Hepburn And Sons LLC

Hepburn And Sons LLC, a small-business defense R&D firm based in Manassas, Virginia, operates as a prime contractor on federal research, development, and systems engineering programs under total small business set-asides and full-and-open competition, holding a $151 billion Missile Defense Agency IDIQ (Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense) and a $44 million GSA Federal Supply Schedule, while also performing as a subcontractor on naval combat systems support and engineering services under defense primes including BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services, Booz Allen Hamilton, Leidos, and Northrop Grumman.

Hepburn And Sons is structured as a for-profit limited liability company operating under Subchapter S, with a workforce of approximately 14 FTEs based on recent Service Contract Inventory reporting across federal service contracts. The company competes predominantly under total small business set-asides across its prime footprint, with all three SBIR Phase II awards ($1.7 million to $1.9 million each), STTR Phase II awards ($1.1 million to $1.7 million each), and SBIR Phase I awards ($180 thousand to $240 thousand each) designated as small business set-asides. Recent prime work concentrates in research, development, systems engineering, and program management for naval and aerospace platforms, with capability breadth spanning naval architecture, digital engineering, advanced manufacturing (additive friction stir deposition for low-cost UAVs), electromagnetic hardening analysis, protective relay systems for shipboard power, laser impulse parameter optimization, and solid-state aircraft repair using impact welding. GSA Schedule labor rates span $49.54 to $284.61 per hour across 36 categories, ranging from entry-level project specialists to subject matter experts with master's degrees and 20 years of experience; no security-cleared roles are offered.

Naval Sea Systems Command dominates customer concentration, accounting for 23 awards totaling $3.97 billion in combined potential value (99% of the vendor's total awards). The Air Force Research Laboratory (6 awards, $3.7 million combined potential value), Naval Air Systems Command / Naval Air Warfare Center (4 awards, $1.7 million combined potential value), Office of Naval Research (3 awards, $480 thousand combined potential value), and the Missile Defense Agency (1 award, $500 potential value) complete the active set. The concentration is extraordinary: Naval Sea Systems Command alone anchors the portfolio through the $151 billion Seaport Next Generation IDIQ and related single-award vehicles, though the $500 task order ceiling on the initial SHIELD delivery order reveals that ceiling and potential value differ sharply on the new Missile Defense Agency vehicle. Combined obligated dollars across all awards stand at $33.3 million (1% of potential value), reflecting the early-stage and research-oriented nature of most work.

Hepburn And Sons holds a seat on the Seaport Next Generation IDIQ (19 task orders documented, though the $500 combined potential value notation indicates these are minimal task orders) and the new Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense IDIQ issued by the Missile Defense Agency on 29 December 2025 with a $151 billion ceiling and performance period through 28 December 2035. The GSA Federal Supply Schedule, awarded 31 October 2024 through 30 October 2029 with a $44 million ceiling, spans engineering services under Special Item Numbers 541330ENG, 541690, 541330EMI, 541715, 541715AIR, 541715APM, and 541420, enabling direct ordering by civilian and military agencies.

Activity has grown substantially year over year, from four awards in 2021 to fifteen in 2024 and eleven in 2025 (through December). Only two awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, carrying combined potential value of $3.7 million, indicating minimal recompete exposure in the near term. The recompete cliff is negligible relative to the vendor's potential-value footprint, reflecting a portfolio weighted toward longer-performance-period research contracts and indefinite delivery vehicles.

In its subcontractor role, Hepburn And Sons delivers combat system support services and non-personal engineering for the Aegis weapon system to BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services (the dominant sub relationship, with recurring funding actions spanning 2023 through 2025), combat surface systems support at Wallops Island to Northrop Grumman Information Technology and BAE Systems, technical engineering services for surface ship life cycle maintenance planning to ManTech Advanced Systems International, electromagnetic hardening testing and technical assistance to Leidos, and program support services for unmanned and small combatants to Booz Allen Hamilton. SCI reporting (covering service contracts above the $150 thousand threshold) shows Hepburn And Sons exclusively as a named subcontractor with 12 records across FY2022–FY2024, averaging 12–14 FTEs per fiscal year — a narrow window into sub engagement rather than a company-wide FTE count, as SCI excludes SBIR/STTR contracts, goods, and non-federal revenue.

Hepburn And Sons' portfolio is exceptionally concentrated geographically (Naval Sea Systems Command and allied Navy commands account for 42 of 54 total awards) and by contract type (research and development under SBIR and STTR mechanisms dominate the prime footprint, with 25 awards under NAICS 541511 or 541512 and 24 under 541330). The vendor's recent growth and its new $151 billion Missile Defense Agency seat suggest repositioning toward broader defense system integration and production activities beyond historical small-business research focus, though minimal initial task order volume and the $500 ceiling on the inaugural SHIELD delivery order indicate the relationship is nascent.

Our technical expertise in a variety of engineering disciplines including mechanical, electrical, nuclear, systems, information technology and cybersecurity, missile defense, material science, naval architecture, and naval engineering. Our strengths include program management, electromagnetic pulse, warfare and combat systems, to customers including DTRA, NAVSEA, ONR, Airforce, and firms with technical analysis, quality, life cycle cost estimating, proposal preparation, marketing, and capture management.