Sheltered Wings, Inc.

Sheltered Wings, Inc., doing business as Vortex Optics, is a veteran-owned, family-owned small business manufacturer of advanced optical equipment and fire control systems that operates exclusively as a prime contractor to the Department of Defense, with 96% of its 117 tracked federal awards as prime work and no set-aside designations across its active footprint. The company is headquartered in Barneveld, Wisconsin, and competes full-and-open on Other Transaction Agreements with the U.S. Army's Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier, its sole material customer.

Customer concentration is extreme and by design. PEO Soldier accounts for 48 of 65 tracked awards (56% of award count) and $807 million of the $807.5 million combined potential value across all tracked work — effectively 100% of Vortex Optics' material federal revenue pipeline. The vendor serves 33 distinct agencies in total, but all other customers combined represent fewer than $30 thousand in awards: the Department of Justice Bureau of Prisons, DEA, US Marshals, and the Department of the Air Force Air National Guard place token orders for optical scopes and equipment. This concentration reflects Vortex Optics' role as a core NGSW-FC production supplier rather than a generalist federal contractor.

Vortex Optics holds a single dominant parent vehicle: an Other Transaction Indefinite Delivery Vehicle (W15QKN229P001) awarded by PEO Soldier on December 30, 2021, with no specified ceiling value. This IDV has generated 45 task orders carrying $798.2 million in combined potential value. The company also holds positions on a GSA Schedule (GS07F0129W) and a Defense Logistics Agency vehicle (Special Operations Equipment — Tailored Logistics Support), but these carry minimal order volume ($72 thousand and unquantified value respectively).

The capability portfolio centers on fire control system production, thermal imaging design and build, battery pack engineering, software development, fielding support, and supply chain logistics for the Next Generation Squad Weapon-Fire Control program. Representative prime work includes a $334.1 million production systems delivery order (May 2024, modified for payable milestones), a $113 million NGSW-FC 2025 production systems order (August 2025, modified March 2025 to add payable milestones), a $111.3 million NGSW-FC production order (August 2025 completion), a $98.1 million fire control units order (March 2023), a $35.7 million FAT and NGSW-FC systems procurement (January 2022), a $30.1 million NGSW-FC production order for Army and USMC (January 2023), a $14.3 million thermal design review build contract (May 2024), and a $2.17 million thermal capability development order (August 2025). Training and fielding support work runs smaller, typically $7 thousand to $66 thousand per task order, covering field service representative support, company representative deployment to testing events, equipment training, and software updates at Army installations (Fort Campbell, Fort Ripley, Watertown, Fort Greely, Joint Base Lewis-McChord).

Activity has grown in recent years — from 7 awards in 2022 and 2023, to 19 in 2024, to 16 in 2025. This trajectory reflects PEO Soldier's accelerating investment in NGSW-FC production and fielding. Recompete risk is concentrated in the next twenty-four months: seven awards carrying $673.1 million in combined potential value reach ultimate completion by July 2027, creating both recompete exposure for Vortex Optics and significant opportunity for competitors seeking displacement on the production NGSW-FC production vehicle or task orders.

Vortex Optics subcontracts minimally — five tracked sub-awards (4% of total) under Atlantic Diving Supply, Inc. as prime, covering optical scopes and binoculars. The sub-award work is incidental to the prime footprint and does not reflect a material sub-engagement strategy.

The vendor's primary NAICS category is Optical Instrument and Lens Manufacturing (31 awards), followed by Radio and Television Broadcasting and Wireless Communications Equipment Manufacturing (9 awards). Top PSC categories align: Miscellaneous Weapons (48 awards), Optical Instruments and Components (16 awards), and Optical Sighting and Ranging Equipment (8 awards). The vendor's $639.1 million in obligated dollars against $807.5 million in combined potential value (79% obligation rate) indicates active execution of large production contracts rather than developmental or exploratory work.

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