Brunson Instrument Company

Brunson Instrument Company, doing business as Brunson Instrument Co., manufactures precision optical instruments, alignment telescopes, and metrology products for federal defense and scientific agencies as a prime contractor (98% of recent awards) with recurring small-business set-asides on roughly 40% of contract volume. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, with a facility in Raytown, the company is a for-profit Subchapter S Corporation classified under NAICS 339111 (Optical Instrument and Lens Manufacturing) and NAICS 334513 (Instruments and Related Products Manufacturing for Measuring, Displaying, and Controlling Industrial Process Variables), with primary PSC codes for optical instruments, test equipment, and precision layout tools.

Brunson's customer concentration is heavily naval and defense-dominated. The top five paying customers account for 68% of combined potential value, anchored by the Naval Air Systems Command Naval Air Warfare Center (17 awards, $814 thousand combined potential value), the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support Construction and Equipment (15 awards, $784 thousand), the Air Force Materiel Command (3 awards, $551 thousand), Naval Sea Systems Command (48 awards, $413 thousand), and the Air Force Materiel Command Lifecycle Management Center at Wright Patterson AFB (3 awards, $358 thousand). Naval Sea Systems Command leads by award count (48 awards), while Naval Air Warfare Center leads by dollar value. Recent representative prime work includes a $47.8 thousand calibration sine bar order from Naval Air Warfare Center (February 2026), a $31.8 thousand straight telescope under total small business set-aside from Naval Supply Systems Command (March 2026), a $29.9 thousand FSC 6650 alignment scope order from TACOM Life Cycle Management Command (December 2024), and a $62.2 thousand alignment telescope from Naval Air Warfare Center (August 2023). The company also supplies the UH-60M Black Hawk Helicopter and P-8A Poseidon Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft programs with specialized optical instruments.

Activity in recent years has been modest and volatile — five awards in 2021, climbing to eight in 2024, then declining to six in 2025 and three year-to-date in 2026. The recompete cliff is light, with only two awards (combined potential value $80 thousand) reaching ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months. Brunson places task orders under several Air Force Materiel Command indefinite delivery contracts (F4160889D1705 with 4 task orders, F4160888C1637 with 2 task orders) and maintains seats on Army and Navy IDIQs. In its subcontractor role, Brunson supplies precision measurement and calibration equipment to Fluor Marine Propulsion (Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program support telescope calibration, March 2026), CAE USA (F-16 training simulator metrology stands and adapters, December 2025 and September 2025), Torch Technologies (distributed digital simulation and hardware-in-the-loop precision lift adapters for DEVCOM AVMC, August 2024), Raytheon Company (All Up Round test equipment and guided missile test equipment, July 2024 and February 2024), and S & K Federal Services (telescope sourcing and acquisition, June 2024). The company's core capability footprint is precision metrology, optical alignment, and calibration instrumentation for naval weapons systems, aircraft platforms, and DoD test and evaluation programs, with a secondary role as a subcontract supplier of specialized measurement tools to large defense primes.