Applied Research Associates, Inc.

Applied Research Associates, Inc., operating through its Corporate / Southwest Division (doing business as ARA), is a for-profit Subchapter S corporation headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that delivers research and engineering services, modeling and simulation, systems engineering, test and evaluation, and technical consulting to federal defense and civilian agencies as a prime contractor (98% of awards). The company competes full-and-open across federal contract vehicles and does not hold SBA set-asides; it maintains a parent holding company structure (ARA Holdings Inc.) with 40 named subsidiaries and performs work across multiple operating locations domestically.

ARA's customer concentration is heavily weighted toward defense agencies. The top five customer agencies by award count—Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Department of the Army, Department of the Interior Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Department of the Air Force, and Federal Highway Administration—account for 47% of recent awards. However, by potential dollar value, concentration tilts sharply toward Air Force, Navy, and Army procurement: the Air Force Materiel Command Lifecycle Management Center Eglin Air Force Base alone anchors 34 awards valued at $46.65 billion combined potential value, followed by DTRA at $13.51 billion, Naval Sea Systems Command at $11.62 billion, and Army RDT&E Command at $8.86 billion. These top five customers by dollars represent 81% of combined potential value across the full footprint.

ARA's concrete capability portfolio centers on weapons effects modeling, mission impact analysis, digital twin technology for chemical and biological sensors, hazard prediction and assessment software, advanced manufacturing of energetics, and test and evaluation support. Representative prime work includes a $170.8 million delivery order from DTRA (Feb 2026) for analysis and planning tools under the Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction 2024-2029 IDIQ; a $308.8 million delivery order from Naval Sea Systems Command (Jan 2026) for engineering support services under Seaport-NxG; a $92.05 million delivery order from Office of Naval Research (Jan 2025) for Center for Computational Science research and development support; a $89.9 million delivery order from Space and Missile Defense Command (Mar 2026) for Mission Awareness Capabilities Rampup under the ASTRO GWAC; and a $47.4 million Air Force delivery order (Sep 2025) for Next Generation Penetrator development under EWAAC. ARA also maintains a sustained engagement with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement at the OHMSETT facility, executing dozens of smaller delivery orders for facility maintenance, equipment testing, and oil spill response research support. Civilian federal work includes community resilience research, building standards development, and infrastructure asset management through NIST, Federal Highway Administration, and Army Corps of Engineers vehicles.

Vehicle position is extensive and deep. ARA holds seats on multiple high-value GWACs and IDIQs: the OASIS+ Unrestricted multiple-award MAC (GSA, $999.999 trillion ceiling, Dec 2024), Alliant 3 (GSA, $999.999 trillion ceiling, Feb 2026), ASTRO GWAC (GSA, aerospace and technical services), and Seaport Next Generation (GSA, $308.8 million delivery order under this vehicle). Within DOD, ARA holds or has been awarded task orders under the Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction 2024-2029 IDIQ (DTRA, single-award, $4 billion vehicle with 533 awards valued at $13.51 billion); the Analytical Services IDIQ supporting weapons effectiveness analysis and Joint Munitions Effectiveness Manual work (OSD, multiple delivery orders in the $2–$27 million range); and EWAAC (Air Force Materiel Command, agile acquisition vehicle, multiple task orders). ARA also holds a newly awarded $151 billion SHIELD IDIQ (Missile Defense Agency, Dec 2025) and an $111.5 million Office of Naval Research single-award IDIQ for Center for Computational Science. The company placed task orders under the Eglin Wide Agile Acquisition Contract (EWAAC) for Next Generation Penetrator and lethality modeling work. Additional vehicles include the NIST Community Resilience Support Services IDIQ, Federal Highway Administration transportation planning and pavement management IDIQ ($60 million ceiling, Oct 2024), and multiple Other Transaction IDVs issued by the Engineer Research and Development Center for cold weather mobility testing, weapons terminal effects research, geoengineered materials, and pavement strength evaluation.

Activity has been uneven across the recent window. Awards per year trended from 137 (2023) to 110 (2024) to 90 (2025), with only 38 awards in 2026 and 1 award in 2027 (reflecting the data cutoff date of July 15, 2026). The recompete cliff is substantial: 94 awards valued at $1.9 billion combined potential value reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating significant renewal risk on large vehicles, particularly within DTRA's Combating WMD portfolio and Air Force materiel command programs.

Service Contract Inventory data provides a partial view of federal services work. ARA reported $147 million in SCI-invoiced revenue across FY2022–FY2024 (prime records), with trajectory moving from $22.4 million (FY2022, 264 contract-level FTEs) to $60.3 million (FY2023, 320 FTEs) to $64.3 million (FY2024, 340 FTEs). The SCI dataset shows roughly 177–235 FTEs delivered annually on reportable federal service contracts, with median government-paid rates around $54.14 per hour and a spectrum extending to $108.49 per hour at the 90th percentile. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, 11% of contractor hours were performed by named subcontractors, with 418 total named subs engaged. This indicates ARA builds most of its delivery teams internally while maintaining a lean subcontractor footprint relative to contract scope.

Subcontract footprint shows ARA operating as a secondary supplier to large integrators. Named prime contractors receiving ARA subcontract support include Lockheed Martin (Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile enterprise software development, Feb and Dec 2025), Northrop Grumman (BLU-109 aging surveillance R&D), Jacobs Engineering and Jacobs Government Services (multiple A-E and engineering services), General Dynamics Information Technology (HESC II), Leidos (technical editorial and communications support), and Peraton (atmospheric and space systems mission support). Subcontract engagement is limited in volume (55 total sub-awards across the full portfolio, or 2% of total awards) and secondary in strategic positioning; ARA functions primarily as a prime contractor.

Federal grant footprint is modest. ARA is a prime recipient on two cooperative agreements from NIST's Measurement and Engineering Research and Standards program (CFDA 11.609): a wind hazard mapping project ($502 thousand, Oct 2025–Nov 2026, focusing on hurricane and design wind speed mapping for ASCE 7 standards) and a tornado hazard mapping project ($449.569 thousand, Sep 2025–Aug 2026, extending tornado database and wind speed modeling for building codes). These awards carry no planned subawards. ARA also appears as a sub-recipient on grants awarded by the National Academy of Sciences (pavement marking selection, Nov 2025) and the University of Vermont (microplastics removal research, Jan 2026), suggesting limited but active participation in research ecosystem roles.

GSA Schedule labor positioning reflects a broad commercial services spectrum. ARA maintains 63 active labor categories across its transportation schedule with hourly rates spanning $53.08 to $286.25, education requirements from high school through master's degree, and no security clearance offerings in the sample. Representative pricing: Software Maintenance Junior Technician at $53.08/hr (high school, entry-level), Administrative Support 2 at $62.45/hr (high school, 3 years), IT Lead Technician at $112.41/hr (associate's, 6 years), and Software Maintenance Principal Subject Matter Expert at $286.25/hr (master's, 12 years). This labor portfolio supports delivery of IT operations, software maintenance, administrative support, and senior technical consulting across civilian federal agencies procuring through GSA's multiple award schedule.

The corporate structure comprises a parent holding company (ARA Holdings Inc.) with 40 named subsidiaries, all registered as for-profit Subchapter S corporations. The distributed subsidiary structure typically reflects operational separation by mission domain, geography, or customer relationship; subsidiary names carry no distinctive capability signals in the source material, and the subsidiaries operate under unified federal contracting authority through the parent UEI. ARA is a mature, integrated federal contractor with diversified vehicle access, deep defense customer relationships—particularly with DTRA, Air Force, and Navy—and expanding civilian agency engagement through NIST, FHWA, and USACE work. The company operates full-and-open (no set-asides), maintains high prime-contractor-to-subcontractor ratio (98% prime awards), and faces a material recompete cliff within twenty-four months on several large vehicles anchoring its revenue portfolio.