Brandes Associates, Inc.

Brandes Associates, Inc., a for-profit Subchapter S Corporation headquartered in Lone Tree, Colorado, is a prime contractor (98% of awards) delivering systems engineering, mission planning software development, and technical field support to the Department of the Navy and defense agencies on full-and-open (non-set-aside) contracts. The company competes almost exclusively without set-aside designations, including on the Naval Air Systems Command's small-business-set-aside IDIQ vehicle at the prime level but winning individual delivery orders without set-aside application.

Brandes operates almost entirely within naval aviation and mission planning ecosystems. The top customer, the Naval Air Warfare Center (a subordinate command of Naval Air Systems Command), accounts for 63 awards totaling $535.3 million in combined potential value — representing 91% of the vendor's award-derived revenue base across 124 total awards. The Department of the Navy Secretary of the Navy Assistant for Administration, Naval Supply Systems Command, and Defense Information Systems Agency collectively add $42.6 million; the vendor's remaining work is negligible. Concentration is extreme: a single customer (Naval Air Warfare Center) funds 88% of all awards by count and effectively 100% by dollars, reflecting deep specialization in naval mission planning systems, aircraft platform engineering, and weapons integration.

Brandes' primary vehicle footprint centers on two Navy IDIQs: Indefinite Delivery Contract N6893620D0001, which carries 32 task orders and $83.2 million in combined potential value, and N6893603D0041, with 10 task orders and $14.3 million. The vendor also holds an $86.5 million single-award IDIQ with Naval Air Systems Command (referenced across multiple awards as the underlying vehicle for Naval Air Warfare Center delivery orders), and a $475,000 GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract for intelligent gateway software solutions, from which the Defense Information Systems Agency issued a $7.5 million delivery order awarded June 1, 2026, for sustaining Organizational Messaging Service operations in Frederick, Maryland through May 2031. A $149.4 million delivery order under Seaport-NXG from Naval Air Warfare Center (awarded February 11, 2025, ultimate completion August 11, 2030) represents the largest single delivery order and reflects work in mission planning and digital product development for strike, assault, and collection missions, with engineering assigned to Naval Mission Planning System, MDEWSSA, and the F-35 Integrated Product Team in Littleton, Colorado.

Recent representative capability work includes a $4.9 million cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order for development, integration, test, and evaluation of Joint Mission Planning System products (awarded February 6, 2023), a $13.2 million Seaport-NXG delivery order for engineering and Unique Planning Component software support from Naval Supply Systems Command (awarded September 1, 2022, running through August 31, 2027), and multiple Naval Air Warfare Center delivery orders ranging from $836 thousand to $6 million for systems engineering and mission planning product development. All work is priced cost-plus-fixed-fee and carries no set-aside designation on the delivery orders themselves.

Activity has been volatile. The vendor received 7 awards in 2022, 6 in 2023, and 8 in 2024, dropping to 1 award each in 2025 and 2026 to date. However, the 2025 and 2026 awards are high-value (the $149.4 million Seaport-NXG order and $7.5 million DISA delivery order). Only one award reaches ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months — the $13.2 million Naval Supply Systems Command Seaport-NXG delivery order (August 31, 2027, actually falls just outside the twenty-four-month window from today's date, October 15, 2026), presenting minimal recompete exposure in the near term; most active Navy work extends through May 3, 2025 (multiple awards) and the 2030–2031 timeframe.

Service Contract Inventory records capture limited visibility. SCI-reportable invoiced revenue totaled $8.6 million across FY2023–FY2024 (the vendor shows $5.6 million in FY2023 and $3 million in FY2024), with a deployed workforce of 24.1 FTEs in FY2023 and 12.6 FTEs in FY2024. Government-paid hourly rates on prime SCI contracts ran a median of $116.31 per hour, with a 10th percentile floor of $109.37 per hour and 90th percentile ceiling of $116.33 per hour, indicating mid-level technical labor (notably narrow range suggests single or tightly clustered contract rate structures). Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors performed 11% of hours on average; Brandes named five distinct subcontractors across these contracts. GSA Schedule labor categories span systems administrators through principal intelligence software engineers and consultants, ranging $120.91 to $358.94 per hour, all requiring bachelor's degrees and security clearance.

Brandes operates primarily as a prime and builds most delivery capability in-house; the vendor subcontracts to Science Applications International Corporation on Electronic Warfare Data Systems laboratory engineering support (three sub awards from August 2024 and June 2024). The sub footprint is negligible (2% of awards), and SCI records indicate limited secondary-tier subcontracting, positioning Brandes as a vertically integrated delivery vehicle rather than a systems integrator or prime that orchestrates tier-two subs. No named prime relationships appear in the award history; all recorded activity is prime to federal customer or sub to SAIC on defense work.

Primary NAICS concentration is 541512 (Engineering Services, 83 of 124 awards); secondary categories include Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services, Office Administrative Services, Software Publishers, and R&D in Physical Engineering and Life Sciences. PSC coding reflects National Defense R&D Services (32 awards) and professional/program-management support (42 awards combined across "Support - Professional: Other" and "Support - Professional: Program Management/Support" categories).

Brandes Associates, Inc. (BAI) is a proven defense contractor with over 35 years of experience supporting the Department of Defense, specializing in naval aviation systems. With 110 cleared employees, a secure facility near Naval Base Ventura County, and ISO-aligned processes, BAI delivers end-to-end systems engineering-research, prototyping, testing, deployment, and lifecycle sustainment-across 20+ NavAir and FMS platforms.

BAI's Agile Empowerment Technology division developed the Syndeo Intelligent Gateway, reducing cross-domain data latency by 85% for the Intelligence Community and FMS partners.

Combining small business agility with enterprise-level capabilities, BAI consistently delivers high-performance solutions for mission-critical

programs.