Good day, and welcome to the AirBoss of America Corp third quarter conference call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note that this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Gren Schoch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead, sir.
Thank you, operator. Good morning, everybody, and thank you for joining us for the AirBoss third quarter 2022 results conference call. My name is Gren Schoch. I'm the Chairman and CEO of AirBoss. With me here today is Chris Bitsakakis, our President and COO. Frank Ientile, our CFO. Chris Figel, EVP and General Counsel. And on a conference line, we have Patrick Callahan, CEO of AirBoss Defense Group. Our agenda today will start with the highlights from our operations for Q3, followed by a brief review of our financial results. We'll then open the call to questions. Before we begin, I'd like to remind investors that our remarks today contain forward-looking statements, including our estimates of future developments.
We invite listeners to review risk factors related to our business in our annual information form and our MD&A, both of which are available on SEDAR and on our corporate website. Also, we will discuss certain non-GAAP measures, including EBITDA. Reconciliations of these measures are available in our MD&A. Finally, please note that our reporting currency is in U.S. dollars. With that, I'll turn the call over to Chris for our operational review.
Thank you, Gren, and good morning, everyone. I'll start today by discussing our main activities within Q3 of 2022, along with the outlook for our business segments as we advance into the final quarter of 2022 and beyond. In aggregate, our three business segments are aggressively managing our operations while dealing with challenging and ever-changing market conditions. We continue to face issues with labor, freight, logistics, and price escalations for raw materials, although we are starting to see some improvement indicators in all areas for the medium term. The components of our business that require additional focus, given current market dynamics, are clear to us as we proactively execute on changes to reduce costs and gain efficiencies.
We continue to pursue new ways to profitably serve our customers through a continual focus on product innovations designed to secure more business in our current markets while expanding revenues from adjacent markets. Our consolidated decline in sales as compared to the corresponding quarter in 2021 was mainly driven by reduced revenues within our AirBoss Defense Group due to the absence of large-scale PPE deliveries to HHS, as well as the continued cost pressures that were felt within our Engineered Products business segment. These declines were partially offset at AirBoss Rubber Solutions by another quarter of excellent results, supported by product innovations, new manufacturing capabilities, and an expanding customer base. Focused execution by our AirBoss Rubber Solutions team delivered strong growth in revenues and gross margins in the third quarter.
More specifically by each business unit, ADG Q3 2022 revenues compared to the corresponding period last year declined given the absence of large-scale PPE sales. However, global market demand for protective military and healthcare equipment remains high, and procurement budgets remain funded in many of the main global markets, despite the fact that we continue to face unprecedented sourcing delays related to our largest sales opportunities. Global demand for our protective equipment was validated with our recent announcement of new orders related to our highly specialized Husky 2G vehicles. A total of $40.6 million of new agreements were signed with two global customers. The first $35 million order for 10 Husky 2G vehicles will be delivered directly by ADG over the next 16 months.
The second order for three Husky 2G vehicles will, in partnership with our exclusive supply partner, DCD, be delivered over six months under an aggregate value of $8.3 million. The Husky 2G is a great example of how our culture of innovation continues to promote the safety and survivability of military personnel around the world. Looking more broadly at ADG's current product portfolio, we continue to pursue exciting new sales opportunities for products like our Blast Gauge system, which is a lightweight wearable blast overpressure sensor designed to detect and protect soldiers from traumatic brain injury. Our Bandolier product line is also generating significant interest around the world, while our AirBoss 100 half mask respirator has been officially launched and is being promoted within first responder communities. Moving next to AirBoss Rubber Solutions or ARS'
In Q3, we further extended the success we have had in leveraging our investments in this business to upgrade equipment, increase our compounding capabilities, and build on the advantages we've gained through our recent acquisition of ACE Elastomer. These efforts supported year-over-year gains in production and sales volume and new customer relationships across a wider array of industries. ARS nearly doubled its gross profit contribution to our business over Q3 of 2021, and we continue to see new places where, in partnership with our customers, we can make R&D investments to develop new products and sales opportunities within the segment. In our engineered products segment or AEP, our management team continues to accelerate their efforts to secure updated pricing with core customers so we can resume profitable operations within this business.
As we work on these challenges. In this environment of hyperinflation, we remain focused on operational improvements, including the leveraging of recent technological investments in automation designed to reduce our production costs. Looking forward, we continue to work hard to capitalize on our innovations and our scalable production capabilities to convert our pipeline of opportunities to contract wins. Our longer-term priorities remain. For ARS to grow our presence as a specialty and traditional rubber compound supplier of choice with defensible leadership positions in our key product lines. For ADG to leverage its innovative product portfolio and proven manufacturing capabilities to grow its revenues in the survivability solutions and PPE consumables marketplace.
For AEP, our focus is new customer relationships, containing costs, and creating durable cost improvements, and expanding both our product lineup and the market sectors we address as we are able to correct prior contractual issues that we are currently negotiating on. Finally, across our three segments, we continue to assess exciting new M&A opportunities that could accelerate the strategic plans of our three groups. With that, I'll now pass the call over to Frank for the financial review. Frank.
Thank you, Chris, and good morning, everyone. As a reminder, dollar amounts discussed today are U.S. dollars. Percentage growth figures are for Q3 2022 versus Q3 2021, unless otherwise noted. External net sales decreased 6.6% to $104.7 million on a consolidated basis, largely due to deliveries of the nitrile gloves of HHS in Q3 of 2021, while Rubber Solutions extended its track record of strong results for Q3. Consolidated gross profit for Q3 was -$47 million compared to $25.8 million in Q3 of 2021, primarily driven by the $57 million non-cash write-down at ADG related to the nitrile glove inventory. The delivery of nitrile gloves of HHS in Q3 of 2021 had lower sales volume at Engineered Products.
These factors were partially offset by strong traction at Rubber Solutions. Q3 2022 consolidated gross profit margin, adjusted for the effects of inventory write-down, was 9.5%. Adjusted EBITDA for Q3 was $1.3 million, with the decline compared to Q3 2021, mainly due to the delivery to HHS in 2021 and lower volume at Engineered Products, partially offset by strong improvements at Rubber Solutions. As a percentage of sales, operating expenses for Q3 2022 declined to 14.1%, which was down from 15.1% in Q3 2021. The decreases were primarily due to lower stock-based compensation, lower selling costs, partially offset by higher professional fees and the inclusion of ACE and larger foreign exchange loss.
Adjusted profit for Q3 of 2022 was -$11.8 million or -$0.44 cents per share, compared to $7 million or 25 cents per diluted share in Q3 of 2021. This decline is due to the deliveries to HHS during Q3 of 2021, a higher effective tax rate in Q3, partially offset by lower operating expenses. Turning now to our individual segments. ADG's net sales decreased to $23.6 million, a decline of 55% due to the HHS deliveries in Q3 of 2021. Q3 gross profit at AirBoss Defense Group was -$51.3 million or $5.7 million, excluding the $57 million non-cash glove write-down.
Gross profit declined from $22.8 million in Q3 2021, mainly driven by the delivery of nitrile gloves to HHS in Q3 of 2021, partially offset by favorable sales volume at AEP - ADG's industrial line of products. Net sales at Rubber Solutions increased to $58.5 million, a 47% improvement over Q3 of 2021. The sales strength with ARS further demonstrates the benefits gained in this segment, supported by the expanded selection of specialty rubber compounds expanded production capabilities. The increase was primarily the result of improvements in non-tooling volume, managing controllable overhead costs, partially offset by labor challenges and logistics costs. Gross profit within ARS increased by 96% to $8.4 million. Gross margin percentage at ARS improved to 14.3%, which favorably compared to Q3 of 2021 at 10.7%.
This was primarily due to higher production and sales volume, improved non-tooling volumes, and ongoing efforts to manage controllable overhead costs. This was partially offset by labor and logistics costs. Q3 net sales at AEP increased by 3% to $29.2 million due to a favorable mix in the SUV light truck and mini van platforms, partially offset by lower production of other automotive platforms and certain molded defense products. Despite the increase in sales at AEP, gross profit declined to -$4.1 million. This was primarily due to the impacts of continued global electronic chip shortages on key segments in the automotive sector, raw material escalations, logistics and labor challenges, partially offset by focusing on controllable operational cost management. In Q3, free cash flow was -$18.5 million, and cash consumed by working capital was $17.3 million.
The working capital outflow was primarily due to an increase in inventory. CapEx, including intangibles, was approximately $2.7 million for Q3, primarily focused on cost-saving initiatives and equipment upgrades. CapEx has been approximately $12 million over the trailing twelve months. Our balance sheet and liquidity remain supportive of our investment to drive organic growth as well as for the pursuit of opportunistic M&A. As of September 30, 2022, a total of $130 million of our $250 million credit facility remains available. Our net leverage at the end of Q3, which is defined as net debt divided by our trailing 12-month Adjusted EBITDA, was 1.92 x.
That concludes our comments. Operator, back to you.
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press Star then one on your telephone keypad. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press Star then two. Our first question today will come from David Ocampo with Cormark Securities. Please go ahead.
Thanks. Good morning, everyone. My first question is on the nitrile glove inventory writedown, particularly as it relates to disposing the gloves. I think you guys called out in your prior release that it no longer met your safety requirements. I was hoping you could expand a little bit more on that and if there's any read-through on any future orders based on the safety standards there.
Yeah, I can take that, David. There was a small percentage of the gloves that became damaged in the adverse storage conditions that they were kept in. They kind of stuck together and created a bit of a problem. But those are the ones that are not saleable. Does that answer your question?
Yep. Yeah, it does. It does. On the ADG margins, they've come down quite a bit, even if excluding the inventory write-down, I think it was closer to 10%. Historically, I think you've been running closer to 20%. Just curious if there's any one-time or any unusual items that are in there.
No, there's not one-timers. It was more a question of mix. As you know, for the industrial segment, obviously the material flow through mechanism would have an impact in our Acton Vale location, in addition to some of the elements that have higher material cost and obviously lower margin from that perspective. I would contribute it primarily more to mix, David, than anything else.
Right. You don't think this is a kind of a go forward run rate on your base business?
No, I mean, I think as we move forward, and obviously as we've announced with the Huskies, et cetera, we think it's gonna move in a positive direction, upward.
Okay. Frank, maybe this one's for you. On the leverage, I know it's 1.92 x right now, but it does contain, you know, some periods with elevated performance just given the nitrile glove orders in Q1 and in Q4 of last year. Is there any concern on a go-forward basis? I think your covenants are at 3.2x . If you factor the Q4 performance, is there any concern there, or is this something that you assume will naturally resolve itself as AEP contracts get renegotiated?
I would say our ceiling with the covenants is 3.75x, and based on where we are now, we're comfortable with our leverage and sort of as we move forward, obviously there's some opportunities that will support staying within compliance.
Okay. That's it for me. I'll hop back in the queue.
Our next question will come from Yuri Lynk with Canaccord Genuity. Please go ahead.
Hey, good morning, guys.
Morning.
I'm wondering if you can give us an update on the bid funnel. I didn't see any mention of the prior $1.5 billion. Can you give us an update on that?
It's gone down by $45 million because we just converted one of the opportunities, which was the Husky. The major components that are in that pipeline are still active. I don't wanna go through them individually, but there are more than half could be awarded before the end of the year.
Okay. Do the execution issues that you had on the glove order kinda give you pause in terms of, you know, getting involved with products that you don't control the manufacturing of at all? I don't know if any of those are in the bid funnel, but it would be helpful if you could call those out if it's applicable.
Well, certainly we would maybe do things a little bit differently if with the knowledge or with 20-20 hindsight. Most of the problems that didn't come as a result of us not manufacturing it, but they came as a result of delivery issues because of the huge supply chain congestion that we experienced late last year. In the opportunity pipeline, there is nothing that isn't manufactured in North America. So that obviously has a much lower risk profile than anything that's manufactured offshore. That answer your question?
Yeah, that's fair. Last one for me. Just Engineered Products, I mean, continue to lose a lot of money there. What's your appetite for this to continue into 2023?
We have no appetite to continue losing money in Engineered Products.
Yeah, I understand that, Gren, but you know, the script is kind of the same as what we heard last quarter. I understand you're in a difficult position with your customers, but I guess ask the question another way, what's gonna change between now and you know, the next six to nine months that's gonna lessen these losses?
You know, it's a really sensitive topic at the moment because we are in advanced negotiations with our customers. I stated at the end of the last quarter that we were not going to continue to lose money in that division, and we won't.
Okay. I'll turn it over. Thanks.
Our next question will come from Kevin Chiang with CIBC. Please go ahead.
Thanks for taking my question. Maybe you know, Chris, you mentioned in response to David's question around the damaged gloves due to adverse storage conditions. Were those stored in an AirBoss facility, or was that through a third party? I'm just wondering if you have any recourse if it is with a third party for those damaged gloves.
Well, we definitely have some recourse all around this glove scenario. That particular issue is because they had remained in the sea containers outside in California, and they became damaged because of the intense heat. Generally speaking, you know, there is some recourse enough to go around in a variety of things that could have been handled better by our suppliers and our agents. We are going after that sort of recourse at some point. We'll see what we can negotiate.
Certainly, the one thing to remember is, despite this global pandemic and the unprecedented supply chain issues of the past two years, AirBoss Defense Group was still the number one importer of nitrile gloves during a global pandemic to the U.S. government. That hasn't gone unnoticed by the U.S. government, despite sort of the way it's kind of ended up at the end of it, when the pandemic kind of eased off. We still have really solidified a reputation with the U.S. government to be able to, in very difficult circumstances, supply and deliver, you know, products, at the greatest need that they have. As Gren mentioned earlier, our pipeline is still quite strong, and there are some fairly, you know, impactful potential awards in there that we are working diligently on.
Those will be sourced and manufactured in North America, which takes a lot of this global logistics piece out of the equation. Yes, there's recourse. Yes, things kind of lined up a little bit against us both with, you know, shipping, supply chain, pandemic, and everything else you can imagine. If nothing else, we've solidified a reputation with the government, and that's put us in very good standing to continue to grow as we go forward.
That's great color. Gren, you mentioned, you know, optimistic, maybe half the pipeline could be, you know, could be bid or announced maybe by year-end. You obviously won the Husky order, so congrats on that. Just wondering, are you seeing an increase in activity here as we rolled over to a new budget cycle? Has it really been just that? Because I know you called out earlier this year, you know, just some of the, I guess some of the U.S. budget cycle in the previous fiscal year seemed to be a constraining factor. You know, having rolled over to October, starting a new fiscal year, has that accelerated some of this bid activity?
I know there's a gown bid out there that should be announced shortly as well. Just is it as simple as that?
Yes, I mean, that's a good example that had been put on hold 2x or 3 x over the last year. It's back active again. I'm cautiously optimistic that we're starting to see money flow again. If you look at the contracts that are awarded daily, there's a marked improvement there in the last month or so. Also the military side of things is getting a lot more activity than we've seen in the past. I mean, through the last eight months or nine months, there's been a lot of requests for information, and now we're starting to see requests for quotes, which is as they're in the new budget year for many governments, they're now starting to
Actually go out and ask for quotes instead of our advice. Patrick's on the line. I don't know if you wanna add anything, Patrick.
Hey, good morning. No, you said it well, Gren. Certainly, whenever you have a changeover in fiscal year, these large acquisition authorities are given, you know, relatively the same budget they were given the year before, and then the plus-up funding or additional money comes in throughout the year, and then obviously the presidential budget gets signed in spring. But they have a large tranche of money based off of what they spent the year before. Some of the programs that were not executed or delayed are priorities now. Certainly when you said the gown, the active gown competition, that is a priority for HHS right now. Yes, we are bidding on it. That is an opportunity that has been obviously disappointing in how long it's taken.
The good news is it has been briefed at industry days, all the way down from the White House Task Force to HHS as an acquisition authority that this particular gown opportunity, and a couple other ones, are priorities for HHS because they need the inventory, but also they will be examples, as one of the first, if not the first, government contract let that is 100% U.S. manufactured and U.S. sourced. Which means all materials are coming from the United States, all manufacturing is happening in the United States. As you guys, everybody in this call probably knows, that's a big change from the way the United States has done business for the last 30 years.
AirBoss Defense Group and AirBoss of America is one of the premier companies that has invested capital to be prepared for this kind of competition and has worked with the administration to move in that direction because we believe in it. also we think it gives us a competitive advantage because we have put together a coalition of best-in-class manufacturers for some of this PPE work, like gowns or surgical masks and things of that nature. yes, you're seeing an uptick in the new fiscal year. Gren, you're right, the change in the military side has been very clear. One, the pandemic up until early this year still caused us problems. We could not get onto installations and meet with military customers. We could not get into acquisition commands and meet with them.
We've been allowed to do that over the last couple of months, and there's been a lot of catch up over the last two years where there's been really static, nothing going on in military acquisition. That's starting to come back and come up very quickly because the DoD and MODs around the world that work with the U.S. on acquisition are trying to catch up on programs that they have just kinda left alone for the last 36 months. We're seeing a lot of activity there. Certainly, the Husky order is an example of that internationally, but we're seeing a lot of activity on the U.S. side as well.
Although we've had those delays on the healthcare side, those programs are now priorities for this current budget cycle, which is a good thing for all of us.
That's great color, Patrick. Thank you very much. Maybe last one from me, Gren. I understand the sensitivity as you talk with your auto customers within your AEP division. You know, I guess one of the things we've heard from other auto suppliers is maybe an increasing receptiveness from OEMs to help share the burden on some of the, you know, unexpected inflation that's also hit the supply chain, especially this year. Just wondering, are you seeing maybe from a tone perspective, a similar receptiveness from your auto customers versus maybe a year ago where you know historically they would have kinda stood firm on the contract terms?
I guess, you know, if that tone has changed, maybe that's driving some of the optimism around, you know, getting something rectified here.
Yeah. I'd say you're probably right, Kevin. The tone has changed a little bit, and that's given us some opportunity to be optimistic. However, the devil's in the details, right? Once you get into negotiations, there's a lot of, you know, give and take and push and pull to try and get what we view as the type of deal that going forward, we can have a profitable division that remains profitable. I'd say yes, the tone has changed compared to where it was 18 months ago, 12 months ago. There seems to be a greater spirit of cooperation. However, the devil's in the details, and we're right in the middle of trying to get this thing tidied up because it's not one deal.
It's 11 customers that we're negotiating with and putting a consortium of ideas and deals together that altogether then make sure that the business is profitable going forward. However, I think that the tone has changed, and the willingness to make sure that they can continue to receive our parts and continue to build vehicles is certainly there.
Perfect. I'll leave it there. Thank you very much, and best of luck as you get through these bids and requests for information. Thank you very much.
Thanks, Kevin.
Our next question will come from Michael Robertson with National Bank Financial. Please go ahead.
Hey, good morning, all. Thanks for taking my call. I just had a follow-up on the AEP margins. I appreciate that they're not where you want them to be yet, but did seem to improve a bit sequentially, and was wondering if you could maybe speak to some of the drivers behind that. Sounds like it's probably too early for that to be related to implementation of pricing strategies. I was wondering if it was maybe, you know, tech related to some manufacturing processes or if you've made some changes there that are starting to bear fruit and if we should maybe look at that as sort of a turning point.
Yeah, I'd say so. Thanks for noticing because it is something and, you know, that gets clouded with this issue that we're having, you know, on the pricing side. The plant is the most efficient it's ever been at this point. We brought online a second fully automated robotic work cell, and that's in full production now. Our first robotic work cell has been updated with new software. Our new machines that have come on board. You know, we were talking about a 30%-45% improvement in cycle time. You know, when they first came in, it takes some time to get them tuned in and make sure that we're getting there, and we're starting to see all those improvements.
As such, the team at AirBoss Engineered Products has done an excellent job. I think we have seen a bit of a turning point operationally there with all the investments that we had made. Which is why, you know, it makes it even more important that we're able to get the pricing strategies where they need to be. Then the efficiency improvements will actually be more visible. The team there has done an excellent job in a difficult environment to implement and execute on all those opportunities that they now, I'd say, have turned the corner in that way.
Got it. That's a helpful color. I appreciate it, and I'll turn it back.
Our next question will come from Ben Jekic with PI Financial. Please go ahead.
Hey, good morning. Just a couple of quick questions. I had some technical difficulties, but I think he was asking about, and I apologize if I'm wrong, that you're not mentioning the $1.5 billion pipeline. Is that correct? Is there any reason behind that? Like, I'm assuming it's really big, but just wanted to ask about that.
No, Ben, you know, the pipeline is still intact. We've been mentioning that for some time now. I think because it's taken so long to convert it, a lot of people are losing faith in it, but there is no reason to lose faith in it. As I mentioned, more than half of that is are bids which we are currently active on. The timing is always has been the issue, but it does seem that the timing is finally getting closer.
Correct me if I'm wrong, so this number, whatever it is, but it's obviously very large, that sort of blends actual bids, potential projects where you expect to have bids, sort of interesting projects. It's a bit of a mix in the pot or is it? Did you put actual bids into everything? I'm just trying to gauge how likely, how competitive they are, how likely they are.
Well, we've had a pretty good success rate on our bids so far. There's nothing that has been awarded to any competitors. The pipeline consists mostly of projects that there are RFPs out on, and some of which there have been RFPs and have been currently delayed, but we're being told they're coming back out. There's nothing that's just like, for example, Blast Gauge is not in there.
Right.
That type of thing would not be in there. They're all projects that are real.
Okay. That was my question. Thank you so much.
Yeah. This is Patrick. Let me just add one thing to that.
All right.
The majority of them, Gren, you're correct, that they're either bids that we are currently preparing to submit because there is an active submission date, so it's an active competition. Or there are bids that have been submitted, and we're waiting to see if we've won, right? And a small number, as Gren said, are bids that we are preparing for that will be made active very, very soon, as disclosed to the street, and to industry, both on the military side and on the healthcare side, that you've got bids coming very shortly. The majority of what you see in the pipeline are things that we are actively submitting soon, so it's an active bid or bids that we've already submitted and waiting for an answer.
These are when we think about in our industry for a pipeline, this is as close as you can get to real. To Gren's point, using Blast Gauge and, for example, next generation mask, things that are down the road that we think could be very big for ADG. We don't include those yet because it's not an active bid process on those larger orders. That's down the road a little bit. You know, the pipeline that we're talking about is big, is built of things that we are about to submit on or we have submitted on.
That's perfect. That absolutely answers my question. Glad to hear. Thank you.
Our next question will come from Tim James with TD Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you and good morning. Just one big picture question, I guess, here, regarding the defense business. You know, strategically, maybe this is a question for Patrick, I suppose. How do you think about the defense portfolio as it sits today, in terms of products, customers? And how would you like it ideally to look in, say, you know, let's say five years? I mean, do you need more diversification in the customer and the product base? And if so, you know, what direction would you like to see it going in ideally? Or what would be your plan?
Yeah. That's a great question, and it's a big question we have internally. You know, one of the things that we've dealt with the last couple of years, and I think you guys understand this, is it's been a tough couple of years with operations for us because we've been so focused on delivery, right? And there's been a lot of good news in the last two years that we pivoted into. Not that we weren't in the healthcare space prior, but the healthcare space changed, right, dramatically, with the pandemic. We were a company that pivoted and were able to deliver a tremendous amount of equipment, World War II-like deliveries.
Whenever you do that, some of the other strategic things that you look at internally get pushed aside for some time, right? That's something that for the past year we've been trying to get back to and look at this exact question. What do we wanna look at going forward? We've been doing that. On the military side, we have some great products that have been at AirBoss and at CSI for a long time. Our strategy there is that they are still very relevant. They are still needed. If you look at chem-bio equipment and/or the counter-IED equipment, we've been investing internally to make the next-generation version of those products.
There's always a strategy that if you have a product that still has relevance and a future need, you have to sort of like the iPhone, right? You gotta make the next generation of that product, and we're doing that. Whether it be our next generation gloves for the chem bio community and special operations community, the next generation mask that we're currently competing for in the United States with the direction they're going at the development program, improving our MALO boot, cold weather equipment. We're investing internally for these products that have made AirBoss a tremendous amount of money and have protected people for decades.
We're investing to keep them relevant going forward, and we've done a lot of work with the customer to make sure this makes sense. On top of that, we've invested in new products and acquired new products. To answer your question, where I'd like to go, I would like to see us go in you know the electromechanical you know direction when you think about some of the software that we brought on with the Blast Gauge and having sensor technology that is a little bit more sophisticated. But you have to make sure that it makes sense and that there's a market for it.
We acquired that technology because there is a need and a requirement to have blast overpressure detection on every operator in the U.S. military over the next 10 years. We have the premier product, and we've been investing internally in that product and competing right now at U.S. Special Operations Command to be named the system. We're doing very well there. Going in that direction and getting into some more of the sensor technology side is something that we're very excited about. Beyond that, on the healthcare side, obviously, we're doing very similar things. For military, we have a very diverse portfolio. We're always looking to add in possible new products.
M&A for us is a strategy that we look at every day. The last two years, there have not been a lot of great opportunities for products that we thought really gave us the one plus one equals three solution. We've invested a lot of capital in our current products and programs that we know are real, like Blast Gauge and next generation mask. For new products and to diversify on our systems side, certainly looking to acquire possible businesses or products is something that we are looking at constantly. Five years from now, I do want us to maintain our position as the premier chem bio company in the world.
You know, we compete in that space with folks like Avon, and we have a strategy to go after competitors in the U.S. and internationally, on the mask, filter, boot, and glove side. We're working on that very hard, and we've made some strides there. I also wanna maintain our position as one of the premier counter-IED businesses in the world. We do that with the Husky, which is still today the premier explosive detection platform ever built. We work very hard with our partners to keep that product relevant as we move forward. Then the Blast Gauge is opening our aperture because it's taking us into a new world on the sensor side, that is a soldier system sensor, right?
It's an integrated sensor into the soldier ensemble that gets very, very sophisticatedly integrated into their ensemble to allow them to communicate with each other about overpressure and medical needs. That's a much more sophisticated direction for us. I'd like to see us do some more of that. To finish that, one of the reasons we bought Blackbox Biometrics was because they brought with them both great technology but incredible software engineers that allows us to move more in that direction. As we create amazing rubber compounds that protect against ridiculous threats, we are now bringing on engineers that allow us to be looking at software and algorithms and detection capability that takes us in a little bit more of a sophisticated direction.
I think I would like to see us bring some more of that on the detection side into the business. Maintaining our position as the chem bio company of choice, counter-IED company of choice, and looking at more products that bolster our survivability platform is something that I'm very excited about. There's a tremendous amount of opportunity on our current products that we are improving every day, and some budding products like Blast Gauge and the next generation mask.
Great. Thank you very much, Patrick. That's helpful.
This will conclude our question and answer session. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Chris Bitsakakis for any closing remarks.
Thank you, operator, and thank you very much, everyone, for attending today's call. Please reach out to us directly or through our investor relations team if you have any questions on our results or anything in general. Thank you very much. Goodbye, and have a great day.
The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines at this time.