On September 19, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement made a $61,218 cost for “guided missile warheads and explosive elements,” in response to the Product and Service Code (PSC) included within the cost report on a federal contracting database.
“This award supplies a number of distraction units to assist legislation enforcement operations and ICE- Workplace of Firearms and Tactical Applications,” the report’s description part reads.
The Substack Widespread Info talked about this cost in a Monday article, which targeted on the truth that ICE spending within the “small arms, ordnance, and ordnance equipment manufacturing” product class elevated by 700 p.c between 2024 and 2025. (Spending elevated by about 636 p.c, per WIRED’s evaluation of the identical class and time intervals Widespread Info measured.) Phrase of the cost additionally circulated on Tuesday after a put up on BlueSky by Democratic Wisconsin state senator Chris Larson went viral.
It seems, concern over ICE brokers planning to make use of warheads is probably going primarily based on a mistake. Quantico Tactical, the corporate listed because the provider of stated warheads within the federal cost information, doesn’t promote any explosive units. (It sells quite a lot of firearms, switchblades, and weapon equipment.) David Hensley, founder and CEO of Quantico Tactical, informed WIRED in an e mail that the PSC “seems to be an error.”
“Quantico Tactical doesn’t promote, and I believe that CBP ICE doesn’t buy, ‘Guided Missile Warheads,’” Hensley stated, referencing Customs and Border Safety. He added that the remainder of the cost report seems to be appropriate.
PSCs are assigned by a authorities company’s contracting workplace, not the non-public contractor. Hensley declined to invest on what the right PSC for the cost could also be. He additionally declined to make clear which “distraction units” ICE bought. Nonetheless, ICE made two different funds to Quantico Tactical for “distraction units” in September 2024 and August 2025.
The descriptions for each cost information declare that they’re for coaching applications run by ICE’s Workplace of Firearms and Tactical Applications (OFTP). Each funds information use the PSC for “chemical weapons and tools,” which consists of objects like “flame throwers” and “smoke turbines.”
An ICE “Firearms and Use of Drive” handbook from 2021 doesn’t point out any authorized use of flame throwers, but it surely does point out the usage of “chemical munitions” reminiscent of smoke, pepper spray, and tear fuel. (It notes that their use should be authorized by the company’s affiliate director and the OFTP.) Quantico Tactical doesn’t checklist smoke bombs, pepper spray, or tear fuel on the market on its web site, although it does checklist equipment like smoke-resistant goggles and holders for mace, flash grenades, and smoke bombs. It’s unclear what ICE might have bought.
