Ellen Lord, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, said the military finalized the contracts this week — enabling the delivery of 39 million N95 masks over the next 90 days.
The contracts are $76 million for 3M, $29 million for Owens & Minor, and $27.4 million for Honeywell. DoD made the orders under the Korean War-era Defense Production Act, which prioritizes government orders amid a war or national crisis.
“This will help ensure our government has the industrial capacity to meet the nation’s needs,” Lord said.
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper first mentioned the $133 million deal during an April 14 briefing but didn’t mention the companies involved.
Esper also mentioned a $415 million contract to provide 60 Battelle Critical Care Decontamination Systems that can each decontaminate as many as 80,000 N95 respirator masks each day for reuse. Lord said six systems have already been delivered: two to New York and one each to Columbus, Ohio, Boston, Chicago, and Tacoma, Wash.
