- The U.S. Navy awarded Black Hills Ammunition a $28 million contract to supply 5.56mm MK 255 MOD 1 reduced ricochet rounds through January 2031.
- The firm-fixed-price contract was competitively awarded as a small business set-aside and will be managed by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division.
The United States Navy has awarded Black Hills Ammunition Inc. a $28 million contract to produce 5.56mm reduced ricochet limited penetration MK255 MOD 1 ammunition, according to a contract announcement released this week.
The award covers an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity agreement with work scheduled through January 2031.
The contract was issued to the company’s facility in Rapid City, South Dakota, and uses a firm-fixed-price structure. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, in Indiana is listed as the contracting activity under contract number N0016426DJN17. The award does not include any option years.
Fiscal 2026 Defense procurement funding in the amount of $455,664 will be obligated at the time of the award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year, according to the announcement. The remainder of the contract value will be funded through future task orders issued during the performance period.
According to the contract notice, the procurement was conducted as a 100% Small Business Set-Aside and was competed through the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment solicitation module. Four offers were received as part of the competitive process.
The MK255 MOD 1 cartridge is a specialized 5.56mm round designed for training and operational use in environments where limiting ricochet and over-penetration is required. The round is intended to reduce the risk of unintended damage or injury in close-quarters training facilities, shipboard environments, and other confined operational spaces. It is compatible with standard 5.56mm NATO weapons used by U.S. and allied forces.
Reduced ricochet limited penetration ammunition is commonly used by naval security forces, military police units, and special operations elements that operate in proximity to sensitive equipment, personnel, or civilian infrastructure. The ammunition is engineered to break apart upon impact with hard surfaces, lowering the chance of secondary hazards while still meeting operational training requirements.
Black Hills Ammunition has been a long-standing supplier of small-caliber ammunition to U.S. military and law enforcement customers, including match-grade, duty, and specialized cartridges. The company has previously supported the Department of War and service-level requirements for training and operational ammunition across multiple calibers.