Innovative Scientific Solutions Inc.

Innovative Scientific Solutions Inc., doing business as Issi, a for-profit engineering research and development firm headquartered in Centerville, Ohio, serves the Department of Defense and NASA as a prime contractor (87% of recent awards) on advanced combustion, propulsion, aerodynamics, and measurement instrumentation research. Issi competes predominantly full-and-open rather than set-aside; approximately 70% of its prime awards carry no set-aside designation, with the remainder split between Total Small Business awards under SBIR/STTR programs and sole-source purchases. The vendor operates as a small business and holds multiple indefinite delivery contracts with the Air Force valued at $184.27 million and $44.19 million respectively for combustion and propulsion research, alongside recent appointment to the Missile Defense Agency's Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) multiple-award IDIQ established December 2025 with a $151 billion ceiling through 2035.

Issi's capability portfolio centers on pressure-sensitive paint instrumentation, advanced aerodynamic and combustion diagnostic techniques, high-speed propulsion research, turbomachinery technology development, and nuclear effects assessment. Representative prime work includes a $36.1 million delivery order from the Air Force (issued April 2022, extending to April 2028) for disruptive propulsion research and development under the Innovative Combustion and Propulsion Research IDIQ; a $13.55 million Cost Plus Fixed Fee definitive contract from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (awarded September 2024, completing September 2029) developing a Nuclear Comprehensive Assessment and Mission Planning Tool to simulate end-to-end system survivability across nuclear delivery and weapon systems; a $7.609 million Air Force delivery order (issued January 2026, completing December 2026) for high-speed basic research of diagnostic techniques and structural/airframe design; and a $1.724 million SBIR Phase II award from the Air Force Research Laboratory (July 2024, completing July 2026) advancing alternate positioning, navigation, and timing capabilities building on prior work with Matrix Research on positioning, inertial measurement units, and radar navigation.

Customer concentration is heavily concentrated in the Air Force enterprise. The top five funding agencies account for 69% of awards by count and 98% of combined potential value, dominated by the Department of the Air Force ($428.5 million across 65 awards) and the Air Force Materiel Command Research Laboratory ($255.4 million across 88 awards). The Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the Air Force Materiel Command Test Center, and the DOD Washington Headquarters Service represent the only non-Air Force entities in the top-five rankings by potential value, each with small-dollar contributions. All work is performed at Issi's Ohio facilities—Centerville and Beavercreek primarily—reflecting sustained geographic concentration around the Dayton aerospace and defense industrial cluster.

Issi places task orders under multiple Air Force indefinite delivery vehicles: Indefinite Delivery Contract FA865022D2009 (5 task orders, $73.4 million combined potential value), Indefinite Delivery Contract FA865014D2317 (6 task orders, $24.3 million), and Indefinite Delivery Contract FA865008D2845 (6 task orders, $14.4 million). The vendor also participates in the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services vehicle and the GSA Multiple Award Schedule. Recent appointment to the SHIELD IDIQ—with an initial $500 task order in December 2025—positions Issi for potential future work across air, missile, space, and cyber defense modernization.

Award activity declined from 20 in 2024 to 2 so far in 2026, though this reflects the snapshot timing (source date is mid-July 2026) rather than a sustained downward trend. Nine awards with combined potential value $92.2 million reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months and face recompete. In its subcontractor role, Issi delivers combustion and propulsion engineering, ICBM integration and systems engineering, and optical effects research to BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services Inc. (recurring engagement on intercontinental ballistic missile weapon system integration), Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (Intelligence Systems Infrastructure, Tools, and Enhancements engineering services), The Aerospace Corporation (radiation design margin studies), Dzyne Technologies LLC (UAS engine and precision cargo delivery system development), and others. The vendor's subcontractor footprint is characteristic: across SCI-reportable contracts, sub-hours represent 0% of total delivery hours, indicating Issi builds its own delivery teams on prime work rather than relying on subcontracts for execution.

SCI-reported invoicing on federal service contracts above the $150,000 threshold totaled $0 across FY2022 through FY2024, reflecting Issi's positioning primarily in research, development, and product delivery rather than service-hour billing. The vendor reported 9.0 FTEs in SCI data in FY2024 (1 prime and 2 sub records), a narrow slice of enterprise headcount dedicated to SCI-reportable service contracts. Combined potential value across all 312 awards in the source portfolio is $725.8 million, with $377.1 million obligated (52% of potential). The vendor's corporate structure includes a named subsidiary, Innovative Scientific Solutions, Inc., a Subchapter S corporation operating under the parent entity.

Specialty is R&D in combustion and gas turbine engine combustor development. Additional expertise include non-intrusive diagnostics, computation fluid dynamics (with and without chemistry), test-facility and -article instrumentation.