Kestrelx LLC

Kestrelx LLC, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business based in Lake Mary, Florida, delivers unmanned aerial system threat replication, manned-unmanned aircraft platform design, and aerospace training services to the Navy and Air Force as a prime contractor operating on full-and-open and small-business set-aside delivery orders and definitive contracts. The company structures as a limited liability partnership and self-certifies as a small disadvantaged business alongside its SDVOSB designation; it competes without reliance on 8(a) or other preferential set-asides, though total small business set-asides appear on two of its larger awards.

Kestrelx's award footprint is shallow and recent, with seven prime awards totaling $11.8 million in combined potential value across four fiscal years (2021, 2024, 2025, 2026), of which $7.2 million has been obligated. Customer concentration tilts heavily toward the Navy and Air Force. The Naval Air Warfare Center anchors the portfolio with an $8.062 million SBIR Phase III definitive contract awarded March 20, 2025, for threat-replication and unmanned aerial systems development aligned with Naval Air Warfare Center training and testing requirements, ultimately completing August 2, 2026. The Air Force's Air Combat Command issued a $1.980 million total-small-business purchase order in June 2024 for a manned airborne platform capable of operating as an unmanned aircraft vehicle and cruise missile to provide cost-effective training for multiple manned aircraft, set to complete June 2, 2026. The three most recent orders, awarded in April and July 2026, are short-duration tactical training support: a $155,646 delivery order from US Fleet Forces Command (Atlantic Fleet) under GSA Multiple Award Schedule for integrated training exercises using realistic manned unmanned aerial system emulators for the USS Jason Dunham and USS Stout (completion July 28, 2026); a $103,764 Air Force purchase order for fixed-wing multi-drone operations in support of a 300-level wing training exercise at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia (completion April 16, 2026); and a $43,235 Air Force Space Command purchase order for drone operations supporting a 122D Fighter Squadron training exercise in Belle Chasse, Louisiana (completion April 2, 2026).

Kestrelx also holds a GSA Multiple Award Schedule Federal Supply Schedule contract issued May 13, 2026, with a $1 million ceiling running through May 12, 2031. The labor portfolio spans five active categories — Junior Research Analyst, Training Instructor, Systems Engineer, Lead Flight Instructor, and Senior Subject Matter Expert — with hourly rates from $109.72 to $266.33, education requirements spanning associate through bachelor's degrees, and no security-cleared positions. This structure positions the company for nationwide aerospace and defense training and research work without classified-access depth.

Activity has accelerated sharply: one award in 2021, none in 2022–2023, one in 2024, one in 2025, and four in 2026, suggesting nascent scaling in DoD training and threat-simulation work. One award ($8.062 million SBIR Phase III) reaches ultimate completion in August 2026 and faces recompete risk; five smaller orders complete between April and July 2026. The vendor operates exclusively as a prime and does not appear in subcontractor roles.