Two British companies are among three firms sharing a US contract worth up to $200 million for expeditionary barrier systems, with work to be performed in the United Kingdom, Poland and Italy as well as the United States, according to the Defense Logistics Agency.
The award, announced on 4 August, covers a maximum $200,000,000 fixed-price, indefinite-delivery and indefinite-quantity contract. It is shared between DIRICKX Systems Ltd of the United Kingdom, Hesco Bastion Ltd of Leeds, and Maccaferri Inc of Hagerstown, Maryland.
The contract was awarded following a competitive acquisition under solicitation SPE8E6-25-R-0003, which drew 11 responses. Each award is a two-year base contract with three one-year option periods, and the ordering period ends on 3 August 2028.
The Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps are all listed as using military services, with the work funded through defence working capital funds across the 2026 to 2028 financial years. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support in Philadelphia.
Locations of performance are given as the United Kingdom, Poland, Italy, South Carolina and Maryland.
Expeditionary barrier systems cover the wire-framed, fabric-lined gabion units used to build blast walls, perimeter defences and fortified positions on deployed bases. Filled on site with sand, gravel or soil, they can be assembled rapidly and have become a standard feature of forward operating bases, providing protection against blast, fragmentation and direct fire.
Hesco Bastion, based in Leeds, developed the concentina barrier design that became widely associated with the type, and its products have been used extensively by British and American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as in flood defence work. The company’s units are commonly referred to by its name across allied armed forces.
