Cornerstone Research Group Inc.

Cornerstone Research Group Inc., doing business as CRG Defense, Inc., is a small business aerospace and defense firm that operates almost exclusively as a prime contractor ($46.4 billion combined potential value, 99% prime split) across federal research, development, and advanced technology programs, competing predominantly under small business set-asides on SBIR and STTR vehicles. The Miamisburg, Ohio-headquartered company delivers advanced energy storage systems, electric propulsion technologies, thermal protection materials, composite structures, sensor integration, and transitional defense systems through a portfolio anchored to innovation programs across the Department of Defense, with recent work extending into space systems for NASA and homeland security applications.

Cornerstone's customer concentration heavily favors defense. The Department of the Air Force accounts for $46.1 billion in combined potential value across 34 awards—a figure dominated by a single $151 billion Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) multiple-award IDIQ awarded December 29, 2025, with a concurrent $500 initial delivery order. Excluding that placeholder-ceiling vehicle, the vendor's customer base spans the Air Force Materiel Command Research Laboratory (72 awards, $44.7 million), NASA Shared Services Center (60 awards, $20.7 million), Naval Air Warfare Center (36 awards, $20.7 million), Naval Sea Systems Command (15 awards, $80.5 million), and the Army Materiel Command Research Development and Engineering Command (30 awards, $12.5 million). These top five customers represent the entire combined potential value in the source data. Cornerstone has worked with 54 distinct federal agencies across 451 total awards spanning research, development, prototype fabrication, and production.

Cornerstone holds three significant standing IDIQs beyond SHIELD. The Eglin Wide Agile Acquisition Contract (EWAAC), a $46 billion Air Force multiple-award vehicle awarded March 14, 2023 through September 9, 2031, has generated one recorded delivery order ($1,000). The $69.4 million Air Force Power Systems SBIR III single-award indefinite delivery contract, awarded May 9, 2022 through May 8, 2027, has supported two task orders totaling $6.3 million for advanced energy storage and aircraft propulsion technology development. The Defense Logistics Agency Joint Additive Manufacturing Acceptability (JAMA) IV Pilot Parts Program, a $9.8 million single-award IDIQ effective February 25, 2026 through February 24, 2031, procures additive manufacturing production for military parts across multiple military services. Additionally, Naval Air Warfare Center awarded a Basic Ordering Agreement (April 1, 2026 through April 1, 2031) for SBIR Phase III work, with no pre-established ceiling.

Cornerstone's recent award activity reflects a research-heavy profile, with 209 awards coded to R&D in physical and engineering sciences (excluding nano and biotech) and 126 to R&D in physical and engineering sciences (excluding biotech), followed by 33 awards in DoD applied research and 32 in DoD basic research. Representative recent work includes a $1.999 million Army Phase II SBIR (March 30, 2026) for ultra-low-temperature rechargeable lithium-metal battery technology; a $1.958 million Missile Defense Agency contract (February 6, 2026) for active physics-informed generative AI hypersonic research; a $3.32 million Air Force contract (August 4, 2025) for modular total environmental sensor pod (MOTES) refinement; a $1.8 million Department of Defense PEO Simulation contract (August 1, 2025) for Multi-Spectrum Combat Identification Target Silhouette (MCITS) Phase III transitioning from earlier SBIR-derived research; and a $14.86 million Air Force contract (December 21, 2021) for alternative embedded distributed electric propulsion for short-takeoff-and-landing aircraft. The vendor also executes production work: a $1.44 million Air Mobility Command contract (November 18, 2024) for spinal injury transportation device production and smaller purchase orders for desiccant containment caps and heated protective gear for the Navy.

Federal grant work is limited. Cornerstone holds three prime federal grant awards: an Office of Science project grant (July 10, 2023, through September 9, 2026) for inverse vulcanized sulfur cathode development for EV batteries; a Defense Health Agency project grant (September 30, 2022, through September 29, 2025) for a wearable device monitoring airborne hazard and burn pit exposure; and an Office of Science cooperative agreement (June 27, 2022, through August 27, 2025) for solid-state transformer research with predictive digital twin capability. Cornerstone also appears as a sub-recipient on a Center for the Advancement of Science in Space grant (September 25, 2023) for reversible joint technology on the International Space Station.

Activity velocity has declined: the vendor recorded 29 awards in 2022, 28 in 2023, 19 in 2024, 18 in 2025, and 9 through late September 2026. Fifteen awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $21.8 million and face recompete risk. Service Contract Inventory data show limited federal services-contracting exposure—SCI-reported invoicing declined from $1.8 million across 2.2 FTEs in FY2022 to $689 thousand across 1.6 FTEs in FY2024, then recovered to $1.5 million across 2.6 FTEs in FY2025, reflecting the company's heavy reliance on research and development contract vehicles rather than time-and-materials staffing. Government-paid hourly rates on SCI-reportable service contracts ran from a 10th percentile of $178.19/hr through a median of $324.29/hr to a 90th percentile of $935.63/hr, indicating a mixed labor mix from technicians to senior technical staff. Cornerstone self-performs all SCI-reportable work with no subcontractor hours recorded.

Cornerstone's subcontract footprint is minimal (1% of awards, 6 total subs). The vendor subcontracts to Bluehalo LLC on an Air Force pilot for the Environmental Awareness System (September 13, 2024) and to Georgia Tech Applied Research Corp on a DoD effort (January 19, 2022). The company operates as a pure prime, building its own delivery teams rather than feeding larger contractors.

CRG Defense, founded in 1997, is a premier aerospace and defense firm with over 90 employees, delivering high-performance, cost-effective solutions with speed and agility. Part of the Rushlight Assets family and wholly owned by U.S. citizens, CRG Defense is immune to foreign control or influence through foreign investors.

Our expertise includes aerospace systems, human health and AI, power and energy, advanced materials and manufacturing, missionized systems, and secure production. With all services under one roof-R&D, prototyping, manufacturing, and more-CRG Defense ensures a secure and streamlined supply chain. We provide patented, high-rate composite manufacturing for aircraft primary structures, in-house domestic production of battery cells and packs for the Department of Defense, and innovative composite solutions.

Located 16 miles southwest of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, CRG Defense operates from secure facilities, delivering American ingenuity at its finest.