Help Shape the Future of Military-Grade Apparel

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: JULY 16, 2026

AFFOA seeks qualified US cut-and-sew manufacturers to fabricate prototype garments with design-for-commonality modifications. Submit your proposal to win contracts and gain access to valuable data, process insights, and potential scale-up opportunities.

Program Overview:
Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA) seeks proposals from qualified cut-and-sew manufacturers to execute a Prototype Garment Demonstration. This effort builds on the DoW Commonality Recommendations Report to validate manufacturability, cost impacts, and scalability of recommended design changes through fabrication of physical prototypes and manufacturing analysis. AFFOA expects to award one or more contracts to qualified partners already producing (or with proven capability to produce) garments such as:

 – ACU / FR ACU (Army Combat Uniform / Fire Retardant Army Combat Uniform)

 – IHWCU (Improved Hot Weather Combat Uniform)

 – MCTCU (Marine Corps Tropical Combat Uniform)

 – NWU Type III (Navy Working Uniform Type III)

 – ACP (Advanced Combat Pant)

Why Participate:

 – Access to furnished patterns, design changes, and purchase descriptions

 – Opportunity to fabricate 5 prototypes of a currently produced garment and 5 prototypes of a different service pattern with the same design changes

 – Real-world data: process steps, cycle times, labor inputs, equipment utilization, and production efficiency

 – 100% quality inspection and documentation

 – Data rights: AFFOA retains data rights; you gain insights into manufacturability and cost drivers

 – Potential for future scale-up: projected unit cost estimates and cost-reduction opportunities

Responses & How to Respond:
Interested proposers should contact AFFOA at proposals@affoa.org. Proposals should include a quote for delivering garments incorporating recommended design changes (labor and material costs). Base materials shall meet existing Purchase Descriptions. Contractors must identify risks to meeting delivery schedules and mitigation plans. No detailed Technical Data Package will be furnished; suppliers fabricate based on experience producing combat uniforms and standard commercial practices. A telephone review of the commonality recommendations (up to 1 hour) may be requested during the first 10 business days using this link.

Furnished Information:
The following will be provided to awarded contractors:

Furnished Information List:

 – Current product descriptions and patterns

 – Redlined design changes for commonality

 – PATTERNS in DXF format for Male-Medium-Regular

 – Pattern review and documentation of any clarifications and pattern adjustments

Scope of Work:

 – Two sets of prototypes: one for a garment you currently produce with commonality modifications, and one for a garment not in production (or never produced) with the same modifications

 – Proposals may cover coats, trousers, or both

 – Minor pre-final design adjustments may be made before contract award

Deliverables Summary:

 – Prototypes: 10–20 units

 – Manufacturability report

 – Updated cost model and pricing estimates

 – Process documentation (workflow and production data)

Schedule (Notional):

Design Review: 15 Days ARO
Prototype Delivery: 90 Days ARO

General Requirements:

 – Berry Amendment compliance

 – Domestic manufacturing

 – AFFOA/DOW data rights

 – Best commercial practices

 – Prior performance on similar products

Evaluation Criteria:

How to submit a proposal:
Download and complete the RFP – Design for Manufacturability proposal template. Then

 

 

Response Deadline: 07.15.2026

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