The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.

The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. Headquarters Division, doing business as Draper, is a non-profit research and development organization headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that serves as a prime contractor on federal defense, space, and advanced research programs across guidance and navigation systems, autonomous systems, control systems, sensors, and specialized engineering and test services. Draper competes on full-and-open procurements without set-aside designations, reflecting its position as a premier research contractor to the Department of Defense and federal civilian agencies.

Draper's customer concentration is heavily weighted toward strategic defense programs. The top customer by potential value is the Department of the Army Materiel Command Research Development and Engineering Command, with 30 awards carrying $10.09 billion in combined potential value, anchored by a $900 million Army Modernization Priorities multiple-award IDC and substantial delivery orders for Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS) guidance and the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) HYPERSIGHT Phase I program ($308.3 million, Naval Strategic Systems Programs). The Department of the Navy Strategic Systems Programs follows with 109 awards valued at $8.86 billion, dominated by the Trident II (D-5) Sea-Launched Ballistic Missile program across preliminary system design work ($2.42 billion), guidance systems development ($252 million), service life upgrades ($242.3 million), and supporting navigation subsystems. The Department of the Navy Naval Sea Systems Command accounts for 165 awards at $2.07 billion, centered on the Automated Celestial Navigation System (ACNS) manufacturing and sustainment ($59.2 million) and unmanned underwater vehicle autonomy development ($23.9 million). The Department of the Air Force places 554 awards worth $994.6 million, including an Other Transaction Agreement with Air Force for a single board computer on the LGM-35A Sentinel nuclear deterrent system ($24.6 million) and the Anti-Tamper IDIQ ($499 million, March 2024 award). Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded 135 contracts valued at $229.7 million, spanning artificial intelligence robustness (SABER), machine learning compilers (MOCHA, $9.96 million), neural evidence aggregation (FINDER, $11.8 million), and biotech research (EBUGS engineering biology, $4.93 million).

Draper holds multiple large indefinite delivery vehicles dominating its vehicle footprint. The $25.36 billion Defense Microelectronics Activity Advanced Technology Support Program V (ATSP V) multiple-award IDIC, awarded April 2026, procures progressive microelectronics capability solutions with 96 documented task orders. The $151 billion Missile Defense Agency Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) multiple-award IDIQ, awarded December 2025, supports multi-domain defense integration. The $900 million Army Modernization Priorities multiple-award contract (awarded June 2023, Ultimate Completion May 31, 2033) produces rapid research and development across Army modernization priorities with multiple delivery orders for JPADS, unmanned aerial vehicles, and autonomous systems. The $499 million Air Force Materiel Command Anti-Tamper IDIQ (March 2024) enables flexible access to specialized engineering services across the Air Force. The $146.3 million National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases single-award IDC (July 2024) procures animal and replacement models of infectious diseases for preclinical evaluation. The $23.9 million Naval Sea Systems Command indefinite delivery contract for ACNS production spans through October 2026. The $16.2 million Naval Sea Systems Command Technology Evaluation and Analysis Services single-award IDC (July 2023) has issued four delivery orders through May 2024. The $7.5 million U.S. Special Operations Command single-award engineering services IDC (January 2023) has received two delivery orders. Additional vehicles include the $12 million DARPA POWER program OTA for wireless power beaming relay (August 2023), the $4.56 million Space and Missile Defense Command unmanned aerial system modular payload OTA (December 2022), and the $2.13 million Space and Missile Defense Command carburetor spray prototype OTA (November 2022).

Recent representative contracts illustrate Draper's defense technology breadth. On the Trident II (D-5) program, Draper executes preliminary system design ($2.42 billion through September 2029), guidance advanced development ($252 million through September 2025), and component production and sustainment across multiple fiscal-year options. The HYPERSIGHT Phase I contract with Naval Strategic Systems Programs ($308.3 million through September 2029) covers inertial navigation measurement, advanced navigation capability development, flight test support, GPS applications engineering, and electro-optical alternative navigation guidance. The Office of Naval Research awarded a $23.72 million definitive contract (January 2024) for unmanned underwater vehicle autonomy and simulation solutions (Multi-Objective Architecture updates, UUV Digital Simulation, Scalable UXV Mission Manager). For the Office of Naval Research, Draper received $3.89 million for autonomous collaborative navigation system software development reducing dependency on external ephemerides (June 2025 through June 2027). The Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response awarded $61.98 million for medical countermeasure evaluation platform development using organ-on-chip models and advanced analytical methods (September 2023 through September 2028), with subcontractors including Sapient Bioanalytics LLC, Research And Diagnostic Systems Inc., Boston University Trustees, and Battelle Memorial Institute. DARPA's MOCHA program ($9.96 million through September 2028) pursues machine learning and optimization-guided compilers for heterogeneous architectures with Northeastern University as subcontractor. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency awarded $7.14 million for RADIAC technical and software support (July 2023 through June 2033) in San Diego. The Army Materiel Command PEO Simulation awarded $5.44 million for Cyberspace Test Technology Automated LRU Virtualization (AVIRT) toolchain development (December 2023 through February 2028). The Army Research Development and Engineering Command awarded $8.14 million for aerial delivery micro-particle amino acid technology development (September 2023 through September 2027). The Air Force Research Laboratory awarded $7.6 million for wide-field-of-view imaging system demonstration and custom optical system development (September 2022 through May 2024), with subcontractors including Distant Focus Corp., Saber1 Technologies LLC (woman-owned small business), Super Micro Computer Inc., and B&H Foto & Electronics. NASA's Johnson Space Center issued a Commercial Lunar Payload Services delivery order ($70.66 million, July 2022) for lunar payload integration and operation. The Department of the Army awarded $1.17 million for Robotic and Autonomous Systems modularity rail system development (November 2023). NASA Shared Services Center awarded two NIAC Phase II research grants: $524.8 thousand for thin-film isotope nuclear engine rocket (TFINER) technology (July 2025 through June 2027) and $155.5 thousand for TFINER Phase I feasibility (March 2024 through August 2025).

Draper executes work through established teaming relationships with major defense primes. The vendor subcontracts to Lockheed Martin across multiple vehicle-related programs for navigation subsystem development, engineering design, and gyro production; to Northrop Grumman for Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent guidance engineering and system engineering; to Raytheon for Standard Missile-3 development and hypersonic glide body technical work; to BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration for DARPA research and Tactical Boost Glide radio system development; to L3Harris Interstate Electronics for military global positioning user equipment increment 2; to Leidos for autonomous systems engineering and life-cycle development; to Sierra Nevada Company for sustainment and integrated logistics support; and to Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory for DARPA research program support. Draper also holds subcontracts to The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania for DARPA Compartmentalization and Privilege Management program work across multiple incremental awards. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, sub-engagement averages 0% (share of total contractor hours performed by named subcontractors), indicating Draper primarily builds internal delivery teams. Draper itself subcontracts to universities including Northeastern University (MOCHA compiler research), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (maritime navigation technologies), North Carolina State University and Agilent Technologies (EBUGS microbial sensing), Pennsylvania State University (SEARPOINT search algorithm), and University of Colorado (disorientation research device experimental protocol development), as well as specialized vendors including Elysian Technology Inc. (woman-owned small business, technical support on guided missile development and sensor work) and small businesses such as Excell Solutions Inc. (precision machined components on ACNS), Leading Edge Composites Inc. (composite parts), and Emcore Space & Navigation LLC (electronic assemblies on ACNS).

Activity has grown year over year, rising from 23 awards in 2022 to 59 in 2024, with 40 awards in 2025 and 8 through mid-2026. Eighteen awards carrying $279.2 million in combined potential value face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing recompete exposure across JPADS sustainment, ACNS production, and associated vehicle platforms. The vendor's award footprint spans 80 distinct customer agencies, with total combined potential value of $100.74 billion and combined obligated dollars of $13.41 billion (13% of potential value). On SCI-reportable federal service contracts above the $150,000 reporting threshold, Draper recorded $1.3 million in invoiced revenue across FY2022–FY2024 (FY2022: $674 thousand, FY2024: $630 thousand) with 127 FTEs in FY2024, 2.7 FTEs in FY2022, and 0 FTEs in FY2023; government-paid hourly rates on prime contracts run median $231.08/hr, with the 10th percentile at $201.48/hr and 90th percentile at $260.69/hr. SCI is a partial view capturing only reportable service contracts and excludes goods, classified work, and non-federal revenue; the true federal footprint is substantially larger, encompassing the $100.74 billion in combined contract and grant potential value documented across the prime and sub award portfolio. The vendor operates as a research contractor almost exclusively on prime awards (97% of recent footprint), competing on specialized technical capability rather than set-aside categories, and maintains long-standing relationships with the Navy's strategic systems community, DARPA, and the Army's modernization apparatus.