The Air Force awarded a $866 million multiple-award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract on May 6, 2026 for advisory and assistance services at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Four firms hold the vehicle — and for everyone locked out, the task order phase starts now.
The four awardees
| Company | HQ State | Business Type | Core Strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apogee Engineering LLC | Colorado | Small business | Intelligence analysis, S&T support |
| KBR Wyle Services LLC | Virginia | Large (KBR subsidiary) | Systems engineering, T&E, intel support |
| Riverside Research Institute | New York | Nonprofit research org | Applied S&T, SIGINT, radar research |
| Systems Planning and Analysis Inc. (SPA) | Virginia | Mid-size analytics firm | Analytical support, strategy, wargaming |
What NASIC does — and why this contract matters
NASIC is the primary U.S. intelligence production center for foreign air forces, aerospace threats, and air and space weapons systems. It is where analysts assess Chinese fifth-generation fighters, Russian hypersonic missiles, and adversary satellite capabilities. Advisory and assistance services at NASIC touch nearly every aspect of that mission: all-source analysis support, scientific and technical intelligence (TECHINT), collection management, and program analysis.
The only $20,000 obligated at award is standard for a multiple-award IDIQ — the real money flows through task orders competed among the four pool members. For programs like this, annual task order obligations typically reach tens or hundreds of millions annually over the life of the vehicle.
What non-winners should do right now
Losing the IDIQ competition is not the end of the road. NASIC advisory IDIQs have historically generated steady task order work for subcontractors who team with pool members. The path forward:
- Reach out to Apogee Engineering — as the one small business awardee, Apogee will face the heaviest teaming pressure. If your firm has cleared personnel with relevant specialties (GEOINT, SIGINT, air defense analysis, foreign materiel exploitation), make contact through their BD team now
- Review the original solicitation scope on SAM.gov (search NASIC AAS) for the functional areas enumerated — this defines what subcontract work looks like
- Monitor NASIC task order awards on FPDS starting in Q3 2026 to identify which pool member is most active and where the subcontracting flows