exceeds the combined dollars obligated at $107.8 million, indicating that obligated spend on some awards has exceeded their ceiling values. Patten has maintained federal contractor status since 2002 and operates manufacturing facilities in Jacksonville and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, with additional repair and technical service operations in Philadelphia for Navy work. The company has demonstrated capability in both prime manufacturing contracts (ranging from $44,000 to over $8.2 million historical single awards) and delivery orders under standing IDCs, positioning it as the incumbent supplier for much of the Navy's and DLA's inflatable life raft requirements. No set-aside certifications appear in the source record; the company's federal work predominantly flows through full-and-open or set-aside vehicles where small business status qualifies it to compete but does not anchor its posture.