In April, the Army put out a solicitation for 56 multipurpose canine hard armor kids that can integrate with current canine vests that have a camera attached.
Canine Protection System that is compatible with and able to be employed over a standard canine vest with camera system attached. Canine Protection System must not interfere with the Multi-Purpose Canine's (MPC's) operation, or the operation of the MPC's camera and must be able to stop a single round of 123 grain 7.62 X 39 mm Mild Steel Projectile at a distance of 25 feet. The Canine Protection System must be less than six pounds and consist of two side plates and one chest plate and available in green, black, or multi-cam pattern.
The contract was a name brand call for Velocity Systems (which won the contract), but interestingly, this solicitation was an example of the so-called "reverse auction" bid. Our friends at Soldier Systems explained this process and posed some ethical and financial issues that might arise from using this kind of contracting.
