Babington Technology's Expandable Single Pallet Expeditionary Kitchen (E-SPEK) awarded a Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) by the AFWERX

pressMilitarytechnology
Written By Bart Beatty

February 6, 2024

Rocky Mount, NC – Babington Technology is excited to announce that our fuel-efficient and off-grid capable field feeding solution—the Expandable Single Pallet Expeditionary Kitchen (E-SPEK)--has been selected by AFWERX; the Technology Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory, for their Agile Combat Employment (ACE) Expedient Basing Challenge Showcase Event.

The E-SPEK was designed to meet the US Military's modernization and Agile Combat Employment (ACE) requirement for equipment that is fuel-efficient, scalable, and rapidly deployable enabling greater agility of movement. Having successfully passed the AFWERX Challenge, the E-SPEK has been qualified for Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) procurement.

This CSO designation allows any DoD Activity to directly award contracts to BTI (with a non-compete clause) for the E-SPEK for the next 12 months. There is no competitive bidding or solicitation required, as the AFWERX Challenge itself is a competitive and merit-based source selection process for the DoD to acquire new capabilities and innovative commercial items to fulfill requirements and close capability gaps.

The E-SPEK is a self-contained system for off-grid sustainment. All power, cooking, sanitizing equipment, and accessories required to prepare and serve hot meals to upwards of 350 personnel per meal cycle are stored and integrated into an expandable, single-pallet position shelter. The container can be deployed by three personnel and expands triple-wide, making it a highly mobile and versatile system designed to support virtually any mission.

The E-SPEK can be used anywhere the military or disaster relief organizations need to deploy to provide hot meals to warfighters, first responders, and affected populations.

THE WORLD’S MOST ENERGY EFFICIENT KITCHEN

The energy efficient JP-8 fired E-SPEK uses 75-80% less fuel than a comparable, generator-powered, electric kitchen.

The E-SPEK is outfitted with a suite of custom, Babington appliances to create a comfortable and highly productive workspace. Appliance cooking and burner exhaust are discharged outside of the shelter, maintaining a safe, comfortable, and quiet cooking space. The kitchen provides a wide range of cooking capabilities, including roasting, grilling, boiling, baking, steaming, stewing, pan frying, and preparation of UGR tray pack rations.

“We are excited that the E-SPEK has been selected by the AFWERX program. This validates our approach to manufacturing the best-in-class technology and platforms for expeditionary field-feeding that is fuel-efficient and fast to deploy, setup, operate, shut down, and packout," said Andy Babington, CEO Babington Technology.

About Babington Technology

Babington Technology (BTI) is a pioneer in clean, efficient combustion technology, and its use in expeditionary field feeding. Expanding on our success in “heat-on-the-move” applications, BTI now applies its design and manufacturing expertise to modernizing all aspects of military field feeding operations. We are dedicated to supporting the American Warfighter and disaster relief first responders. BTI also supports a variety of commercial restaurant brands with custom stainless steel and aluminum fabrication. The company has its chief manufacturing operations in Rocky Mount, NC.

To learn more about Babington Technology and how we can support your own innovative advances, please contact the following:

About AFWERX

AFWERX, a Technology Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the innovation arm of the Air Force, accelerates agile and affordable capability transitions by teaming innovative technology developers with Airman and Guardian talent.

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Babington Technology

Bart Beatty