Rockwell Collins Inc.

Rockwell Collins Inc., operating as Collins Aerospace, manufactures and supplies cartridge-actuated ordnance components, pyrotechnic initiators, aircraft escape systems, and related engineering services to the U.S. Department of Defense as a prime contractor (88% of recent awards), competing on full-and-open basis without set-aside designations. A subsidiary of RTX Corporation, Rockwell Collins is a large for-profit manufacturer headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (with manufacturing and engineering facilities in Fairfield, California; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; White Plains, Maryland; and Indian Head, Maryland) and operates across primary NAICS 332999 (Explosives Manufacturing) and PSC 1377 (Cartridge and Propellant Actuated Devices and Components).

The vendor's federal footprint concentrates heavily on Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), which accounts for 246 awards ($251.5 million combined potential value) — representing 41% of recent prime awards and 45% of combined potential value across the portfolio. The Air Force Materiel Command's Ogden Air Logistics Complex places 77 orders ($192.2 million), and Hill Air Force Base Lifecycle Management Center places 98 orders ($28 million). Together, these three customers account for 82% of awards and 88% of combined potential value. The customer concentration reflects Rockwell Collins' specialization in defense aircraft platform sustainment: recent representative work includes a $7.8 million delivery order from Ogden Air Logistics Complex for cartridge and propellant actuated devices (August 2023), a $4.2 million delivery order from the same office for modernized ACES II electronic sequencers for ejection seats (March 2024), a $2.4 million delivery order from NAVSEA for V-22 Osprey cartridge-actuated initiators and thrusters (May 2023), and a $2 million definitive contract from NAVSEA for detonating cord assemblies (June 2023). Smaller but recurring work supports operability acceptance testing of ordnance components across F-22, B-1B, T-38, F-5, and ACES II platforms.

Rockwell Collins holds multiple indefinite delivery contracts anchoring its prime footprint. The largest is a $19.7 million NAVSEA IDC awarded April 5, 2021, for V-22 Osprey cartridge-actuated components and engineering services (extending through September 30, 2026), under which 16 task orders totaling approximately $7.6 million have been placed to date. A $30.1 million NAVSEA IDC for aircrew escape systems engineering services runs through September 2025. An Air Force IDC (FA821319D0001) valued at $43.7 million has generated seven task orders. On April 8, 2026, NAVSEA executed a Basic Ordering Agreement with Rockwell Collins covering engineering services for cartridge and propellant actuated devices through February 28, 2031, with no ceiling stated. Work performed across these vehicles focuses on operability acceptance testing, engineering sustainment, material procurement, and technical support for military aircraft escape systems.

Award activity expanded significantly in 2024 to 30 orders, down to 21 in 2025 and two in the first months of 2026, reflecting the snapshot timing of the data. Within the next twenty-four months, 17 awards ($21 million combined potential value) reach ultimate completion, presenting recompete exposure. The vendor's category concentration is extreme: 378 of 595 awards (64%) fall under Explosives Manufacturing, and 375 awards (63%) involve Cartridge and Propellant Actuated Devices and Components (PSC 1377).

Rockwell Collins subcontracts heavily to The Boeing Company on defense aircraft programs. Recent sub-awards (2024–2025) include propulsion and ordnance work on F-15 foreign military sales (Qatar program), AH-64E Apache full-rate production, SLAM-ER missile obsolescence redesign, and Boeing propulsion-related production activities spanning Lots 7–15 across multiple variants. Bell Boeing Joint Project Office receives sub-work for CMV-22 production lot 22 long-lead-time items covering thruster assemblies, initiators, and retainer components (December 2023). A sub-award from the Space Launch System Booster Production and Operations Contract (January 2025) involves explosives manufacturing.

Across both prime and sub positioning, Rockwell Collins' federal footprint is tightly concentrated in cartridge-actuated ordnance, pyrotechnic initiators, and ejection seat components for naval and air force aircraft platforms. The vendor competes on full-and-open basis, holds no SBA set-aside designations, and operates as a large established defense contractor within RTX Corporation's aerospace and defense portfolio.