Defense Logistics Agency Awards $200 Million Barrier Deal to Three Firms
DIRICKX Systems, Hesco Bastion and Maccaferri will share a maximum $200 million contract for expeditionary barrier systems serving all four military branches through August 2028.
The Defense Logistics Agency awarded a maximum $200 million contract for expeditionary barrier systems, splitting the work among three firms across two countries, as announced on war.gov.
DIRICKX Systems Ltd., a United Kingdom supplier, Hesco Bastion Ltd. of Leeds, United Kingdom, and Maccaferri Inc. of Hagerstown, Maryland, will share the fixed-price, indefinite-delivery contract under solicitation SPE8E6-25-R-0003. The competitive acquisition drew 11 responses according to war.gov. The award carries a two-year base with three one-year option periods and an ordering period ending August 3, 2028.
Expeditionary barrier systems shield troops, command posts, and equipment from blasts and gunfire in the field. The Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps will all draw on the contract, according to war.gov. Performance will span the United Kingdom, Poland, Italy, South Carolina, and Maryland, funded by fiscal 2026 through 2028 defense working capital funds.
The stakes reach three suppliers on two continents. DIRICKX Systems and Hesco Bastion gain a foothold in a multiyear U.S. military supply line, while Maccaferri anchors the domestic share in Maryland. Basing performance in Poland and Italy places production near NATO’s eastern flank, where allied forces have expanded defensive positioning.
This marks the first contract awarded to DIRICKX Systems Ltd. in 2026, bringing the company’s total contract value for the year to $200 million, according to war.gov. It stands as the 44th Department of Defense contract awarded in Maryland during 2026. The award falls between the 2026 Defense Logistics Agency portfolio’s year-to-date minimum of $9 million and its maximum of $1.5 billion. It was one of four Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on August 4, 2026.
Barrier systems shape daily security at bases and forward posts where American service members deploy. Taxpayers fund the purchase through defense working capital accounts, which recover costs as military branches order goods. The contract ceiling sets the maximum spend, not a guaranteed payout, so actual outlays depend on how many barriers the services request through 2028.
This is not the first time the Defense Logistics Agency has tapped multiple vendors for battlefield barriers. The agency has repeatedly used indefinite-delivery structures to keep several suppliers competing on price and delivery. Splitting the ceiling among three firms preserves supply if one contractor falters and keeps rival bids in play across the multiyear term.
The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will oversee task orders and decide how the ceiling is spent. A specific date for the first delivery order has not been announced. The ordering window closes August 3, 2028.
Sandbags and earthworks have guarded soldiers as happened before across centuries of warfare. Hesco Bastion introduced its collapsible wire-and-fabric gabions in the late 1980s, and coalition forces filled them with sand and rubble to build blast walls during the 1991 Gulf War, according to britannica.com. Those barriers later ringed bases across Iraq and Afghanistan, replacing hand-stacked sandbags with units that engineers could erect in hours. The design cut construction time and became a fixture of expeditionary defense, cementing the supplier’s role in military procurement for decades.
This contract represents the 1st contract awarded to DIRICKX Systems Ltd., in 2026, bringing the company’s total contract value for the year to $200,000,000. It is also the 44th Department of Defense contract awarded in Maryland during 2026. Because this is the first award to DIRICKX Systems Ltd. recorded in the database, it establishes the company’s initial benchmark within the Defense Logistics Agency portfolio. Specifically, it falls between the 2026 Defense Logistics Agency portfolio’s year-to-date minimum of $9,000,000 and maximum of $1,525,000,000. Overall, this award was announced among 4 Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on August 4, 2026.
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