Georgia TECH Applied Research Corp

Georgia TECH Applied Research Corp (Gtarc), a non-profit research subsidiary of Georgia Tech Research Corporation, serves the Department of Defense and federal civilian agencies as a prime contractor delivering advanced technical services, radar systems engineering, electronic warfare research and development, autonomous systems development, directed energy weapons research, sensor development, and hypersonic technology work. Gtarc operates as a child entity of the Georgia Institute of Technology's research enterprise, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with work performed across multiple locations including Warner Robins, Hanscom Air Force Base, Eglin Air Force Base, and subordinate defense facilities.

Gtarc competes exclusively in full-and-open federal procurement, holding no small business set-aside designations. The vendor's posture as a non-profit research institution affiliated with a state university reflects its positioning as a premier defense research partner rather than a commercial contractor. Recent prime awards span defense modernization across radar threat simulation, electronic warfare system development, spectrum warfare support, test and evaluation infrastructure sustainment, and advanced sensor integration. Representative work includes a $99.9 million delivery order from Naval Air Systems Command for advanced electronic warfare research (September 2025), an $89.2 million Pacific Air Forces delivery order for deployed range systems sustainment and support (September 2024), and a $99.5 million Army PEO Aviation delivery order for avionics research systems development and engineering support for Army aviation platforms (September 2024). Non-defense civilian work includes a $1.998 million cooperative agreement with USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for engineered probiotic bacteria-based influenza vaccines leveraging artificial intelligence and AlphaFold protein structure prediction (February 2026).

Gtarc's customer base concentrates heavily on defense agencies. The Office of the Secretary of Defense anchors the portfolio with 316 awards valued at $62.27 billion in combined potential value, reflecting substantial participation in strategic capability office research and engineering support. The Department of Army Intelligence and Security Command, Department of Air Force Materiel Command Research Laboratory, Department of the Air Force, and Department of Army account for the next tier, collectively representing 41% of award count across the portfolio. Top customers by dollar value include OSD ($62.27 billion), Army PEO Simulation Training and Instrumentation ($17.74 billion), and Air Force Materiel Command ($2.07 billion). Gtarc serves 144 distinct federal agencies, indicating broad customer penetration across defense, civilian research, and civilian agency portfolios.

Gtarc holds multiple large indefinite delivery vehicles anchoring its prime delivery capability. The vendor participates in IDIQs controlled by Air Force Materiel Command, including a $770 million single-award contract for Advanced Radar Threat Systems-Variant 1 (ARTS-V1) supporting threat simulation systems, spares, support equipment, and engineering change proposals through September 2028. Gtarc also holds a $398 million indefinite delivery contract with the Office of the Secretary of Defense for analysis and engineering support services (Strategic Capabilities Office work) extending through September 2028. The vendor carries a $99.9 million AFLCMC/WINS Advanced Sensor IDIQ awarded September 2024 through September 2027, enabling procurement of advanced sensor development and integration services. Gtarc participates in the $999.9 million TETRAS II (Test and Evaluation Technologies for Ranges, Armaments and Spectrum II) multiple-award IDIQ with Air Force Materiel Command and the $92 billion Eglin Wide Agile Acquisition Contract (EWAAC) multiple-award vehicle for rapid weapons technology development. The vendor also holds positions on the ASTRO GWAC multiple-award platform-related services vehicle managed by GSA Assisted Acquisition Services FEDSIM.

Activity has declined modestly in recent years, with 79 awards in 2022, 58 in 2023, 82 in 2024, 62 in 2025, and 13 in 2026 (partial year through mid-April). Ninety-eight awards carrying combined potential value of $2.28 billion face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing significant recompete exposure and opportunity for competitors and potential partners seeking to capture follow-on work.

Gtarc's subcontractor footprint shows sparse sub-award activity in the federal contract space but reflects substantial engagement with major defense primes on larger programs. Named subcontractor relationships include work under Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation on Joint Mission Planning System (JMPS) legacy sustainment (multiple sub-awards through 2025), Booz Allen Hamilton on combat effectiveness and survivability analysis, Raytheon Company on active and passive RF sensing research, Leidos on SAP IT operations support, and Assured Information Security on explainable large language models and related DARPA work. These engagements position Gtarc as a specialized technical partner to integrators rather than as a feeder for commercial defense primes. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, Gtarc self-performed all labor in FY2024 (129 FTEs, $67.8 million invoiced), reflecting a build-in-house delivery model with zero sub-contractor hours reported to SCI in that period.

SCI reporting reveals government-paid hourly rates spanning $109/hr at the 10th percentile to $691/hr at the 90th percentile, with a median rate of $193/hr. This spectrum reflects a mix of technical labor categories from engineering support through senior research and strategy work. FY2022 invoiced revenue of $56.1 million across 110 FTEs, FY2023 revenue of $95.6 million across 168 FTEs, and FY2024 revenue of $67.8 million across 129 FTEs indicate moderate workforce volatility tied to task order intensity and program lifecycle dynamics. These SCI figures capture a narrow slice of federal service-contract activity above the $150,000 reporting threshold and exclude goods, products, and the broader non-federal revenue portion of Gtarc's enterprise.

The vendor's federal grant footprint spans USDA, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Office of Naval Research, Department of Defense research laboratories, and civilian scientific agencies. Gtarc acts as recipient (rather than subrecipient) on awards including the $1.998 million USDA cooperative agreement on probiotic vaccines, $100 thousand NIST cooperative agreement on IEEE 1872.1-2024 robot task representation standard examples, Office of Naval Research project grants on quantum sensing and autonomous systems research, Air Force Research Laboratory equipment grants, and National Science Foundation atmospheric science research. Grant-supported work spans robotics standards, material characterization for space applications, pathogen genomics and epidemiological research partnerships with state health departments, and cloud discharge physics research.

Gtarc's ownership structure places it as a child entity of Georgia TECH Research Corp, the non-profit parent managing federal contracting and sponsored research programs for the Georgia Institute of Technology. This affiliation provides access to university research infrastructure, faculty technical expertise, and laboratory facilities that support the vendor's research and development delivery model across radar, electronic warfare, autonomous systems, directed energy, and advanced sensor domains. The non-profit structure and university affiliation shape Gtarc's competitive positioning as a research partner rather than a commercial systems integrator, enabling participation in basic and applied research work across defense and civilian federal agencies while maintaining focus on innovation and technical advancement rather than commercial profit maximization.