Microwave Engineering Corporation

Microwave Engineering Corporation, a small business manufacturer based in North Andover, Massachusetts, designs and manufactures passive RF microwave components and waveguide assemblies for the federal defense and space sectors, operating as a prime contractor on firm fixed-price purchase orders and indefinite delivery contracts with the Department of Defense.

MEC is a for-profit manufacturing business specializing in advanced passive components including waveguides, antennas, couplers, directional couplers, feed horns, filters, circulators, isolators, dummy loads, adapters, flanges, gaskets, tuners, and diplexers for radio and telecommunications equipment. The company has been registered in SAM since 2001 and competes predominantly in the open market without SBA set-aside certifications, though approximately 30% of its recent awards carry Total Small Business set-asides. The company holds no parent contracts or seats on government-wide vehicles; instead, it executes business through small individual purchase orders and multiple single-award indefinite delivery contracts with the Defense Logistics Agency.

Customer concentration is extreme and monolithic. DLA Land and Maritime dominates the portfolio with 2,624 awards valued at $100.7 million (64% of combined potential value), followed distantly by DLA Aviation at $14.6 million across 49 awards and Naval Supply Systems Command at $10 million across 99 awards. The top five customers account for 89% of awards by count and 84% of dollar value. Across its recent five-year award history (2022–2026), MEC generated 468 total awards with a combined potential value of $157.4 million and obligated dollars of $142.1 million.

MEC holds five active indefinite delivery contracts with DLA Land and Maritime, each valued at $350,000 with one-year terms or until ceiling is reached: waveguide adapters (NSN 5985012822079, awarded April 16, 2026, through April 16, 2027), gaskets (NSN 5330014671113, awarded February 24, 2026, through February 24, 2027), antenna equipment (NSN 5985014762027, awarded February 4, 2026, through February 4, 2027), waveguide assembly (NSN 5985011539763, awarded January 15, 2026, as a Total Small Business set-aside through January 15, 2027), and waveguide assembly (NSN 5985010267640, awarded January 7, 2026, as a Total Small Business set-aside through January 7, 2027). These five IDCs and dozens of discrete purchase orders against standing contract authority represent the operational backbone of MEC's federal footprint. Representative prime work includes a $3.49 million definitive contract from DLA Aviation for T-38 aircraft filter couplers (awarded August 14, 2025), a $1.56 million Naval Supply Systems Command contract for OMT waveguides for EA6B aircraft (awarded February 9, 2026, extending through July 31, 2029), a $1.46 million Air Force definitive contract for feed horn assemblies (awarded January 5, 2026, completing June 30, 2026), and a $1.05 million Naval Sea Systems Command delivery order for antenna production and repair (awarded September 12, 2025, completing May 1, 2026). The median order value across MEC's DLA Land and Maritime portfolio is approximately $10,000–$25,000, typical of transactional component procurement feeding defense logistics supply chains.

MEC functions as a subcontractor to major defense primes including Raytheon (waveguide circulators, couplers, rotary joints, and NRE support for FCS MK-99, P-8A APY-10 radar, and JAPAN ASEV programs), Northrop Grumman (B-1 LOA radar components, AN/ALQ-251 RAAF C-130J-30 configuration development), Boeing (PBL material and systems), L3Harris Technologies (Band 6 RF filters and filter coupler assemblies), BAE Systems (trackball data entry hybrid components), Saab (WR90 combiner network for MK-9 Tracker Illuminator System), Sierra Nevada Company (high-band hardware procurement and delivery), and Amentum Services (waveguide assembly for Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Strategic Microelectronics and Navy Strategic Systems Programs). The source documents 52 sub-awards across the vendor's footprint, with the most recent clustering around August 2026 for high-band hardware electronic component manufacturing.

MEC's award activity has remained relatively flat to modestly growing—106 awards in 2022, 78 in 2023, 90 in 2024, 135 in 2025, and 59 in 2026 (partial year)—suggesting steady baseline demand from DLA coupled with occasional larger vehicle awards from Navy and Air Force. Twelve awards with ultimate completion dates in the next 24 months total $269 thousand in recompete exposure, indicating a low cliff risk relative to the vendor's overall portfolio volume.

The vendor competes across NAICS 334220 (Radio and Television Broadcasting and Wireless Communications Equipment Manufacturing) and allied fabricated metal categories, with 3,226 of 3,669 awards classified under PSC Antennas, Waveguides, and Related Equipment. MEC's business model is characterized by high-volume, low-unit-value transactional procurement from a single dominant customer (DLA Land and Maritime), with episodic larger contracts from Naval and Air Force customers and strategic sub-relationships with tier-one defense primes. The company manufactures to order, maintains no disclosed parent contracts or teaming arrangements at the prime level, and has not pivoted toward federal contracting vehicles or set-aside strategy despite eligibility as a small business.