The US subsidiary of the Australian gear company SORD (Special Operations Research & Development) has been around for awhile but it was more of a distributor. Now, all of that has changed with the launching of a production facility in Kentucky. SORD was originally founded by Australian Special Forces veterans and SORD USA is no different. In fact, you may have noticed some of the clothing and equipment being used by Jason of RedbackOne Training. It was manufactured by SORD and together they provide a single solution for both tactical equipment and training.
At the official opening of the 15,000 sq. ft. facility in Frankfort, Kentucky on March 16, Kentucky Governor, Steve Beshear, remarked that, “I’m pleased to welcome SORD KY to the Commonwealth as Frankfort’s newest corporate citizen.†“This new manufacturing, warehousing and distribution facility, the company’s first in the U.S., will have a positive economic impact. We’re pleased to partner with SORD in this effort to help bring dozens of new jobs to Frankfort.â€
There is a lot of good that can come of this. Aside from the creation of new jobs, SORD has already shown that they are an international player in the Soldier Systems market with their win in the Canadian Modular Fighting Rig. Having a US facility will allow them to compete for US contracts with Berry compliant products. Additionally, they will be able to work more closely with US units to produce specialized kit in much the same manner that the support the Australian military.
Products will initially be available in SORD Base Color (SBC), Black, Multicamâ„¢ and A-TACSâ„¢.
