Technical Operations Support V (TOPS V)

The Air Force Research Laboratory awarded Technical Operations Support V, a master IDIQ for photonic and opto-electronic materials research and device development supporting communications, ISR, and electronic warfare applications, on September 23, 2016, with ordering closed on September 30, 2021. This vehicle is no longer active; no new task orders may be placed against it as of nearly five years ago.

The vehicle carried a shared ceiling of $43.75 million and remains substantially obligated. Eleven task orders totaling $35.6 million in combined potential value have been awarded, with $32.8 million obligated (92% of combined potential value). Orders span photonic integration, novel opto-electronic materials, heterogeneous integration, and quantum information applications. Representative scope includes photonic and plasmonic materials development, flashblindness protection optics, multi-functional composites characterization, agile electronics materials and processes, digital manufacturing research, material informatics for materials discovery, and adaptive skins for missile utility transformation.

Competition under the vehicle concentrated sharply: Arctos Technology Solutions, LLC and Bluehalo, LLC split the workload evenly, each receiving six and five orders respectively, representing $18.1 million and $17.4 million in combined potential value. No other primes were awarded. All task orders were unrestricted competitive awards with no set-asides. A single customer—the Air Force Research Laboratory—placed all 11 orders.

Ordering activity peaked in 2018 (three orders) and 2021 (three orders), with lighter volume in 2016–2017 and 2019. Most recently awarded was a software and data engineering task for materials and manufacturing awarded June 24, 2021 with a $4.97 million ceiling. Task-order values ranged from $87,392 to nearly $5 million, priced on a cost-plus-fixed-fee basis with ultimate completion dates now largely in the past or imminent. The vehicle's shared ceiling leaves roughly $8.15 million unobligated, but ordering authority has expired.

The purpose of the program is to focus on the translation of promising research in photonic and opto-electronic materials into device and system technology to support Air Force technical needs in communications, intelligence/surveillance/reconnaissance (ISR) and electronic warfare (EW). The aim is to leverage ongoing developments in photonic integration, novel opto-electronic materials, heterogeneous integration and quantum information to achieve new technical performance in optical, RF and photonic systems.