Lafayette Instrument Company, LLC

Lafayette Instrument Company, LLC (doing business as Li), a for-profit limited liability company headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana, manufactures physiological recording systems, polygraph equipment, and specialized scientific instrumentation for federal law enforcement, homeland security, and research agencies as a prime contractor on a full-and-open basis. The vendor competes predominantly without set-aside designations, though a small fraction of recent awards carry total small business designations. Lafayette operates four named subsidiaries: Mindware Technologies Ltd., Aurora Scientific Inc., and Sutter Instrument LLC, which collectively expand the corporate portfolio into behavioral testing systems, biomechanical measurement, and precision instrumentation.

Lafayette's federal work centers on three concrete capability streams. Law enforcement and security agencies purchase polygraph systems (LX6 and legacy models), data acquisition systems, portable and stationary examination chairs, sensor arrays, and replacement components. The Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of State dominate this category. Research and biomedical agencies purchase circadian monitoring systems, rodent testing chambers, vibrating microtomes, pellet feeders, lickometers, and activity wheels for aging, neuroscience, and behavioral research. The National Institute on Aging alone accounts for $1.3 million in recent purchases of integrated circadian systems, rodent caging systems, and specialized laboratory equipment. A third stream supplies analyzer equipment and support instruments to Homeland Security investigations. Representative prime awards include a $1.15 million firm fixed-price purchase order from U.S. Customs and Border Protection for polygraph equipment (September 2026), a $397.8 thousand Navy SECNAV Criminal Investigative Service order for polygraph equipment (February 2024), a $300.6 thousand National Institute on Aging integrated circadian system (June 2024), and a $180.8 thousand NIA programmable pellet feeder and running wheel system (July 2024).

Customer concentration sits heavily with law enforcement and federal research agencies across 96 distinct customer agencies. The top five customers by award count (Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration, State Bureau of International Narcotics Law Enforcement, FBI Headquarters Division, Secret Service, and Air Force) account for 22% of recent awards. By dollar value, the top five customers account for 54% of combined potential value: Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection leads with $4.7 million across eight awards, followed by State Bureau of International Narcotics Law Enforcement ($3.6 million, 22 awards), FBI Headquarters Division ($1.6 million, 18 awards), DEA ($1 million, 28 awards), and Secret Service ($928 thousand, 13 awards). A tension between volume and value exists: DEA places the most awards (28) but anchors only $1 million; CBP places fewer awards (8) but carries the largest dollar value.

Lafayette places task orders under five parent vehicles: Federal Supply Schedule GS24F0052N (6 task orders, $7 thousand combined value), Blanket Purchase Agreement DJF151200S0004462 (5 task orders, $541 thousand), and three indefinite delivery contracts from homeland security and defense agencies (Indefinite Delivery Contract HSBP1014D00040 carrying $866 thousand across three task orders, and IDC 70B06C19D00000075 carrying $765 thousand). These vehicles provide recurring platforms for direct-order replenishment rather than full-and-open competitive procurements.

Recent activity has contracted slightly after sustained output. Lafayette recorded 12 awards in 2022, 11 in 2023, 14 in 2024, 9 in 2025, and 7 in 2026 year-to-date, reflecting either a seasonal artifact or portfolio thinning. Only two awards (combined potential value $1.3 million) face ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months, presenting limited near-term recompete exposure but also a sparse recompete cliff. The vendor's $22 million combined potential value across 427 total awards (primes and subs combined) has obligated $23 million (104% of potential value), indicating heavy execution and cash flow against stated ceilings.

Lafayette operates as a pure prime vendor: 100% of awards are prime contracts; a single sub-award to PAE Government Services in 2026 for an Albania-deployed LX6 instrument represents negligible sub footprint. The vendor's NAICS concentration confirms its equipment posture: 182 awards under Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing, 93 under Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing, and smaller counts across electronic computer manufacturing and wholesaling. PSC codes align: 120 awards for laboratory equipment and supplies, 44 for combination and miscellaneous instruments, 33 for electrical and electronic testing instruments. This profile renders Lafayette a pure-play vendor of specialized scientific hardware, not a services or systems-integration firm.

POLYGRAPH, EVALUATION, LIFE SCIENCE / NEUROSCIENCE, PHYSIOLOGY MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTATION