L3 Technologies Inc.

L3 Technologies Inc. Chesapeake Sciences Division, doing business as Chesapeake Sciences, manufactures advanced undersea surveillance and maritime electronic components for the U.S. Navy as a prime contractor on full-and-open federal contracts and as a subcontractor to major defense primes. A subsidiary of L3Harris Technologies, Inc., Chesapeake Sciences competes as a large business with no SBA set-asides across its federal footprint, competing primarily on technical capability and established Navy relationships rather than small-business designations.

Chesapeake Sciences delivers specialized electronic and electro-optic components for naval undersea warfare systems: optical transceivers, rotary couplers, cable assemblies, radio frequency circulators, telemetry systems, towed array components, and associated engineering services. Recent prime work includes a $129.9 million definitive contract awarded April 2, 2026, for Virginia Class and Columbia Class universal modular mast production and engineering support (NAVSEA, ultimate completion April 2, 2031); a $65.5 million fixed-price-incentive definitive contract for TB-34A Towed Array Assembly production and integration awarded January 26, 2026 (up to 70 systems at approximately 14 units annually, Millersville, Maryland facility); a $71.8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee definitive contract for long lead time materials and program office support, awarded May 16, 2024, with Flex Interconnect Technologies named as a subcontractor for printed circuit assembly; and a $31.4 million definitive contract for TB-29C towed array assembly production awarded January 15, 2026. A $42.7 million single-award Indefinite Delivery Contract for Towed Array Integrated Product Team (TAIPT) Telemetry and Engineering Services was awarded July 9, 2026, running through July 9, 2031. The company also holds a $245.9 million multiple-award IDV for undersea weapons and undersea defensive family of systems (running through January 23, 2029), under which task orders support rapid prototyping of undersea warfare capabilities including UUV upgrade and repair work ($651 thousand delivery order, September 2024) and optic transceiver delivery ($3.4 million SBIR Phase III action, September 2024).

Customer concentration is extreme and Navy-dominated. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) accounts for 55 awards (71% of total prime and sub awards) and $824.7 million in combined potential value — essentially the entire dollar base. The Naval Supply Systems Command holds 7 awards ($17.3 million), while Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime and Aviation combined contribute 14 small-dollar purchase orders ($217 thousand combined). A single award exists to the Department of the Navy Information Warfare Systems Command. This concentration reflects Chesapeake Sciences' focus as a specialized supplier of undersea surveillance technologies to a single dominant customer.

Chesapeake Sciences places work under two Navy IDVs: the $42.7 million TAIPT single-award contract (awarded July 2026 with 23 prior task orders under the predecessor vehicle worth $22.9 million) and the $245.9 million Undersea Weapons and Undersea Defensive Family of Systems multiple-award contract (2 task orders to date, $654 thousand). Smaller vehicles include Basic Ordering Agreement N0010420GU701 and Seaport Next Generation, each with one task order.

Eleven awards (combined potential value $96.1 million) reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating near-term recompete exposure on existing NAVSEA contracts. Activity grew sharply year over year (twelve awards each in 2022 and 2023, thirty in 2024) before declining to ten in 2025 and eight in the first three quarters of 2026, signaling potential pipeline tightness post-recompete cycle.

Chesapeake Sciences subcontracts heavily to Lockheed Martin and Leidos on towed array sonar programs. Since late 2022, the company has delivered TB-37X first production unit components (acoustic nodes, array interface units, fiber optic receivers and transmitters, clock repeaters, power regulators, and system input protection assemblies) to Lockheed Martin under multiple sub-awards; similar work flows to Leidos for towed array sonar production engineering and National Acoustic Telemetry and Signals Center facility operations. Electric Boat Corporation and Serco Inc. received sub-awards for government property transfer and integrated undersea surveillance system logistics support respectively. This sub portfolio demonstrates Chesapeake Sciences' role as a critical component supplier embedded in Navy-Lockheed and Navy-Leidos supply chains for advanced sonar and surveillance platforms.

Primary performance is centered at Millersville, Maryland, with secondary work at Newport, Rhode Island, Northampton, Massachusetts, and Keyport, Washington. The company's SBIR participation — reflected in multiple Phase III actions transitioning research into operational systems — anchors both prime awards and sub-supply relationships. Top NAICS categories are instrument manufacturing for measuring and testing electricity (24 awards) and search, detection, navigation, and guidance system manufacturing (20 awards), with engineering services (7 awards) and radio/wireless communications equipment manufacturing (6 awards) rounding the portfolio. The parent company, L3Harris Technologies, serves as administrative overhead and provides corporate structure but does not appear in the sub-award footprint for Chesapeake Sciences work.