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AirBoss Defense Group

Vendor or contractor

Type
Company or group
Role
Vendor or contractor
Updated

The profile

Maryland maker of protective gear, owned by Canada's AirBoss of America, that won $456.9 million in no-bid federal COVID-19 orders for respirators and nitrile gloves in 2020 and 2021.

  • Type: Protective-equipment manufacturer; federal contractor.
  • Legal entity: AirBoss Defense Group, LLC, a Delaware company based in Maryland (Hyattsville in 2020–2021, Jessup by 2024), known until September 9, 2020 as Immediate Response Technologies, LLC. The Federal Procurement Data System lists AirBoss of America Corp as its ultimate parent.1
  • Pandemic-relief role: Supplier of powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs) to FEMA and HHS in 2020 and of nitrile gloves to HHS in 2021; later an HHS isolation-gown contractor and a bid protester over the same gown solicitation.

Four federal COVID-19 orders from three agencies, placed with this Maryland company in 2020 and 2021, add up to $456.9 million, none of it competed. FEMA ordered $96.4 million of FlexAir PAPRs in April 2020; HHS followed with $121.0 million of NIOSH-approved PAPRs in July 2020 and $288.1 million of nitrile gloves in March 2021, later cut to $236.9 million; the VA bought $2.6 million of PAPR hoods and filters.2134

The orders

OrderBuyerDateWhatObligated
70FB7020C00000007FEMAApr. 2020FlexAir PAPRs with high-efficiency filters$96,434,000
36C10X20P0095Veterans AffairsJuly 2020PAPR hoods and filters$2,558,453
75A50120C00141HHS (BARDA)July 2020NIOSH-approved PAPRs$120,986,588
75A50121C00027HHS (BARDA)Mar. 2021Nitrile gloves$236,917,637.10

The procurement records give the justifications. FEMA's order cites only one responsible source (FAR 6.302-1); the two HHS orders cite unusual and compelling urgency (FAR 6.302-2); the VA order was a simplified-acquisition purchase without competition.2134 The glove order opened at $288,106,000. In June 2021 its ceiling was doubled to $576.2 million, then brought back to the original figure in November, and in March 2022 a bilateral modification removed $51,188,362.90 of unused funds.3 The HHS respirator contract recognized the company's change of name from Immediate Response Technologies to AirBoss Defense Group, effective September 9, 2020.1

The gown protest

In June 2022 HHS's Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response issued a solicitation for Level 2 isolation gowns. AirBoss filed a bid protest over it in the Court of Federal Claims on March 7, 2024, and StringKing Lacrosse joined as plaintiff-intervenor. On June 27, 2024, Senior Judge Charles F. Lettow denied StringKing's request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, finding that the plaintiffs had not met their burden and that an injunction would not serve the public interest.5

That September HHS's Strategic National Stockpile office awarded AirBoss a competed contract for domestic-source Level 2 isolation gowns, with $69.6 million obligated against an $83.9 million ceiling.6 The protest was dismissed with prejudice by joint stipulation on June 13, 2025.7

  • Alex Azar: HHS Secretary when the respirator order was placed.

Sources

  1. Federal Procurement Data System, HHS contract 75A50120C00141 (Immediate Response Technologies, LLC / AirBoss Defense Group, LLC, powered air-purifying respirators). Original: https://www.fpds.gov/ezsearch/FEEDS/ATOM?FEEDNAME=PUBLIC&q=PIID%3A75A50120C00141 ↩
  2. Federal Procurement Data System, FEMA contract 70FB7020C00000007 (Immediate Response Technologies, LLC, FlexAir powered air-purifying respirators). Original: https://www.fpds.gov/ezsearch/FEEDS/ATOM?FEEDNAME=PUBLIC&q=PIID%3A70FB7020C00000007 ↩
  3. Federal Procurement Data System, HHS contract 75A50121C00027 (AirBoss Defense Group, LLC, nitrile gloves). Original: https://www.fpds.gov/ezsearch/FEEDS/ATOM?FEEDNAME=PUBLIC&q=PIID%3A75A50121C00027 ↩
  4. Federal Procurement Data System, VA order 36C10X20P0095 (Immediate Response Technologies, LLC, PAPR hoods and filters). Original: https://www.fpds.gov/ezsearch/FEEDS/ATOM?FEEDNAME=PUBLIC&q=PIID%3A36C10X20P0095 ↩
  5. Opinion and Order, AirBoss Defense Group, LLC v. United States, No. 24-365 (Fed. Cl.), filed under seal June 27, 2024, reissued July 15, 2024. Original: https://ecf.cofc.uscourts.gov/doc1/01515595272 ↩
  6. Federal Procurement Data System, HHS contract 75A50324C00010 (AirBoss Defense Group LLC, Level 2 isolation gowns). Original: https://www.fpds.gov/ezsearch/FEEDS/ATOM?FEEDNAME=PUBLIC&q=PIID%3A75A50324C00010 ↩
  7. Joint Stipulation of Dismissal With Prejudice, AirBoss Defense Group, LLC v. United States, No. 24-365 (Fed. Cl.), June 13, 2025. Original: https://ecf.cofc.uscourts.gov/doc1/01516016780 ↩
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