The CNA Corporation

The CNA Corporation, a non-profit federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, delivers independent research, strategic analysis, and technical advisory services to the Department of the Navy and 136 distinct federal agencies as a pure prime contractor with minimal subcontracting footprint. CNA competes exclusively in full-and-open federal procurements with no SBA set-aside certifications, operating as an established large contractor across defense, national security, and civilian federal domains.

CNA's customer concentration is heavily anchored to naval and Marine Corps clients. The Office of Naval Research leads with 1,430 awards and $2.99 billion combined potential value—approximately 54% of CNA's total awards by count and 54% of combined potential value. The broader Department of the Navy commands 2,605 awards across multiple offices (896 Navy awards, 279 Chief of Naval Operations awards, 294 Marine Corps awards). This concentration reflects CNA's core FFRDC mission: the organization holds four major standing Navy IDIQs (N0001416D5003, N0001411D0323, N0001422D7001, N0001400D0700) supporting cost-plus-fixed-fee task order work, together carrying $1.68 billion in combined potential value across 2,509 task orders. Secondary customers include the Department of Health and Human Services (24 awards, $510.8 million), United States Marine Corps (294 awards, $193.5 million), and Federal Emergency Management Agency (49 awards, $114.4 million), which reflect CNA's broader federal footprint beyond Navy work.

Capability portfolio centers on wargaming, exercise design and analysis, military studies, strategic assessments, and organizational performance evaluation. Representative recent work includes a $6.06 million delivery order for field representatives to the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab (July 2025–June 2028), an $8 million SFI IOP analysis and assessment contract with Naval Sea Systems Command (June 2025–June 2028), a $2.7 million delivery order preparing the Department of Defense for the evolving operational environment (April 2025–April 2027), a $2.5 million Fleet Warfighting Assessment delivery order with US Fleet Forces Command (August 2025–February 2027), and a $3.95 million FEMA support order for community-wide approaches to emergency management capability assessment (September 2026–September 2027). CNA also holds parent vehicles on the GSA OASIS+ Unrestricted Multiple Award Contract and established BPAs with FEMA ($41.5 million ceiling for disaster continuous improvement support through September 2031) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response ($12 million for exercises, evaluations, and after-action analysis through September 2031).

Activity has grown materially—146 awards in FY2025 versus 102 in FY2023—with 191 awards (combined potential value $176.2 million) reaching ultimate completion in the next twenty-four months and therefore facing recompete exposure. GSA Schedule labor portfolio spans 96 categories at hourly rates from $39.76 (Interviewer, high school education) through $377.23 (Director, bachelor's degree, 20 years experience), with no security-cleared roles offered. SCI-reported invoiced revenue of $49.9 million across FY2022–FY2025 reflects only service contracts above the $150,000 threshold and excludes goods, classified work, and non-federal revenue; FY2024 peaked at $16.7 million invoiced across 53.5 FTEs. Median government-paid rate on SCI-reportable prime contracts ran $141.64/hr, with rates spanning $0/hr at the 10th percentile to $202.50/hr at the 90th percentile.

CNA operates as a pure FFRDC prime with in-house capability delivery. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors performed an average of 18% of total contractor hours, with 100 named subcontractors engaged selectively rather than as part of a broad teaming model. Named sub-award relationships include work with Dewberry Engineers (major hurricane supply chain vulnerability studies for FEMA), ICF Incorporated (enterprise data and analytics modernization support), HX5 LLC (MIT Lincoln Laboratory R&D subcontracting), and The Urban Institute (grant sub-recipient roles on criminal justice reform initiatives). The source notes CNA subcontracts sparingly to specialized partners including ICF Incorporated, Dewberry Engineers, and The Urban Institute on selective engagements—a posture consistent with an FFRDC model emphasizing in-house analytical and research delivery.

Federal grant footprint includes recipients of project grants from the National Institute of Justice on incarcerated persons' participation in structured prison activities (CFDA 16.560, $898.8K, January 2025–September 2029), transgender hate crime victimization and LGBTQ liaison unit response (CFDA 16.560, $694.6K, January 2025–December 2029), Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) training effectiveness (CFDA 16.560, $1.001 million, January 2025–December 2028), and body-worn cameras in correctional settings (CFDA 16.560, January 2024–December 2027). CNA also received cooperative agreements as recipient for the Domestic Violent Extremism and Radicalization Research and Training (DVERT) Center of Excellence (January 2025–December 2029) and the Collaborative Reform Initiative Organizational Assessment (CRI OA) program with the Community Oriented Policing Program (October 2024–March 2027). A $250 thousand State Department cooperative agreement supported the design and implementation of GCTF Connect: Urban Resilience 2.0 in Taiwan (CFDA 19.124, July 2026–December 2026). Sub-recipient grant work with The Urban Institute spans criminal justice reform and correctional capacity-building initiatives.

The vendor's contract portfolio concentration in NAICS 541712 (All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services) and 541611 (Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services) accounts for 3,374 of 4,135 awards. PSC coding reflects Special Studies/Analysis–Defense dominance (3,083 awards) and R&D–Defense Other work (715 awards), anchoring CNA's profile as a defense and national security research organization. The FFRDC structure and established relationship with the Department of the Navy create structural advantages in full-and-open competition; recompete risk on the four Navy IDIQs and civilian BPAs will drive activity over the next two years.