Vermont Aerospace Industries, LLC

Vermont Aerospace Industries, LLC, a small business based in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, manufactures precision-machined components and mechanical assemblies for aerospace and defense applications as a prime contractor (95% of awards) and subcontractor to major defense primes. The company is a for-profit limited liability company with no SBA set-aside designation, though it competes successfully in both full-and-open and small-business-set-aside procurements, winning approximately 40% of its prime awards under total small business set-asides.

The Defense Logistics Agency dominates Vermont Aerospace's customer base. DLA Land and Maritime accounts for 447 awards valued at $24.8 million combined potential value—representing 98% of all recent awards and the overwhelming majority of the company's $25.4 million combined portfolio value. The remaining 1% of awards split across DLA Troop Support Construction and Equipment (32 awards, $513 thousand), DLA Aviation (26 awards, $114 thousand), DLA Troop Support Hardware (12 awards, $40 thousand), and the Department of the Army's PEO Ground Combat Systems (8 awards). The concentration is extreme and intentional: Vermont Aerospace exists primarily as a DLA supplier for ordnance components, mechanical power transmission hardware, and aircraft support equipment.

Vermont Aerospace' capability footprint is narrow and deeply specialized. The company manufactures small arms ordnance accessories—cartridge guides, ammunition chutes, housing assemblies, sprocket wheels, shafts, cams, followers, and related mechanical components used in military vehicles, aircraft, and weapons systems. Representative prime contracts include a $498,960 total small business set-aside purchase order from DLA Land and Maritime (June 2024) for exit unit gun system components with 22 units plus 1 expedited unit delivery; a $189,000 total small business set-aside purchase order (November 2022) for exit units, gun system; a $139,620 total small business set-aside purchase order (July 2024) for housing access components with 39 units plus 1 expedited delivery; and a $117,882 total small business set-aside purchase order (July 2023) for automatic lubricators. Single-award indefinite delivery contracts hold $250,000 ceilings each; the company maintains multiple concurrent IDCs with DLA Land and Maritime covering sprocket wheels, breech bolt bodies, housing assembly feeders, and fixed front scoop components. Work is performed at Vermont Aerospace' facility in Waterford, Vermont, with deliveries to DLA depots across continental and outside continental United States locations. The company's NAICS footprint centers on small arms and ordnance accessories manufacturing (357 awards), mechanical power transmission equipment (59 awards), and other aircraft parts and auxiliary equipment (56 awards). Product Service Code concentration is similarly tight: 354 awards fall under guns through 30mm; 48 under gears, pulleys, sprockets, and transmission chain; 40 under miscellaneous power transmission equipment.

Vermont Aerospace supplies defense primes as a subcontractor on advanced manufacturing work. Named prime contractors include General Dynamics-OTS (guided missile director machining for USN, rotor components, housing transfer assemblies, guide assemblies), Renk America LLC (universal coupling assembly hardware for THOR III HMPT XMS systems, system technical support with cost-plus-fixed-fee labor and parts), and General Dynamics Mission Systems (fire control omnibus consolidation work). Recent subcontract awards span precision machining for guided missile director components, tank transmission hardware, and fire control systems. The subcontract footprint, at 5% of total awards, provides exposure to larger prime budgets and advanced defense platforms but remains secondary to the DLA direct-supply business.

Activity has been steady but slowing. The company averaged 54 awards annually over 2022–2024 (46 awards in 2022, 58 in 2023, 61 in 2024) but dropped to 50 awards in 2025 and only 9 in the first four months of 2026—a deceleration pattern typical of cyclical procurement or inventory adjustments at DLA. The recompete cliff is modest: 15 awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry $964 thousand combined potential value. Obligated dollars total $20.5 million across $25.4 million in potential value (81% obligation rate), indicating solid contract performance and cash flow from executed task orders.