Lift, Ametek Win $113 Million in Air Force Helmet and VDATS Contracts

Lift Airborne Technologies of Carson City, Nevada, has received an Air Force contract worth up to $83.4 million to complete further development and qualification of a next-generation fixed-wing helmet, then produce and field it for Air Force aircraft. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center expects work in Carson City to continue through Oct. 30, 2036. In a separate award, the Air Force Sustainment Center selected Ametek Programmable Power of San Diego for a contract worth up to $29.8 million to supply kits used to assemble Versatile Diagnostic Analog Test Station (VDATS) systems. That work will take place in San Diego and at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, through Oct. 29, 2031.

Next-Generation Fixed-Wing Helmet Details

Lift will carry the helmet through further development, qualification, production and fielding. The award covers helmets for various Air Force aircraft, extending the work beyond the prototype stage. The award notice does not identify production quantities or a delivery schedule.

The Air Force selected Lift for prototype development in 2022 as it sought to improve fit, stability and compatibility with helmet-mounted equipment. In 2023, approximately five F-22A pilots took part in developmental flight testing and gave feedback on wearability, visibility and communications. At the time, the Air Force described the helmet as a replacement for the HGU-55 for aircrew other than F-35 pilots.

VDATS Kit Details

Ametek will provide kits required to assemble VDATS stations. VDATS is an Air Force-designed diagnostic test system with an open architecture that uses VME Extensions for Instrumentation technology. The system supports depot testing of aircraft components, according to the Air Force’s aircraft procurement justification.

The kit purchase comes as the Air Force moves diagnostic work onto VDATS and develops ways to use the system outside traditional depot settings. An Air Force maintenance report described transferring data from a 30-year-old test system to VDATS. Separately, the Air Force has described a planned smaller benchtop variant intended to bring diagnostics to forward locations; the current kit award does not identify that variant as a deliverable.

Award and Contractor Background

The helmet contract is a Small Business Innovation Research Phase III follow-on acquisition. Lift has also received a helmet testing-support award with a potential value of about $270,000 and performance extending to May 2027, and a helmet spare-parts award valued at about $66,000 with performance extending to December 2026. Both concern the next-generation fixed-wing helmet effort.

The VDATS kit contract was awarded through a sole-source acquisition. Ametek also received a VDATS order valued at about $1.9 million, with performance ending in August 2026; its award description identifies the F-35 Joint Program Office, F-15EX and KC-135.

This award was disclosed by the DoW in its daily press release. Additional contract details will be available on HigherGov in approximately 90 days under FA860627DB002, FA857927D0001 after the contract is formally disclosed by the government.