Photonis Defense Inc.

Photonis Defense Inc., a foreign-owned manufacturer of specialized electronics and optics, operates as a prime contractor supplying microwave power modules, missile warning systems, night vision devices, and advanced electronic assemblies to the Department of the Navy and Department of the Army, with no small-business set-asides across its federal footprint. The company competes on full-and-open federal procurement and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Photonis France, a French-based manufacturer.

Photonis Defense holds two primary IDIQ vehicles with the Naval Air Warfare Center—one valued at $21.98 million (ultimate completion May 2027) and a second at $38.9 million (ultimate completion March 2027)—both supporting the AWACS Block 40/45 Upgrade program, a major defense modernization initiative replacing legacy avionics on E-3 aircraft with open-system architecture and enhanced computing. The company recently won a single-award indefinite-delivery contract from PEO Soldier with a ceiling value of $352.6 million (ultimate completion February 2031) for the BINOD SYSTEMS program, with a $1.61 million delivery order placed February 27, 2026, in Neffsville, Pennsylvania. Representative work under the Naval Air Warfare Center vehicles includes delivery orders for production of G/J and E/F microwave power modules (ranging from 2 to 30 units per order), repair and teardown-and-evaluation services for AWACS components, and warranty extensions, with task-order values ranging from $4,300 to $3.37 million. A $5.11 million definitive contract with the Army's Communications Electronics Command (awarded December 2021) supported Foreign Military Sales case JO-B-YEE, delivering night vision devices to Jordan.

Customer concentration is heavily weighted toward the Department of the Navy and Army modernization programs. The top five customers by award count account for 73% of awards: Defense Logistics Agency (197 awards), DLA Land and Maritime (121 awards, $14.6 million), Naval Air Warfare Center (115 awards, $91.8 million), Naval Supply Systems Command (108 awards, $51.5 million), and the Navy broadly (70 awards). By potential value, concentration is extreme: the Army's PEO Soldier anchors 68% of the combined potential value ($354.2 million across 2 awards), while the Naval Air Warfare Center and Naval Supply Systems Command together account for $143.3 million (27% of the total). The recent PEO Soldier IDIQ represents a significant shift in the customer mix and dollar concentration.

Activity has remained relatively flat—20, 18, 19, and 15 awards in 2022 through 2025 respectively—with only 2 awards recorded year-to-date in 2026. Awards facing recompete within the next twenty-four months total 4 with a combined potential value of $8.2 million, a modest recompete exposure relative to the new PEO Soldier vehicle. The underlying contract portfolio spans 34 distinct federal agencies over a history dating to 1987, with combined potential value of $519.7 million and combined obligated dollars of $217.3 million (42% of potential).

Photonis Defense's capability footprint centers on electron tube manufacturing (123 awards), search-detection-guidance-system manufacturing (115 awards), and radio-television-communications equipment manufacturing (74 awards), per NAICS classification. By PSC, the portfolio is dominated by electron tubes and associated hardware (415 awards), amplifiers (110 awards), airborne radar equipment (80 awards), and radio-television communication equipment (59 awards). Work is performed at Neffsville, Pennsylvania (manufacturing and repair) and Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California (evaluation and repair).

As a subcontractor, Photonis Defense supplies components and logistics-support services to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (contractor logistics support for specialized tactical electronic warfare systems, recurring awards through 2025), L3 Technologies (U-2 data-links support and sustainment), DRS Network & Imaging Systems LLC (Assault Breacher Vehicle integrated vision system components), and Vertex Aerospace LLC (E-6B contractor logistics support). Subcontract work accounts for 1% of the recent award portfolio (11 of 842 awards), with subcontracting concentrated among major defense integrators supporting airborne and electronic systems.

MFG OF VACUUM TUBE ELECTRONICS DEVICES. INCLUDED ARE VACUUM POWER TUBES, VACUUM TUBE IMAGING DEVICES, VACUUM TUBE PHOTOMULTIPLIERS, IMAGE INTENSIFIERS.