NAICS Industry

NAICS 541715 Federal Contract Obligations (Last 10 Years)

Federal procurement activity for NAICS 541715 covers research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences, excluding nanotechnology and biotechnology, with $250.94 billion obligated across 268,835 actions over the last 10 years.

This page summarizes FPDS award activity for NAICS 541715 over the last 10 years, showing sustained federal demand for physical, engineering, and life sciences R&D. The largest obligations are concentrated in the Department of the Air Force, Department of the Navy, NASA, Department of the Army, and the Missile Defense Agency.

Last full year Last 5 years Last 10 years

Generated at 03/21/2026

Analysis period: Last 10 years

Annual obligations in the current five-year view range from $30.79 billion in 2021 to $44.21 billion in 2023, while Lockheed Martin Corporation, Fluor Marine Propulsion, LLC, and the California Institute of Technology are the top vendors by obligated value.

NAICS Code

541715

Industry

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE PHYSICAL, ENGINEERING, AND LIFE SCIENCES (EXCEPT NANOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY)

Total Obligated

250.94 billion

250,943,662,134.44

Award Actions

268,835

Average Action Value

933,448.62

About NAICS 541715 federal contract activity

NAICS 541715 covers research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences excluding nanotechnology and biotechnology. Over the last 10 years, federal obligations in this code totaled 250.94 billion across 268,835 awards, with an average award value of 933,448.62, indicating a large and sustained federal investment in R&D contracting.

Agency demand and leading federal buyers

The Department of the Air Force led all agencies with 72.30 billion in obligations across 79,572 awards, followed by the Department of the Navy at 41.67 billion and NASA at 38.04 billion. The Department of the Army and the Missile Defense Agency also ranked among the top obligators, showing that defense and space-related research are major drivers of this NAICS.

Vendor concentration and leading contractors

Lockheed Martin Corporation received the most obligations at 28.35 billion, while Fluor Marine Propulsion, LLC followed closely at 26.83 billion despite far fewer awards. California Institute of Technology, Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, and The Aerospace Corporation also accounted for substantial spend, reflecting a mix of large defense contractors and research institutions.

Annual contract trend over the analysis window

Annual obligations were elevated throughout the most recent years in the window, reaching 42.89 billion in 2025, 43.82 billion in 2024, and a peak of 44.21 billion in 2023. The series remained above 30 billion in 2021 and 2022, and award counts stayed consistently high, indicating a broad and active procurement base.

How to interpret this page

This page summarizes FPDS obligations for NAICS 541715 over the last 10 years using awarded federal contract data. Totals reflect obligated dollars and award counts in the selected analysis window; agency, vendor, and annual summaries are ranked by total obligations.

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 10 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	72,298,804,992.30	72.30 billion	79,572
1700	DEPT OF THE NAVY	41,669,577,979.98	41.67 billion	43,332
8000	NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION	38,039,566,205.62	38.04 billion	38,009
2100	DEPT OF THE ARMY	25,437,945,708.25	25.44 billion	38,969
97JC	MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY (MDA)	19,366,489,944.22	19.37 billion	11,197
8900	ENERGY, DEPARTMENT OF	18,432,018,369.15	18.43 billion	993
7529	NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH	10,795,258,444.74	10.80 billion	7,668
97AE	DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY (DARPA)	7,485,035,702.19	7.49 billion	7,802
4732	FEDERAL ACQUISITION SERVICE	4,098,404,707.43	4.10 billion	2,703
7505	OFFICE OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE	1,644,651,101.59	1.64 billion	591

Insight

Over the last 10 years, obligations in NAICS 541715 total $250.94 billion across 268,835 awards, with spending heavily concentrated in a small number of agencies. The DEPT OF THE AIR FORCE leads with $72.30 billion, followed by the DEPT OF THE NAVY ($41.67 billion), NASA ($38.04 billion), and the DEPT OF THE ARMY ($25.44 billion); these four agencies account for a substantial share of total obligations. The remaining top agencies include MDA, DOE, NIH, DARPA, the Federal Acquisition Service, and ASPR, indicating that demand is driven primarily by defense and science-oriented agencies, with some agencies using far fewer, higher-value awards such as DOE and FAS.

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 10 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	02734	28,351,831,818.68	28.35 billion	3,682
FLUOR MARINE PROPULSION, LLC	81QQ2	26,825,971,833.95	26.83 billion	279
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	23835	19,049,110,690.10	19.05 billion	12,419
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION	15055	9,146,490,266.39	9.15 billion	2,660
THE AEROSPACE CORPORATION	12782	8,410,738,247.21	8.41 billion	2,524
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY LLC, THE	88898	6,735,280,926.78	6.74 billion	6,574
LEIDOS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH, INC.	3LYK6	6,112,976,334.98	6.11 billion	1,045
THE MITRE CORPORATION	7L030	5,930,085,376.65	5.93 billion	2,351
BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON INC.	17038	3,590,491,493.48	3.59 billion	4,122
SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP.	3BVL8	3,286,197,564.83	3.29 billion	157

Insight

Over the last 10 years, NAICS 541715 obligations total $250.94 billion across 268,835 awards, with an average award value of $933,448.62, indicating a large and highly distributed procurement base. The top 10 vendors account for $101.51 billion, or about 40.4% of total obligations, showing meaningful concentration among a small set of suppliers while still leaving most spend outside the top tier. Lockheed Martin Corporation leads with $28.35 billion, followed closely by Fluor Marine Propulsion, LLC at $26.83 billion and the California Institute of Technology at $19.05 billion, with award counts varying widely across top vendors, suggesting a mix of high-value, lower-frequency awards and more frequent, smaller awards.

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 10 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
2024	43,820,566,823.30	43.82 billion	45,340
2023	44,205,813,849.90	44.21 billion	41,744
2022	35,377,689,125.94	35.38 billion	38,734
2021	30,791,300,285.05	30.79 billion	35,566
2020	24,201,927,639.74	24.20 billion	28,772
2019	16,985,369,321.18	16.99 billion	21,032
2018	12,283,375,368.56	12.28 billion	11,686
2017	385,558,563.29	385.56 million	962

Insight

NAICS 541715 shows a strong upward concentration in obligations over the last 10 years, with annual obligations rising from $385.56 million in 2017 to a peak of $44.21 billion in 2023, followed by similarly elevated levels in 2024 ($43.82 billion) and 2025 ($42.89 billion). The distribution is heavily weighted toward the most recent five years, which account for the vast majority of the $250.94 billion obligated in the period. Award volume also increased substantially, from 962 awards in 2017 to 44,999 in 2025, indicating both higher funding and broader contract activity over time.

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