Trust Automation Inc.

Trust Automation Inc., an SBA-certified women-owned small business based in San Luis Obispo, California, manufactures control systems, power management solutions, and electromechanical assemblies for defense applications as a prime contractor on a $490 million Air Force Research Laboratory SBIR Phase III indefinite-delivery contract and as a subcontractor on 83 supplementary awards across defense platforms. The company competes under the total small business set-aside category on its prime work and serves as a component supplier and systems integrator across multiple defense primes.

Trust Automation's prime footprint centers on unmanned aircraft system (UAS) and counter-UAS (C-UAS) capabilities under a single-award IDIQ awarded August 20, 2025, and running through August 20, 2030. The company holds a $32.97 million delivery order from the Washington Headquarters Service, issued August 20, 2025, for procurement and fielding of operational prototype systems under the Small Uncrewed Air Defense System (SUADS) initiative, with completion scheduled for May 19, 2027. A second delivery order from the Air Force Research Laboratory dated May 27, 2026, carries an $8.73 million ceiling for rapid enhancement, commercialization, and transition of UAS and C-UAS capabilities, scheduled for completion by July 27, 2029. Earlier work included a $1.72 million SBIR Phase II definitive contract from AFRL in April 2023 for development of a Spectrally Responsible Counter-Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (Counter-PNT) system, completed July 29, 2024. Trust Automation transitioned prior SBIR Phase II development work into this Phase III vehicle, moving from research prototyping into production and fielding.

The company's customer concentration is heavily concentrated in the Department of the Air Force. The Air Force Research Laboratory accounts for 31 awards carrying $500.4 million in combined potential value — 94% of the total portfolio — with the Washington Headquarters Service adding $33 million for SUADS work. The Department of the Air Force Reserve Command placed 19 awards, the Department of the Army Acquisition Support Center's PEO Missiles and Space division placed 13 awards, and the Air Force Electronic Systems Center placed 6 awards. Combined, these top five customers account for 84% of award count and span 100% of combined potential value. The concentration reflects Trust Automation's specialization in motion control, power systems, and electromechanical assembly for defense platforms rather than breadth across civilian agencies.

Trust Automation sits on two primary parent vehicles: Indefinite Delivery Contract FA875021D1100 with 21 task orders, and Indefinite Delivery Contract W56KGY22D0001 (the Army's Q-53 radar sustainment contract) with 10 task orders. The company also holds positions on ASTRO (4 task orders), the General Services Administration Multiple Award Schedule (4 task orders), and the Eglin Wide Agile Acquisition Contract (3 task orders).

Subcontract work dominates the company's portfolio — 95% of awards are sub-awards across major defense primes. Booz Allen Hamilton accounts for approximately 30 sub-awards spanning the CHAD SKELETOR INTEGRATION (CSI) program, Advanced Evaluation and Readiness of Operational Solutions (AEROS), and Low Collateral Effects Interceptor (LCEI) projects, with Trust Automation providing power, motion, and motor control systems, amplifiers, battery management systems, and complete electromechanical system design. Lockheed Martin anchors roughly 20 sub-awards for motion control assemblies, azimuth and elevation drive systems, and cable kits supporting the Q-53 radar variant 3, Sentinel A4 cruise missile defense systems, and Ukraine-bound equipment. Black River Systems Company received approximately 13 sub-awards for counter-UAS repair parts, NINJA Gen2 support, and Operational C-SUAS Open Systems Architecture (OCOSA) integration. Additional sub-work flows through HII Mission Technologies (power supply evaluation, fiber optic tools, radar towers, JNEEO task orders), Leidos (counter-small unmanned aircraft systems engineering and integration), and KBR Wyle (counter-UAS task orders).

Activity grew sharply from five awards in 2022 to 31 in 2025, with only five awards in the first six months of 2026. One award carrying $33 million in combined potential value completes within the next twenty-four months, presenting limited near-term recompete exposure given the stability of the primary $490 million SBIR Phase III IDIQ running through 2030. Work is performed in San Luis Obispo, California, and includes CONUS and OCONUS locations where customer primes operate (including Southwest Asia, Bahrain, and domestic Air Force bases). Trust Automation's capability concentration spans 52 awards in research and development for physical and engineering sciences, 18 awards in search, detection, navigation, guidance, and aeronautical system manufacturing, and 6 awards in engineering services.

Trust Automation designs and manufactures Motion Control Components and Systems Solutions for Semiconductor Equipment, Industrial Automation, Medical, and Military/Aerospace industries.Trust Automation is an AS9100, ISO 9001:2008 certified Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) that operates on a foundation of exceeding its customers' expectations in automation systems, developing motion and motor control solutions for the defense and other industries. We bring our dynamic and innovative engineering capabilities to support military programs in today's complex and unconventional battlefields.