S & L Aerospace Metals LLC

S & L Aerospace Metals LLC, a minority-owned, Asian-Pacific American-owned small disadvantaged business based in Flushing, New York, manufactures precision-engineered aircraft components—hydraulic systems, landing gear assemblies, helicopter rotor mechanisms, pistons, cylinders, housings, and structural hardware—for military aviation platforms, competing as a prime contractor on 92% of its awards under the Total Small Business set-aside and unrestricted competitive designations.

The vendor holds a narrow but deep customer concentration rooted in rotary-wing sustainment. The Department of the Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command dominates dollars—18 awards valued at $35.2 million combined potential value, anchored by a $3.25 million delivery order for UH-60M Black Hawk cylinder and piston assemblies. The Defense Logistics Agency Aviation ranks second in dollars ($8.7 million across 118 awards) and sustains a portfolio of small purchase orders and delivery orders for housing probes, pistons, pulleys, adapters, and slide-lock components. Naval Supply Systems Command contributes $3.3 million across 63 awards for piston, cylinder, and actuator assemblies supporting H-60 Seahawk and CH-53K King Stallion platforms. The top five customer agencies (including DLA broadly at $1.7 million and the Navy at $123 awards) account for 70% of the award count and 96% of combined potential value. Unlike typical small manufacturers that compete on multiple vehicles, S & L Aerospace Metals works under several single-award indefinite delivery contracts rather than government-wide GWACs: two DLA Aviation IDCs valued at $4 million combined through 2028–2029, a supply agreement with Army Aviation and Missile Command, and agency-specific BPAs. Three task orders have been issued against the $2 million DLA Aviation housing-probe IDC (set-aside for small business) since November 2023, ranging from $78 thousand to $258 thousand per order.

Recent prime work exemplifies the vendor's product focus: a $108 thousand Total Small Business delivery order from DLA Aviation (March 2025) for 40 housing adapter units through July 2028; a $138 thousand delivery order for housing probes (September 2024) under the DLA IDC, with completion through July 2027; a $77.5 thousand delivery order for piston assemblies to DLA Aviation (June 2024) through December 2026; and a $23 thousand purchase order for slide locks and probes (October 2024) set aside for small business through January 2027. Activity has grown substantially—four awards in 2022 to 34 in 2024, with 30 awards in 2025—but recompete exposure remains modest: only eight awards valued at $741 thousand complete within the next twenty-four months. The vendor's footprint spans 210 awards in Other Aircraft Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing (NAICS), with highest concentration in Aircraft Hydraulic, Vacuum, and De-Icing System Components (PSC 1680, 181 awards) and Landing Gear Components (PSC 1670, 111 awards).

As a subcontractor, S & L Aerospace Metals supplies aircraft parts to Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation on CH-53K King Stallion, H-60 Seahawk, and Combat Rescue Helicopter programs (landing gear, pistons, tripod assemblies, fork assemblies, probe components, and long-lead items), and to The Boeing Company on F-15EX, F/A-18E, and KC-135 programs (cylinder assemblies and landing-gear kits). The vendor's teaming relationships are narrow—Sikorsky and Boeing dominate the sub footprint—and routed through major platform contractors rather than through full-and-open prime competition on defense IT, systems integration, or service contracts. Combined obligated dollars ($62.9 million) slightly exceed potential value, indicating consistent delivery on smaller transactional awards from DLA and Navy supply commands. The vendor does not hold positions on GWACs, GSA Schedules, or government-wide IDIQs; its federal market access is anchored to direct agency relationships and single-award IDC vehicles.