Peraton Labs Inc.

Peraton Labs Inc., doing business as Applied Communication Sciences, operates as a subsidiary of Peraton Technology Services Inc. and delivers advanced research and development services in cybersecurity, electronic warfare, autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, and secure networking to the Department of Defense and federal research agencies as a prime contractor (89% of recent awards) and occasional subcontractor, competing under full-and-open procurement with no set-aside category participation.

Peraton Labs maintains headquarters in Basking Ridge and Bernards, New Jersey, and operates as a large business under primary NAICS 541712 (Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences except Biotechnology), with work concentrated in applied research, exploratory development, and advanced development across defense technology domains. The vendor's federal award footprint spans 191 awards with combined potential value of $3.28 billion and combined obligated dollars of $814.6 million across 29 customer agencies. Recent activity accelerated notably: seven awards in 2022 and 2023 each, then twenty-seven in 2024 and twelve in 2025, with three additional awards already placed in 2026.

Customer concentration centers on defense R&D leadership. The Department of the Army Research, Development and Engineering Command anchors the top-customer rankings, holding 21 awards worth $1.04 billion in combined potential value (32% of the vendor's total). The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency follows closely with 62 awards worth $483.4 million. The Department of the Air Force, split between Air Force Materiel Command Research Laboratory (25 awards, $87.9 million) and larger Air Force awards (4 awards, $957.7 million), contributes $1.05 billion combined. The Department of the Navy Information Warfare Systems Command holds 16 awards worth $197.1 million. These five agencies account for 89% of combined potential value. The Securities and Exchange Commission, an outlier customer by agency type, holds 19 awards worth $138.1 million, reflecting Peraton Labs' broader federal footprint beyond defense.

Peraton Labs holds multiple parent vehicles spanning across customer agencies. The Army Modernization Priorities Multiple Award Contract (AMP) represents a $900 million single-award indefinite delivery contract running through May 2033, from which the vendor places ongoing task orders. The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) Blanket Purchase Agreement carries a $249 million ceiling for test and evaluation services through January 2027. The vendor also holds DARPA multiple-award Other Transaction IDVs including the $25.791 million Rapid Resilience Responses (R3) LELANTOS vehicle (awarded July 2025), a $4.997 million Strategic Technology Office OT IDV (September 2025), and the $3.89 million SABER (Securing Artificial Intelligence for Battlefield Robustness) OT vehicle (February 2026). A $20.997 million Army CYBERVAN single-award indefinite delivery contract runs through March 2030. Lesser-named vehicles include the Quantitative Research Analytical Data Support IDV (12 task orders, $24.5 million), Indefinite Delivery Contract W911NF14D0006 (6 task orders, $28.1 million), and Navy Information Warfare Systems Command agreements.

Representative prime work illustrates the vendor's R&D portfolio depth. A $75.027 million DARPA JANUS Program definitive contract (October 2022, ultimate completion August 2026) funds research in adaptive warfighting architectures across eight technical areas, with a subcontractor team including Two Six Labs, Cambridge Intelligence, and CDW Government supplying software, RF components, and hardware. A $24.125 million DARPA Mission-Integrated Network Control (MINC) definitive contract (December 2021, ultimate completion September 2025) supports contested communications research with subcontractors Apogee Research, RTX BBN Technologies, and Charles River Analytics. A $14.425 million DARPA CAIRNS (Cyclic Artificial Intelligence to Recover Network Scenarios) contract (August 2024, completion February 2028) advances AI for network scenario recovery, with Lambda Inc. providing high-performance computing support. A $12.17 million DARPA SCOUTSHIP contract (February 2024, completion April 2027) engages Northeastern University, Dell Federal Systems, and Anduril Industries for prototyping. An Army tactical zero-trust network defense contract worth $5.799 million (January 2025, completion January 2027) develops zero-trust principles for tactical Army networks. An Air Force Ephemeral Paragon contract for $7.699 million (April 2025, completion October 2026) advances electronic warfare manager subsystem capabilities. Naval Information Warfare Systems Command work includes the $12.009 million Project PSYCCDEF Phase 1 contract (January 2024, completion December 2027), the $12.1 million Next Generation Networks (NGN) delivery order (October 2023, completion October 2025), and the $9.201 million MQ-8 Fire Scout data bus cybersecurity contract (May 2023, completion September 2025).

Peraton Labs also holds two federal grant awards as prime recipient. The National Science Foundation awarded a $1.144 million cooperative agreement (CFDA 47.084, Technology Innovation and Partnerships program) on July 15, 2025, for the "Democratizing Low Latency Wireless for Remote XR Medical Collaboration" initiative, developing low-latency wireless networking and XR-based surgical planning tools through June 2027. The Army awarded a cooperative agreement for the "Cyber Adversarial Resilience for Unmatched Superiority (CAERUS)" program (June 1, 2024, completion May 31, 2029) under the ARCEDD-CRP program, with an incremental funding option of $699,997 exercised during the performance period.

Peraton Labs operates predominantly as a prime contractor with selective subcontractor engagement. Across SCI-reportable prime service contracts, the vendor subcontracts an average of 16% of total contractor hours and names 5 primary subcontractors. SCI-reported invoicing from prime contracts reached $11.9 million over FY2022–FY2024 (SCI records capture only service contracts above the $150,000 threshold and exclude goods, classified work, and non-federal revenue). The trajectory shows $953 thousand in FY2022 across 2.1 FTEs, $5.8 million in FY2023 across 12.7 FTEs, and $5.1 million in FY2024 across 12.4 FTEs. Government-paid hourly rates on prime SCI contracts ranged from a 10th percentile of $180.07/hr to a median of $212.96/hr and a 90th percentile of $516.62/hr, reflecting mixed labor categories from technical support through senior research personnel.

In its subcontractor role, Peraton Labs supports larger prime contractors on strategic defense programs. The vendor consistently subcontracts under Radiance Technologies on DARPA's SAFE-SiM (Secure Advanced Framework for Simulation and Modeling) multi-phase program, contributing modeling and simulation architecture, scenario configuration tools, and analytical capabilities across Phase III and Phase IV efforts (multiple awards 2024–2025). Peraton Labs also delivers engineering and project management support to Booz Allen Hamilton on NERF-D Engineering Services and Prototype Development (February 2025) and to General Dynamics Information Technology on Priority Telecommunications Services (multiple awards 2024, 2025), where the vendor supplies telecommunications support and technical refresh services. Science Applications International Corporation engaged Peraton Labs for Department of State core data networks and cybersecurity support under the Vanguard Bridge 2025 follow-on program (May 2025). CACI Technologies awarded Peraton Labs labor support services (May 2024).

Nineteen awards with combined potential value of $255.3 million reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing a significant recompete pipeline. Notable imminent opportunities include the MQ-8 Fire Scout data bus cybersecurity contract (September 2025), the NGN delivery order (October 2025), and the MINC contract (September 2025), all carrying mid-eight-figure valuations.