Norbit US LTD

Norbit US LTD, a foreign-owned for-profit manufacturer of hydrographic surveying and mapping equipment, sells multibeam sonar systems, LIDAR modules, unmanned survey vessels, and related technical training and software licenses to federal agencies as a prime contractor (82% of recent awards) and as a subcontractor on defense projects, competing full-and-open with no SBA set-aside designation across its prime footprint except for two small-business set-aside purchases from the U.S. Geological Survey totaling approximately $425 thousand.

The company is headquartered in Goleta, California, and operates under primary NAICS 334511 (Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing), which encompasses 14 of 34 recent awards. Norbit's capability portfolio centers on specialized multibeam echosounders (Winghead IX and equivalent models), carbon-fiber mounting systems, sonar processing software (POSPac MMS with SmartBase, Qimera/Fledermaus), and unmanned survey platforms (Otter vessels), deployed for coastal mapping, hydrographic surveying, and emergency response operations. Representative work includes a $353,655 delivery from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Ocean Service in July 2026 for a complete Winghead IX multibeam system with training to support emergency hydrographic survey operations in the Caribbean, Pacific Islands, and Alaska; a $374,811 Bureau of Reclamation multibeam sonar equipment contract awarded September 2023; a $232,800 U.S. Geological Survey purchase order for a multibeam bathymetry system under total small business set-aside to map Lake Superior; and $130,528 in training contracts from the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (June 2024) and $138,171 from U.S. Fleet Forces Command (May 2025) for hydrographic survey operator instruction.

Customer concentration is diffuse across Interior bureaus and Navy commands. The top five customer agencies account for 47% of award count and 71% of combined potential value, led by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (1 award, $859 thousand), the USGS Office of Acquisitions and Grants (3 awards, $675 thousand), the Army Corps of Engineers Engineering District New York (1 award, $500 thousand), the Bureau of Reclamation (3 awards, $420 thousand), and NOAA (1 award, $354 thousand). The Defense Logistics Agency also places orders through its Troop Support Construction and Equipment division. Interior agencies collectively dominate the portfolio, reflecting Norbit's entrenchment in civilian coastal research and hydrographic survey work.

Norbit holds two indefinite delivery vehicles: a $250,000 single-award indefinite delivery contract with U.S. Special Operations Command running through January 2030 (covering multibeam sonar, side-scan sonar, LIDAR, unmanned survey vessels, and training services, with two delivery orders issued to date totaling $31,693) and a $500,000 single-award blanket purchase agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers through June 2029 for geomatics, surveying, electronics, mechanical, and marine technology systems support headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. Norbit also places task orders against the Special Operations Equipment - Tailored Logistics Support vehicle (4 orders) and the Information Analysis Center Multiple-Award Contract (2 orders).

Activity has accelerated from one award in 2022 to a peak of eleven in 2023, then stabilized at nine to ten annually in 2024 and 2025. Combined potential value across all 34 awards totals $4 million, with $4.1 million already obligated. Recompete exposure in the next twenty-four months is minimal — only one award (NOAA, $354 thousand) reaches ultimate completion before July 2027. Norbit subcontracts to HII Mission Technologies Corp and Atlantic Diving Supply, Inc., providing specialized sonar hardware and components (400 kHz frequency-agile multibeam echosounders, integrated winghead systems, GNSS/INS kits, and discrete antifouling wavemaster systems) in support of Naval Surface Warfare Center and Navy acquisition programs. The vendor's federal footprint spans twenty distinct customer agencies, with primary concentration in Interior, Navy, and Special Operations Command, positioning Norbit as a niche specialist in maritime technology rather than a broad-based federal prime.