Flash, Bang!: Rheinmettall Gets $28.8M Contract for Stun Grenade

MK13 flash-bang grenade American Rheinmetall Munitions (ARM), a Stafford, VA-based subsidiary of Germany’s Rheinmetall Defence, received a $28.8 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract from the US Navy for an improved flash-bang grenade. ARM currently supplies the MK13 Mod 0 BTV-EL flash-bang grenade to US special ops forces and other US military customers. The MK13 is a stun grenade that produces a blinding flash and deafening noise levels sufficient to daze and disorient the target, without causing permanent injury, the company explains. The MK13 uses a delay fuze that detonates the grenade 1.5 seconds after the fly-off lever is released. The MK13 flash-bang grenade is used for military operations in cities and towns, hostage rescue, and peace enforcement in situations where disorientation is more important than lethality. The grenade is used by the US military and security and law enforcement agencies worldwide. AMG will perform work on the improved flash-bang grenade in Camden, AR, and expects to complete it by March 2015. This contract was competitively procured via the FedBizOpps Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane web sites, with 6 proposals solicited and 4 offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division in IN manages the contract (N00164-10-D-JM31).