Capco, Design West awarded $38M for M205 tripods

Feb. 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army has awarded a contract to two small companies for the procurement of M205 lightweight tripods, which are used for heavy machine guns such as the Browning .50 caliber and the Mk 19 grenade launcher.

The deal, announced Tuesday by the Department of Defense, is valued at more than $38.9 million under the terms of a hybrid firm-fixed-price contract over the next five years.

The dual contract taps Capco LLC of Grand Junction, Colo., and Design West Technologies Inc., of Tustin, Calif., to produce the tripods.

The tripods have been in use by the Army since late 2013, and are favored because they are about one-third lighter than the previous version and allow for single-handed operation.

The Pentagon says that work locations and funding will be determined with each order that U.S. Army Contracting Command receives.