Southwest Research Institute

Southwest Research Institute (S W R I), a San Antonio-based nonprofit research and development organization, serves as a prime contractor and recipient on defense and civilian federal awards spanning aerospace, materials science, space exploration, environmental compliance, and advanced engineering services. The institute operates without SBA set-aside designations and competes in full and open federal procurements across a portfolio of over 6,900 awards (96% as prime) valued at $133 billion combined potential, with $5.35 billion obligated to date. SwRI maintains no parent company and operates through four named subsidiary entities under the Southwest Research Institute brand.

The organization's federal customer base concentrates heavily in defense and space. The Department of the Air Force leads by award count (1,064 awards, $982.4 million combined potential value), followed by NASA's Shared Services Center (867 awards, $269.3 million) and the Department of the Army (573 awards). By dollar magnitude, the rankings shift: the Department of the Navy's Naval Sea Systems Command anchors the portfolio with $11.07 billion combined potential value across 126 awards, while NASA's Goddard Space Center holds $7 billion across 124 awards, and the Air Force Materiel Command's Ogden Air Logistics Complex carries $1.11 billion. These three customers represent 16 percent of combined potential value. SwRI's work spans engineering services (659 awards), research and development in physical and engineering sciences (244 awards), and testing laboratories and services (209 awards), grounded in NAICS codes for engineering services, R&D, and technical analysis.

Recent contract activity demonstrates SwRI's scope across multiple domains. On the defense side, SwRI holds a $151 billion multiple-award IDIQ through the Missile Defense Agency's Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) contract (awarded December 2025, through 2035) for research, development, prototyping, and production across air, missile, space, and cyber threats. The organization also operates single-award IDIQs with the Air Force Materiel Command valued at $980 million (Automatic Test Systems Acquisition-I, through September 2035) and the Naval Facilities Engineering Command at $3 million (Super Dialer, through September 2030). On the civilian side, SwRI holds a $33 million EPA IDIQ for motor vehicle emissions testing and analytical services (through July 2030) and a $26.16 million NOAA contract for space weather coronagraph ground support equipment and mission operations (through January 2034, most recently funded via Modification 8 in January 2025). Recent task orders exemplify breadth: a $36.2 million Defense Threat Reduction Agency delivery order for SUNSPEAR II agent defeat and emerging threat testing through June 2030, a $60.3 million NOAA coronagraph design and integration contract through January 2034, a $17.9 million Office of Naval Research definitive contract for ship-board battery containment design and test validation through November 2027, and a $6.17 million DARPA Phase I award for the Structures Uniquely Resolved to Guarantee Endurance (SURGE) program through March 2029 supporting additive manufacturing qualification.

Science and space research work anchors SwRI's NASA relationship. SwRI receives recurring NASA Science Mission Directorate project grants (CFDA 43.001) supporting balanced science programs in heliophysics, planetary science, lunar and Mars exploration, and Earth science applications. Recent examples include grants of $161,761, $160,937, $226,268, and $255,205 awarded between June 2026 and April 2026 for three-year science initiatives. SwRI also subcontracts on major NASA missions: it performs as a subcontractor to The University of Iowa on the TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellite) Phase A concept study, to Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory on the IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) Phase CD hardware development, and to BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems on Space Weather Next Lagrange Series spacecraft integration and test. A $206,172 cooperative agreement with NASA funds Titan atmosphere spectroscopy research using the TEXES spectrometer, and a $1.96 million grant supports transforming microchannel plate photodetectors for ultraviolet instruments through nano-scale additive manufacturing. Non-NASA science work includes a $1,451,651 Department of Energy cooperative agreement for novel dual-media thermal energy storage development for concentrating solar thermal applications (through March 2027, with sub-awardees University of Central Florida and Terrafore Technologies), and a $399,696 National Science Foundation grant for Phase 3 of the 2024 total solar eclipse Citizen CATE experiment investigating solar corona physics.

Aircraft structural integrity and materials degradation work represents a major domain. SwRI operates under the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center's single-award $250 million indefinite delivery contract through May 2032 supporting engineering and research on system and material degradation across multiple Air Force platforms. Recent delivery orders include $17.4 million for engineering services at AFLCMC Robins (through August 2030), $6.3 million for cognitive electronic warfare system development (through March 2027), $4.6 million for AN/ALE-50 towed decoy software maintenance and upgrades (through September 2030), and multiple orders for A-10 ASIP (Aircraft Structural Integrity Program) support and F-16 structural life extension work. SwRI subcontracts to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation on Aircraft Structural Integrity Program (ASIP) Legacy VII engineering services (July 2025 awards).

Defense system sustainment and production work spans antenna manufacturing, circuit card assembly repair, and component procurement. Naval Information Warfare Systems Command orders total $1.657 million for 8 AS-140 antenna sets and 10 AS-142 monopole antennas (delivery through December 2026, with named subcontractors Innovative Composite Engineering LLC for composite components and National Magnetics Group Inc., an SBA HUBZone firm, for ferrite cores). SwRI manufactures Mini-MUTES (Miniature-Multiple Threat Emitter System) components for the Air Force: recent orders from Ogden Air Logistics Complex include $9.993 million for F-16 RFC/SIU production hardware (through March 2027, with subs Resion LLC, Hughes Circuits Inc., Streamline Circuits LLC, Avnet Inc., Green Hills Software LLC, and Omnitrust Security LLC), and smaller orders for Mini-MUTES circuit card assembly and single board computer repairs. Naval Sea Systems Command places $2.2 million for PHAROS program support (September 2026) and $220,000 for I-PREDICT human body model injury risk simulations supporting submarine personnel safety (through December 2025, sole-source based on SwRI's unique access to the I-PREDICT tool developed with Office of Naval Research support since 2018). A $1.77 million Naval Supply Systems Command contract procures 33 antennas (NSN 7G-5985-015439218, through April 2027).

Environmental and regulatory support work includes EPA motor vehicle emissions testing. The $33 million EPA Office of Air and Radiation IDIQ (through July 2030) has generated two task orders: a $1.337 million cost-plus-fixed-fee order for electronic engine controls integration and support (through November 2026, with sub Power Test LLC for dynamometer equipment), and a $640,534 cost-plus-fixed-fee order for particulate emissions mass instrument calibration (through August 2027). The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration placed a $147,876 order for FMVSS 304 CNG tank compliance testing (through September 2026). The Department of the Interior awarded a $31,500 purchase order for pesticide registration analysis supporting a feral swine toxicant (through December 2025). The Nuclear Regulatory Commission maintains multiple awards: a $1.033 million definitive contract for radiochemical sample analysis supporting decommissioning sites (through September 2030), a $251,521 delivery order for MACCS consequence analysis code assessment (through September 2027, cost-plus-fixed-fee), and a $221,008 cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order for radiological consequences analysis of stress corrosion cracking in dry cask storage (through October 2026).

SwRI competes predominantly as a prime contractor (96 percent of awards) and builds its own delivery teams, though across SCI-reportable prime contracts it engages subcontractors for an average of 3 percent of total contractor hours, with 48 named subcontractors identified. SCI-reported invoiced revenue grew from $35.9 million in FY2022 to $50.3 million in FY2024 across 122 to 228 FTEs, reflecting increasing federal service contract activity. Hourly rate posture on federal service contracts ranges from $16.36/hr at the 10th percentile to a median of $250.38/hr, with senior rates reaching $445.92/hr at the 90th percentile, consistent with a high-expertise R&D organization serving specialized government missions. Activity has moderated from 207 awards in 2024 to 177 in 2025 and 44 in the first two months of 2026, though 245 awards (combined potential value $1.31 billion) face completion inside the next twenty-four months, creating recompete exposure across defense, space, and civilian agencies. SwRI's vehicle portfolio includes positions on the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (109 task orders, $60.1 million combined potential value) and multiple indefinite delivery contracts anchoring long-term relationships with the Air Force, Navy, EPA, and NOAA, positioning the organization as an established federal research and engineering partner across full and open competitive procurements without reliance on set-aside categories.