LHFLSC: Instant Plasma Cutter – Just Place and Detonate

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Small business qualifier Donovan Commercial Industries, Inc. in Nortonville, KY is being awarded an $8.9 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for the Low Hazard Flexible Linear Shaped Charge. It’s a form of explosive cutting tape, which is typically used to produce precise cuts in metal and other substances. Think of it as an instant and very powerful plasma torch, whose design makes it safer to carry and much faster to use. The V-shaped charge enclosed in foam comes in 5 lengths and various grains per foot of explosive, in order to provide precise calibration to the difficulty of the job. This design also produces less shrapnel, which makes it a lot safer than existing explosives used for this purpose by the military, and by civilian construction firms building bridges and other large structures.

Work will be performed in Nortonville, KY and is expected to be complete by June 2013. Contract funds in the amount of $67,523 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured, with proposals solicited via Federal Business Opportunities, with 1 offer received by the energetics specialists at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division in Crane, IN (N00164-08-D-JM11).

Donovan’s product is available to qualified civilian firms, and is picking up market share on that front as well. The executive we spoke to did express a desire for a qualified individual who could help them with the growing volume of media and other PR-related inquiries they’re receiving. Nortonville is about 75 miles NNW of Nashville, or 50 miles west of Bowling Green.