Solute

Solute, Inc., a San Diego-based Subchapter S corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of Sigma Defense Systems LLC, provides DevSecOps engineering, cloud migration, systems engineering, and battle management software development to the Department of the Navy and other defense agencies as a prime contractor (97% of awards) on full-and-open contracts without set-aside designation. Solute competes almost exclusively in unrestricted procurements rather than under small business or minority-owned business categories.

Solute's federal customer base is heavily concentrated in Navy commands. The top five funding agencies account for 80% of award count and 99% of combined potential value, led by Naval Sea Systems Command (19 awards, $10.13 billion potential value), Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (118 awards, $1.92 billion potential value), Naval Air Systems Command (25 awards, $773.7 million potential value), U.S. Pacific Fleet Forces (15 awards, $133.4 million potential value), and Office of Naval Research (13 awards, $67 million potential value). A significant two-award outlier is U.S. Special Operations Command at $950 million combined potential value. The dollar concentration is skewed toward a small number of large vehicles: Naval Sea Systems Command's $10.13 billion anchor is driven by a handful of engineering services contracts rather than volume.

Solute holds multiple high-ceiling indefinite-delivery vehicles anchoring its prime footprint. The company secured a $249.9 million multiple-award IDC from Naval Air Systems Command on June 11, 2026, for logistics information technology modernization and sustainment across three capability lots (modernization, operations support, and afloat installation) with performance spanning NAVAIR facilities and afloat platforms through June 2031. Solute also holds a $205.1 million single-award indefinite-delivery contract from Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, awarded May 23, 2025, for Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) engineering and technical services across unclassified, secret, and TS/SCI classification enclaves through May 2032. Three CANES-related delivery orders have issued to date, including a $43.841 million order for afloat network engineering (June 2, 2026, completing June 1, 2031), a $14.394 million order for CANES-Based Variants systems engineering (April 16, 2026, completing April 16, 2031), and a $3,500 minimum-guarantee obligation (May 27, 2025, completing May 22, 2032). Solute also holds a $78.5 million Other Transaction IDV from Naval Sea Systems Command, awarded September 29, 2024, for the Anchor Mission Application Team, supporting prototype development and production ordering for battle management and unmanned systems. On legacy vehicles, Solute maintains 25 task orders under Indefinite Delivery Contract N6600108D0093 ($5 million combined value), 16 task orders under SeaPort-e ($108.9 million), 12 task orders under Indefinite Delivery Contract N6600121D0010 ($78 million), and 9 task orders under Seaport Next Generation ($138 million).

Representative recent prime work illustrates the portfolio breadth. A $59.314 million definitive contract awarded by the Department of the Navy in February 2024 covers autonomy baseline manager and unmanned underwater vehicle baseline management services (ultimate completion February 2029). A $21.242 million delivery order from Naval Information Warfare Systems Command on April 15, 2025, under a Total Small Business set-aside, provides systems engineering, technical, and program management support for the AN/USQ-144(V) Automated Digital Network System Tactical Transport Engineering program through April 2030. A $15.817 million delivery order from U.S. Pacific Fleet Forces, awarded May 12, 2023, under the Seaport-NXG IDIQ, provides Ballistic Missile Defense Surface Force Training and Readiness training and fleet-readiness support through November 2025. An $11.717 million firm fixed-price delivery order from Naval Sea Systems Command for DevSecOps engineering, cyber security engineering, software licenses, and cloud consumption supporting Program Executive Officer for Integrated Warfare Systems modernization extended through February 2027. A $9.953 million definitive contract from Air Education and Training Command for DevSecOps engineering support completed April 2025. Earlier, a $15.175 million SBIR Phase III delivery order from Office of Naval Research for cloud migration support services ran through May 2026.

Activity has declined in the recent window: 11 awards in 2022, declining through 4 awards in 2026 year-to-date. Eight awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $62.6 million and face recompete exposure. The $14.1 billion combined potential value reflects a portfolio weighted heavily to a small number of large vehicles; obligated dollars across all awards total $381.3 million, representing only 3% of combined potential value and indicating substantial option periods and performance runout on existing vehicles.

Service Contract Inventory data captures a partial view of Solute's federal services work above the $150,000 reporting threshold. SCI-reported invoicing as a prime contractor totaled $84.6 million across FY2022–FY2025, with $20.4 million invoiced in FY2022 (102 FTEs), $29.3 million in FY2023 (102 FTEs), $23 million in FY2024 (109 FTEs), and $11.8 million in FY2025 (52.6 FTEs). The FY2025 FTE count reflects a partial-year snapshot. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, median government-paid rates ran around $103.73 per hour, with the 10th percentile at $91.51 per hour and the 90th percentile at $135.16 per hour. On those same prime contracts, subcontractors performed roughly 26% of total contractor hours on average, with 21 named subcontractors reported across the SCI dataset. This indicates Solute builds significant internal delivery capacity while maintaining a modest sub engagement footprint for specialized capabilities.

Solute subcontracts to large defense primes on a limited basis. Named primes include Fluor Marine Propulsion on a Naval Nuclear Laboratory management and operations contract (December 2024 modification), Lockheed Martin on an unrevealed program integration effort (April 2024), and Rite-Solutions on software engineering and fleet support for Naval Surface Warfare Center (October 2022). The subcontractor role represents only 3% of Solute's recent award count and appears secondary to prime positioning.

Parent company Sigma Defense Systems LLC, based in Perry, Georgia, is a for-profit LLC and manufacturer of goods with its own federal contracting footprint. Solute operates as Sigma's primary defense services subsidiary; a second subsidiary, Electronic Warfare Associates, Inc., rounds out the parent's portfolio.