Zone 5 Technologies, LLC

Zone 5 Technologies, LLC, a San Luis Obispo, California–based small business manufacturer and defense contractor, sells advanced munitions, autonomous systems, hardware-in-the-loop simulations, and integrated demonstration platforms to the Department of Defense as a prime contractor (70% of recent awards) and subcontractor on counter-unmanned aircraft and counter-maritime programs.

Zone 5 operates predominantly in full-and-open competition without set-aside designations across its prime work, though it holds two set-aside SBIR and STTR Phase II awards from Air Force Research Laboratory totaling approximately $3.6 million. The company competes across a portfolio heavily skewed toward Other Transaction Agreements and indefinite delivery contracts issued by the Air Force and Office of the Secretary of Defense. Recent prime awards include a $734.8 million Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM) production OTA awarded June 23, 2025 (ultimate completion March 31, 2027); a $81.6 million Enterprise Test Vehicle (ETV) OTA awarded February 1, 2024 (completion December 31, 2026); a $45.5 million ERAM prototype OTA awarded October 15, 2024 (completion July 30, 2026); a $32.1 million Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Next (COUNTER NEXT) OTA awarded October 18, 2024 (completion October 17, 2027); and an $18.1 million FAMM-L prototype OTA awarded March 3, 2026 (completion June 2, 2026). Smaller work includes a $6.9 million vehicle and payload design and test delivery order (completion July 20, 2027), a $1.79 million STTR Phase II airdrop delivery contract, and a $1.7 million SBIR Phase II counter-UAS development contract.

Customer concentration is extreme and agency-specific. The Department of the Air Force dominates both award count and dollar potential: eleven awards (representing 30% of the award count) anchor $46.9 billion in combined potential value—nearly 100% of the combined portfolio ceiling. The Office of the Secretary of Defense trails significantly with four awards at $32.7 million combined potential value. Air Force Materiel Command Research Laboratory contributes eleven awards at $5.9 million. The Department of the Army has entered Zone 5's customer base in 2025–2026 with a $25 million Blanket Purchase Agreement for Blue List compliant unmanned aircraft systems (awarded August 15, 2025, completion August 14, 2030) and a $1.3 million OTA for air drop platform and training assets under ATREUS "SUNRISE" (December 19, 2024). Five additional agencies (Navy, Navy Research Office, Space Force, Army European Command, and Army Forces Command) account for minimal volume.

Zone 5 holds position on two primary indefinite delivery vehicles. The Eglin Wide Agile Acquisition Contract (EWAAC), a $46 billion multiple-award IDIQ with the Air Force Lifecycle Management Center running through September 9, 2031, represents the core vehicle; Zone 5 was onramped on March 13, 2025 as part of the fourth on-ramp cohort and has issued one $1,000 task order to date. The Counter-Maritime Integrated Demonstration (CMID), a $20 million single-award IDC with Air Force Materiel Command (award date September 18, 2024, completion September 18, 2029), has generated three task orders totaling $1.8 million for airframe trade studies, over-the-air updates for networked collaborative entities, and avionics and software integration. Zone 5 also sits on smaller contract vehicles including Responsive Strategic Sourcing for Services (2 task orders) and One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (1 task order).

Activity has accelerated sharply: one award in 2022, one in 2023, thirteen in 2024, and twelve in 2025. Six awards (combined potential value $902.1 million) face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating material recompete exposure—specifically the ERAM production OTA ($734.8 million, completion March 31, 2027), the $45.5 million ERAM prototype (completion July 30, 2026), and smaller vehicle and payload work.

As a subcontractor, Zone 5 delivers counter-unmanned aircraft systems engineering and integration work to Leidos; counter-small UAS innovation, Low Collateral Effects Interceptor engineering, and command-and-control systems engineering to Booz Allen Hamilton; and JEACO product support to General Dynamics Global Force. Sub work spans counter-UAS platforms, unmanned systems integration, and RF interceptor design. Across SCI-reportable federal service contracts, Zone 5 reported 0.2 FTEs in FY2024, indicating that SCI-reportable services represent a negligible portion of the company's federal delivery footprint; the vast majority of work flows through OTAs, ODCs, and R&D contracts outside SCI reporting scope.

Zone 5's capability portfolio centers on munitions development (Extended Range Attack Munition production and prototyping, Low-Cost Long-Range Airdrop Delivery), autonomous systems and counter-unmanned aircraft development (Counter-UAS Long Bow 1, COUNTER NEXT), networked collaborative entity platforms (over-the-air updates, modular unmanned air system payloads), and hardware-in-the-loop and software-in-the-loop simulation ecosystems (Golden Horde Colosseum Cleaver, CMID HWIL/SWIL integration). The company characterizes itself as specializing in advanced defense technology research and development for the Air Force and broader DoD; NAICS concentration reflects this focus, with twenty awards in Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences, two in Ammunition Manufacturing, and two in Aircraft Manufacturing.