Sierra Nevada Company, LLC

Sierra Nevada Company, LLC, a woman-owned aerospace and national security contractor headquartered in Sparks, Nevada, operates as a prime contractor on the vast majority of its federal work—95% of recent awards—delivering aircraft modifications, sensor systems integration, cryptographic devices, avionics modernization, and mission-critical engineering services across defense, special operations, and space sectors. The vendor competes full-and-open, without reliance on small business set-asides, and commands deep concentration among Air Force and Navy customers through both prime contracts and a portfolio of single-award indefinite-delivery vehicles.

Sierra Nevada's customer footprint is heavily skewed toward Air Force platforms and sustainment. The Aeronautical Systems Center and Wright-Patterson Life Cycle Management Center together represent 53% of awards and $17.35 billion in combined potential value across 822 awards, anchoring the vendor's business to classified special-access programs (BIG SAFARI IDIQ, $249.9 million; WINS, $99.9 million) and rapid-prototyping work. Naval Air Systems Command, Naval Supply Systems Command, and Naval Air Warfare Center account for an additional $8.34 billion across 160 awards, primarily focused on P-8A Poseidon sensor suites and associated hardware. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) contributes $3.48 billion across 167 awards, centered on the Degraded Visual Environment Pilotage System (DVEPS) single-award IDIQ ($1.41 billion, June 2025) and TRAX/ATRAX sustainment. The vendor holds a $400 million single-award indefinite-delivery contract with Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex for MC-130J Airborne Mission Networking Kits (July 2024), with four delivery orders issued totaling $388.1 million. Recent awards include a $234.2 million cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order for mission networking kits (December 2025), a $58 million firm-fixed-price order for Simple Key Loader cryptographic devices from PEO C3T (June 2024), and a $41.7 million firm-fixed-price delivery order under BIG SAFARI for aerospace electronics (April 2024). The vendor also holds a $151 billion multiple-award Indefinite Delivery Contract awarded by the Missile Defense Agency on December 29, 2025, for the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) program, spanning air, missile, space, cyber, and hybrid threat defense, and a $999.999 trillion placeholder-ceiling OASIS+ Unrestricted GSA multiple-award IDIQ (December 2024).

The top five parent vehicles—FA862011G4020 (230 task orders, $2.16 billion), FA862006G4026 (207 task orders, $3.42 billion), FA862016G3013 (173 task orders, $3.19 billion), GSA Schedule 35F4348D (311 task orders, $88.1 million), and 47QFLA20D0022 (112 task orders, $311.2 million)—illustrate Sierra Nevada's reliance on stable Air Force and Special Operations Command vehicle relationships. The NAICS footprint reflects aerospace and electronics manufacturing dominance: Other Aircraft Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing (702 awards), Radio and Television Broadcasting and Wireless Communications Equipment Manufacturing (273 awards), Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, and Aeronautical System and Instrument Manufacturing (240 awards), and Computer and Software Stores (312 awards). PSC codes align with mission hardware—Miscellaneous Aircraft Accessories and Components (423 awards), Information Technology Equipment System Configuration (244 awards), Communications Security Equipment and Components (161 awards), and Electrical and Electronic Assemblies (148 awards).

Activity has remained relatively stable year-over-year—128 awards in 2022, 138 in 2023, 131 in 2024, 91 in 2025 (partial year), 48 in 2026 (partial year through September)—with 104 awards totaling $1.99 billion in combined potential value completing within the next twenty-four months, creating significant recompete exposure. SCI-reported federal service contract invoicing across prime awards totaled $214.3 million from FY2022 through FY2025, with FY2023 peak invoicing of $102.1 million across 107 FTEs; FY2024 declined to $39.1 million across 36.6 FTEs, and FY2025 recovered to $38.7 million across 117 FTEs. On federal service contracts, median government-paid rates ran $256.25 per hour, with senior labor priced through $2,184.00 per hour, reflecting a mix of engineering, sustainment, and field-service-representative roles. Subcontractor hours represent approximately 3% of total contractor hours across SCI-reportable prime contracts, with only eight named subcontractors reported, indicating Sierra Nevada predominantly builds its own delivery teams for service work. When subcontracting occurs, the vendor engages major primes including General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Lockheed Martin Corporation, L3Harris Technologies, Leidos Inc., Salient CRGT, and Booz Allen Hamilton on intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, aircraft sustainment, and tactical communications efforts.

Sierra Nevada's capability portfolio centers on aircraft modifications and avionics integration (MC-130J mission networking, P-8A Poseidon high-band receiver hardware, HC-130J Link 16 installation), sensor systems development and integration (DVEPS pilotage systems, advanced sensors under BIG SAFARI), cryptographic device manufacturing (Simple Key Loader production and sustainment), and electronic warfare systems (MODI family sustainment, Multi-Function Electronic Warfare mounted and dismounted systems for the Marine Corps). The vendor also delivers software sustainment and modernization (TRAX tactical radio application, AC-130J precision strike package, automated knowledge processing under AFRL GeoPEX BAA), command-control-communications integration (C5ISR prototyping, cryptographic device delivery), and field service representative support across special operations platforms. Recent awards demonstrate technical depth in signal processing, RF component integration, and ruggedized computing for classified and hostile-environment operations. The vendor subcontracts to specialized component suppliers—Mercury Systems, Ensign Power Systems, Curtiss-Wright, Abaco Systems, Kratos Microwave Electronics, 4Dsp LLC, Annapolis Micro Systems, and CPI Adamworks—for electrical components, power distribution, embedded computing, and RF systems integration, typical of systems-integrator behavior on complex military platforms.

Corporate structure includes woman-owned designations on multiple subsidiary registrations and links to Spacedev, Inc. and Orbital Technologies Corporation, signaling aerospace and space heritage. GSA Schedule labor categories span 28 roles from business operations ($107.04/hr entry-level) through senior engineering and subject-matter expertise ($429.68/hr doctorate-level), supporting both direct delivery and team-augmentation models across federal agencies. The vendor's $47.85 billion combined potential value across 2,990 awards (2,851 prime, 139 sub) since 1984, with $16.9 billion obligated to date, positions Sierra Nevada as a major defense prime with strategic dependency on Air Force special-access and Navy maritime programs; the recompete cliff, concentration in single-award vehicles, and reliance on a narrow customer base create both concentration risk and switching-cost defensibility for the vendor against competitive displacement.