First RF Corporation

First RF Corporation, doing business as First RF Corp, is a small business manufacturer of advanced antenna and radio frequency technologies that operates primarily as a federal prime contractor (91% of awards) on defense R&D and production contracts, with recurring participation in the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs. The company is a Subchapter S corporation based in Boulder, Colorado, registered in SAM.gov since 2003, competing predominantly under total small business set-asides across its prime footprint.

First RF specializes in wideband and multiband antennas, conformal antenna solutions, phased array radar transmitters, electronic warfare systems, and RF communications for military platforms and weapons systems. Representative prime work includes a $7.116 million cost-plus-fixed-fee Office of Naval Research contract awarded May 2023 for development and delivery of a low-cost S-band radar transmitter leveraging First RF's proven subarray technology for radar phased arrays; a $2 million U.S. Army Direct to Phase II SBIR contract awarded January 2025 for Software Defined Radiohead (SDRH) technology development under Topic A244-028; a $1.5 million Marine Corps SBIR Phase II contract awarded December 2024 for broadband antenna solutions for vehicle-mounted electronic warfare systems; and a $1.2 million Naval Strategic Systems Programs SBIR Phase II cost-plus-fixed-fee contract awarded May 2025 for specialized RF or antenna technologies supporting Navy strategic missions. Additional recent work spans SBIR Phase II efforts with DARPA ($1.8 million, January 2023), the Air Force Research Laboratory ($1.9 million, August 2024), and Naval Sea Systems Command ($1.7 million, November 2021), plus smaller firm-fixed-price production orders from the Defense Logistics Agency for antenna components and mast sections.

Customer concentration clusters within defense R&D and production commands. The Air Force Materiel Command Research Laboratory leads by volume (75 awards) and dollars ($48.7 million), followed by the Office of Naval Research ($30.3 million across 16 awards), the Army Materiel Command Research Development and Engineering Command ($25.9 million across 31 awards), the Naval Air Systems Command Naval Air Warfare Center ($23.4 million across 38 awards), and the Marine Corps ($23 million across 14 awards). These five customers account for 47% of awards and 47% of combined potential value. The concentration reflects First RF's positioning as a research and development supplier rather than a production prime—174 of 421 total awards fall under NAICS 541712 (Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences), with R&D-Defense electronic and communication equipment codes (PSC R&D-Defense System and R&D-Defense Other) representing 117 awards.

First RF holds two indefinite-delivery vehicles: a single-award Defense Logistics Agency IDC with $350 thousand ceiling awarded April 2026 for mast section procurement under a total small business set-aside, with a one-year base term ending April 2027 and a minimum of 8 units annually; and a multiple-award Other Transaction IDV with the Army Research Development and Engineering Command valued at $5.999 million for development of prototype antenna systems for the Tactical High-Speed Robust LPI/LPD System (THRILLS), with delivery extended to December 2025. The top parent vehicles also include two Air Force Materiel Command IDCs: Indefinite Delivery Contract FA875013D0049 (5 task orders, $19.7 million combined potential value) and an Eglin Wide Agile Acquisition Contract (8 task orders, unspecified dollar value).

Activity has accelerated sharply—from 6 awards in 2022 to 18 in 2024 to 26 in 2025—driven by SBIR Phase II and production orders from Navy and Army commands. Eight awards with ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $15.5 million, exposing First RF to modest recompete risk relative to its active portfolio.

As a subcontractor, First RF supplies antenna and RF components to major defense primes including The Boeing Company (Disruptive Futures Modular Missile Systems, F/A-18E aircraft systems, TTNT kits for EA-18G), L3 Technologies (NGJ LB CB1 development, radome layup work), Raytheon (JSOW AGM-153 missile antenna for Taiwan and Bahrain production, Small Diameter Bomb Increment II test equipment), BAE Systems Land & Armaments (Bradley A4 follow-on production, XM155 enhancements), BAE Systems Information & Electronic Systems Integration (DARPA research projects), Lockheed Martin Sippican (Stinger warhead antenna), L3Harris Interstate Electronics (FTI phased array radar support), and Booz Allen Hamilton (RF antenna solution development). Sub engagement spans missile systems, radar transmitters, and electronic warfare radomes, with the company delivering both manufactured components and engineering support. The subcontract footprint has grown substantially in the past year, with over twenty documented sub-awards to major primes since June 2024, signaling First RF's integration into the defense industrial base's antenna and RF supply chains for production programs.

Multifunction EW, Communications, Metrology, EM Surveillance, Spectrum Monitoring, GPS and Navigation, RF Direction Finding, Geolocation, Radar and Phased Array Systems for commercial, fixed site, vehicular, manportable and airborne platforms.