Federal spending under NAICS 541715 was concentrated in defense and space agencies, led by the Department of the Air Force, Department of the Navy, NASA, the Department of the Army, and the Missile Defense Agency. The largest vendors included Lockheed Martin Corporation, Fluor Marine Propulsion, LLC, the California Institute of Technology, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory LLC, and Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation.
NAICS Industry
NAICS 541715 Federal Contract Obligations (Last Year)
NAICS 541715 covers federal obligations for research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences, excluding nanotechnology and biotechnology, with $42.89 billion across 44,999 actions in the last full year.
Annual figures reflect the last full year shown in FPDS and include total obligated dollars, award action counts, and top agency and vendor rankings for NAICS 541715.
NAICS Code
541715
Industry
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE PHYSICAL, ENGINEERING, AND LIFE SCIENCES (EXCEPT NANOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY)
Total Obligated
42.89 billion
42,892,061,157.48
Award Actions
44,999
Average Action Value
953,178.09
About NAICS 541715 federal contract activity
NAICS 541715 covers research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences, excluding nanotechnology and biotechnology. In the last full year, FPDS records show $42.89 billion in obligations across 44,999 awards, for an average award value of $953,178.09.
Agency demand and leading federal buyers
Obligations were concentrated in the defense and space acquisition community. The Department of the Air Force led with $12.14 billion and 13,277 awards, followed by the Department of the Navy at $7.20 billion, NASA at $5.71 billion, the Department of the Army at $4.42 billion, and the Missile Defense Agency at $4.22 billion.
Vendor concentration and leading contractors
Prime award activity was led by major defense contractors, research laboratories, and academic institutions. Lockheed Martin Corporation received the most obligation value at $4.96 billion, while Fluor Marine Propulsion, LLC followed with $3.93 billion despite far fewer awards; California Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory LLC, and Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation also ranked among the top recipients.
Annual contract trend over the analysis window
The annual trend panel contains one completed year, 2025, which matches the full analysis window. That year accounted for the entire observed total of $42.89 billion and 44,999 awards, indicating the page reflects a single-year snapshot rather than a multi-year time series.
How to interpret this page
This summary is based on FPDS obligations mapped to NAICS 541715 for the last full year in the dataset. Agency and vendor rankings are ordered by total obligated amount, and award counts are presented as reported in the underlying FPDS records.
Top Agencies
SELECT
agency_id,
agency_name,
total_obligated,
award_count,
formatReadableQuantity(total_obligated) AS total_obligated_readable
FROM
(
SELECT
content__award__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID AS agency_id,
anyHeavy(content__award__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID__name) AS agency_name,
sum(content__award__dollarValues__obligatedAmount) AS total_obligated,
count() AS award_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE
contract_type = 1
AND content__award__productOrServiceInformation__principalNAICSCode = '541715'
AND content__award__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID IS NOT NULL
AND content__award__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID != ''
AND parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate) >= toStartOfYear(now()) - INTERVAL 1 YEAR
AND parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate) < toStartOfYear(now())
GROUP BY agency_id
)
ORDER BY total_obligated DESC
LIMIT 10| Agency ID | Agency Name | Total Obligated | Readable | Award Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5700 | DEPT OF THE AIR FORCE | 12,142,532,752.37 | 12.14 billion | 13,277 |
| 1700 | DEPT OF THE NAVY | 7,196,612,668.81 | 7.20 billion | 6,828 |
| 8000 | NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION | 5,712,402,887.91 | 5.71 billion | 6,127 |
| 2100 | DEPT OF THE ARMY | 4,416,728,444.55 | 4.42 billion | 5,647 |
| 97JC | MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY (MDA) | 4,218,187,341.27 | 4.22 billion | 3,696 |
| 8900 | ENERGY, DEPARTMENT OF | 3,744,842,641.11 | 3.74 billion | 177 |
| 7529 | NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH | 1,280,066,092.81 | 1.28 billion | 1,227 |
| 4732 | FEDERAL ACQUISITION SERVICE | 1,100,726,791.87 | 1.10 billion | 721 |
| 97AE | DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY (DARPA) | 1,087,768,516.33 | 1.09 billion | 1,149 |
| 97AS | DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY | 453,956,780.76 | 453.96 million | 489 |
Insight
Obligations for NAICS 541715 were highly concentrated in the last full year, with the Department of the Air Force leading at $12.14 billion across 13,277 awards, or about 28% of total obligations. The Department of the Navy, NASA, the Department of the Army, and the Missile Defense Agency followed closely, bringing the top five agencies to roughly 67% of all obligations, indicating a strong defense- and space-oriented demand base. The Department of Energy and NIH also appear among the top obligators, but with markedly different award profiles: DOE obligated $3.74 billion across just 177 awards, while NIH obligated $1.28 billion across 1,227 awards, suggesting materially different procurement structures within the same NAICS.
Top Vendors
SELECT
vendor_name,
cage_code,
total_obligated,
award_count,
formatReadableQuantity(total_obligated) AS total_obligated_readable
FROM
(
SELECT
content__award__vendor__vendorHeader__vendorName AS vendor_name,
anyHeavy(content__award__vendor__vendorSiteDetails__entityIdentifiers__cageCode) AS cage_code,
sum(content__award__dollarValues__obligatedAmount) AS total_obligated,
count() AS award_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE
contract_type = 1
AND content__award__productOrServiceInformation__principalNAICSCode = '541715'
AND content__award__vendor__vendorHeader__vendorName IS NOT NULL
AND content__award__vendor__vendorHeader__vendorName != ''
AND parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate) >= toStartOfYear(now()) - INTERVAL 1 YEAR
AND parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate) < toStartOfYear(now())
GROUP BY vendor_name
)
ORDER BY total_obligated DESC
LIMIT 10| Vendor | CAGE Code | Total Obligated | Readable | Award Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION | 04236 | 4,960,086,597.70 | 4.96 billion | 573 |
| FLUOR MARINE PROPULSION, LLC | 81QQ2 | 3,931,933,073.87 | 3.93 billion | 47 |
| CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY | 23835 | 2,176,463,221.37 | 2.18 billion | 1,707 |
| JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY LLC, THE | 88898 | 1,697,955,986.89 | 1.70 billion | 1,540 |
| NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION | 93X51 | 1,332,190,000.47 | 1.33 billion | 459 |
| FERMI FORWARD DISCOVERY GROUP, LLC | 9PW26 | 1,205,981,077.49 | 1.21 billion | 40 |
| THE AEROSPACE CORPORATION | 12782 | 1,092,834,704.75 | 1.09 billion | 444 |
| THE MITRE CORPORATION | 7L030 | 832,273,632.91 | 832.27 million | 394 |
| BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON INC. | 17038 | 801,527,054.02 | 801.53 million | 775 |
| BLUE ORIGIN LLC | 5VWN7 | 777,872,474.65 | 777.87 million | 17 |
Insight
Top vendors account for a meaningful share of last full year obligations in NAICS 541715, with the top 10 listed vendors totaling about 18.0 billion, or roughly 42% of the 42.89 billion obligated across 44,999 awards. Obligation volume is moderately concentrated among a small number of performers, led by Lockheed Martin Corporation at 4.96 billion, followed by Fluor Marine Propulsion, LLC at 3.93 billion and California Institute of Technology at 2.18 billion. Award counts are more distributed than dollars, with several high-obligation vendors receiving relatively few awards, indicating a mix of large-value contract actions and higher-volume, lower-dollar activity.
Annual Trend
SELECT
year,
total_obligated,
award_count,
formatReadableQuantity(total_obligated) AS total_obligated_readable
FROM
(
SELECT
toYear(parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate)) AS year,
sum(content__award__dollarValues__obligatedAmount) AS total_obligated,
count() AS award_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE
contract_type = 1
AND content__award__productOrServiceInformation__principalNAICSCode = '541715'
AND parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate) >= toStartOfYear(now()) - INTERVAL 1 YEAR
AND parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate) < toStartOfYear(now())
GROUP BY year
)
ORDER BY year DESC| Year | Total Obligated | Readable | Award Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 42,892,061,157.48 | 42.89 billion | 44,999 |
Insight
For the last full year, NAICS 541715 recorded $42.89 billion in obligated spending across 44,999 awards, indicating a highly active procurement base in physical, engineering, and life sciences R&D. The average award value of about $953,178 suggests a mix of many moderate-value awards rather than reliance on a small number of exceptionally large obligations. With only a single annual data point in the 1-year window, this section reflects the current annual scale of activity but does not support a year-over-year trend assessment.
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