The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory LLC

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory LLC, doing business as APL, operates as a federally funded research and development center subsidiary of Johns Hopkins University, delivering advanced systems engineering, research and development, prototype development, and technical services to defense and civilian federal agencies as a prime contractor on cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery orders and IDIQ vehicles. APL competes exclusively full-and-open; no set-aside activity appears in recent awards.

APL is a not-for-profit university-affiliated research center headquartered in Laurel, Maryland, with place of performance at Laurel and secondary locations including Huntsville, Alabama; El Segundo, California; Washington, D.C.; Washington, Virginia; Fort Eustis, Newport News, Virginia; and Chantilly, Virginia. Primary capability portfolio centers on naval combat systems engineering and integration, missile defense systems analysis and development, space systems engineering and astrophysics research, advanced research and prototype development across defense technology, AI and machine learning integration, electromagnetic spectrum technologies and warfare, undersea warfare systems, autonomous systems, and biomedical research supporting warfighter health and performance. Representative work includes a $76.6 million Naval Sea Systems Command delivery order for BKH85-SENSOR NETTING (FAMILY OF SYSTEMS) through March 2029; a $99.9 million Missile Defense Agency delivery order under MDA SUPPORT through February 2030; a $42.6 million Naval Sea Systems Command Rapid Capability Assessment and Prototyping (BRC01) order through September 2028; a $36.3 million Naval Strategic Systems Programs SLCM-N Engineering Development order through June 2028; a $29.5 million NASA Marshall Space Flight Center delivery order through December 2026; and a $30.2 million Office of Naval Research Navy Force-Level Enhancements order through February 2029.

Customer concentration heavily favors the Department of the Navy. The top five customer agencies account for 69 percent of awards by count and 78 percent of combined potential value. Naval Sea Systems Command leads both rankings with 3,536 awards valued at $29.18 billion combined potential value. The Missile Defense Agency follows with 313 awards and $10.88 billion potential value. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center ranks third by dollars with $9.32 billion across 193 awards. The Office of the Secretary of Defense accounts for $6.46 billion across 77 awards. DARPA carries 565 awards totaling $2.62 billion. A secondary tier includes Naval Strategic Systems Programs (247 awards, $814.4 million), Office of Naval Research, Naval Air Systems Command, Air Force, and Space and Missile Systems Center. Civilian agencies including CDC Pittsburgh, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Department of State, Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate, and Department of Defense Information Systems Agency represent smaller fractions of the portfolio but demonstrate APL's reach across federal civilian and defense enterprise.

APL holds substantial IDIQ vehicles concentrated at the Department of the Navy. The top five parent vehicles generate 6,290 task orders. Indefinite Delivery Contract N0002413D6400 (Naval Sea Systems Command) carries 2,046 task orders and $7.42 billion combined potential value. N0002403D6606 (Naval Sea Systems Command) supports 1,644 task orders and $3.42 billion. N0002422D6404 (Naval Sea Systems Command) holds 831 task orders and $3.85 billion. N0002498D8124 (Naval Sea Systems Command) accounts for 769 task orders. H9222215D0004 (Missile Defense Agency) backs 193 task orders and $324.4 million. Single-award IDIQ vehicles with the Missile Defense Agency ($3 billion ceiling for research, development, test, and evaluation labor support), Office of the Secretary of Defense ($500 million for technology transition and prototype development), U.S. Special Operations Command ($405 million for Special Operations Forces Enterprise UARC support), and the Air Force ($75 million for systems and mission engineering development through September 2030) frame the portfolio. Recent definitive contracts include a $1.956 million Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate award for SWX benchmarks updating through September 2027 and a $2.92 million District Washington (Defense) contract for Information Related Capabilities modeling through September 2030.

Activity has remained elevated but shows near-term consolidation. Awards per year declined from 448 in 2023 to 422 in 2024, then to 370 in 2025, with only one award recorded in 2027 (the source snapshot date). Within the next twenty-four months, 457 awards reach ultimate completion, carrying combined potential value of $5.8 billion and representing significant recompete exposure across the Naval Sea Systems Command, Missile Defense Agency, and Office of Naval Research portfolios.

SCI-reported invoiced revenue (federal service contracts above the $150,000 threshold, prime records only) totaled $1.75 billion across FY2022–FY2024: $421.6 million in FY2022, $600 million in FY2023, and $725.7 million in FY2024. The SCI dataset captures only a subset of APL's federal revenue and excludes classified work, goods, and non-federal revenue. FTE trajectory shows growth: 862 FTEs in FY2022, 1,106 in FY2023, and 1,260 in FY2024 (across SCI-reportable prime contracts). Median government-paid hourly rates ran around $206/hr, with a spectrum from roughly $154/hr at the tenth percentile through $287/hr at the ninety-percentile, reflecting senior labor pricing typical of FFRDC research and engineering roles.

APL operates predominantly as a prime contractor (97 percent of awards); sub-award activity comprises 3 percent of the total award count. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subs account for an average 4 percent of total contractor hours, with 139 named subcontractors reported. Named sub-primes include University System of New Hampshire (solar wind plasma sensor flight instrument production), The Curators of the University of Missouri (CUCKOO algorithm development under Office of Naval Research), and BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc. (equipment support on Naval Strategic Systems Programs strategic weapons accuracy evaluation work). Teaming reflects APL's posture as a prime contractor that builds its own delivery teams and supplements with specialized subcontractor support on discrete technical tasks rather than operating as a feeder supplier to larger primes.

Federal grant work appears in a single prime recipient grant and multiple sub-recipient positions. NASA awarded a project grant (CFDA not specified in source) to APL on June 13, 2024, for ASTHROS 2, a reflight of the Astrophysics Stratospheric Telescope for High Spectral Resolution Observations at Submillimeter-Wavelengths, completing September 12, 2025. APL serves as sub-recipient on research efforts under prime grants from Princeton University (global propagation of irregular geomagnetic pulsations), University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (CDC public health disease forecasting and modeling), University of Colorado (CME propagation and heliospheric modeling, and metamaterial hypersonic flow interactions), University of Maryland Baltimore County (spin qubit charge noise characterization, synthetic image generation from heliospheric imagers), Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (cluster cosmology with machine learning and data challenge coordination), University of Hawaii (olivine and carbonate deposits on early Mars), SETI Institute (Saturn ring collisional dynamics simulations), Oregon Health Authority (ESSENCE overdose visualization), Association of Public Health Laboratories (TaxTriage bioinformatics pathogen identification), Baylor College of Medicine (neuromodulation and OCD research), and others. Grant sub-awards span heliophysics, planetary science, cybersecurity standards, quantum computing, public health, and biomedical research.

APL's federal footprint rests almost entirely on its FFRDC status and multi-billion-dollar IDIQ framework with the Navy and Missile Defense Agency, enabling rapid task order issuance for specialized research, engineering, and technical services without competitive procurement cycles. Cost-plus-fixed-fee pricing predominates; virtually no firm-fixed-price work appears. The vendor competes exclusively in full-and-open tenders and does not pursue small business or other set-aside categories. Place of performance spans Laurel, Maryland (primary headquarters and operations) and subordinate locations supporting specific customer programs and geographic requirements.