This NAICS page summarizes federal obligations for research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences, excluding biotechnology, over the past 10 years. The Department of the Air Force, Department of the Army, NASA, Department of the Navy, and Missile Defense Agency account for the largest shares of spending.
NAICS Industry
NAICS 541712 Federal Contract Obligations (Last 10 Years)
FPDS procurement analysis for NAICS 541712 covers $177.60 billion in obligations across 281,179 award actions over the last 10 years.
Figures reflect obligations and award actions reported in the analysis window; annual and vendor rankings highlight the leading spend patterns in this category.
NAICS Code
541712
Industry
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE PHYSICAL, ENGINEERING, AND LIFE SCIENCES (EXCEPT BIOTECHNOLOGY)
Total Obligated
177.60 billion
177,598,055,747.48
Award Actions
281,179
Average Action Value
631,619.20
About NAICS 541712 federal contract activity
NAICS 541712 covers research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences, excluding biotechnology. Over the last 10 years, FPDS records show $177.60 billion in obligated awards across 281,179 actions, with an average award value of $631,619.2, indicating a large, fragmented market with substantial transaction volume.
Agency demand and leading federal buyers
Obligations are concentrated among a small set of federal buyers led by the Department of the Air Force at $54.62 billion across 78,299 awards. The Department of the Army, NASA, the Department of the Navy, and the Missile Defense Agency round out the top five, together accounting for a dominant share of spending and reflecting strong demand from defense and space-oriented R&D programs.
Vendor concentration and leading contractors
The vendor landscape is led by large research institutions and defense contractors. Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Raytheon Company are the top recipients by obligated value, followed by Brookhaven Science Associates, California Institute of Technology, and Jacobs Technology Inc., showing a mix of university-affiliated laboratories, national laboratory operators, and technical services firms.
Annual contract trend over the analysis window
Annual obligations in the most recent five reported years declined from $14.88 billion in 2021 to $8.20 billion in 2025, with the award count also falling from 21,974 to 8,140. Spending peaked in 2021 and has trended downward since then, while 2022 and 2023 remained above $10 billion before falling further in 2024 and 2025.
How to interpret this page
This page summarizes FPDS obligations associated with NAICS 541712 over the last 10 years using total obligated dollars, award counts, and average award value. Agency, vendor, and annual trend sections reflect the highest-obligated entities and reported year-by-year obligations within the provided analysis window, and should be interpreted as procurement activity recorded in FPDS rather than total market size.
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 = '541712'
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 | 54,622,399,047.76 | 54.62 billion | 78,299 |
| 2100 | DEPT OF THE ARMY | 29,706,185,028.73 | 29.71 billion | 51,738 |
| 8000 | NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION | 24,425,271,227.62 | 24.43 billion | 30,732 |
| 1700 | DEPT OF THE NAVY | 19,147,410,035.20 | 19.15 billion | 40,461 |
| 97JC | MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY (MDA) | 17,118,761,431.58 | 17.12 billion | 11,444 |
| 4732 | FEDERAL ACQUISITION SERVICE | 8,438,912,330.00 | 8.44 billion | 4,027 |
| 8900 | ENERGY, DEPARTMENT OF | 7,588,076,022.18 | 7.59 billion | 916 |
| 7529 | NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH | 3,946,289,882.88 | 3.95 billion | 11,754 |
| 97AE | DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY (DARPA) | 2,575,984,906.25 | 2.58 billion | 3,732 |
| 9761 | DEFENSE THREAT REDUCTION AGENCY (DTRA) | 2,255,911,819.37 | 2.26 billion | 3,358 |
Insight
Over the last 10 years, obligations under NAICS 541712 are highly concentrated in the Department of Defense and adjacent science agencies. The Department of the Air Force leads with $54.62 billion, followed by the Department of the Army ($29.71 billion), NASA ($24.43 billion), the Department of the Navy ($19.15 billion), and MDA ($17.12 billion); these five agencies account for roughly 83 percent of the $177.60 billion obligated. Award volume is also concentrated, with the Air Force, Army, Navy, and NASA alone comprising 201,230 of 281,179 awards, while agencies such as DOE and the Federal Acquisition Service show comparatively fewer awards but higher average award values.
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 = '541712'
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY | 3G050 | 11,102,243,637.87 | 11.10 billion | 3,297 |
| RAYTHEON COMPANY | 15090 | 10,272,109,770.63 | 10.27 billion | 3,267 |
| BROOKHAVEN SCIENCE ASSOCIATES, LLC | 4KUZ2 | 7,209,264,059.77 | 7.21 billion | 300 |
| CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY | 23835 | 5,653,326,893.34 | 5.65 billion | 6,683 |
| JACOBS TECHNOLOGY INC. | 7EBK3 | 5,249,561,286.69 | 5.25 billion | 3,452 |
| JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY LLC, THE | 88898 | 5,235,076,057.56 | 5.24 billion | 10,322 |
| BOEING COMPANY, THE | 3A768 | 5,149,198,802.25 | 5.15 billion | 2,911 |
| SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION | 6XWA8 | 4,987,230,698.77 | 4.99 billion | 2,758 |
| BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON INC. | 17038 | 3,939,240,213.22 | 3.94 billion | 7,145 |
| TORCH TECHNOLOGIES INC | 3CBV3 | 3,689,138,880.48 | 3.69 billion | 3,640 |
Insight
Over the last 10 years, obligations in NAICS 541712 total $177.60 billion across 281,179 awards, with an average award value of about $631,619. The vendor mix is concentrated at the top but not dominated by a single firm: the leading vendor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, received $11.10 billion, only slightly more than Raytheon Company at $10.27 billion. The next tier includes several large research institutions and contractors, with Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory recording the highest award count among the top vendors at 10,322 awards, indicating a broad distribution of obligation volume across both high-dollar and high-volume recipients.
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 = '541712'
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 | 8,198,504,062.67 | 8.20 billion | 8,140 |
| 2024 | 9,640,190,435.93 | 9.64 billion | 11,681 |
| 2023 | 10,850,996,287.07 | 10.85 billion | 13,290 |
| 2022 | 12,492,272,966.98 | 12.49 billion | 18,131 |
| 2021 | 14,877,099,371.03 | 14.88 billion | 21,974 |
| 2020 | 17,931,042,591.10 | 17.93 billion | 26,957 |
| 2019 | 19,208,984,128.91 | 19.21 billion | 31,842 |
| 2018 | 25,952,321,193.04 | 25.95 billion | 44,483 |
| 2017 | 29,279,042,694.57 | 29.28 billion | 53,322 |
| 2016 | 29,167,602,016.18 | 29.17 billion | 51,359 |
Insight
For NAICS 541712, obligations over the last 10 years totaled $177.60 billion across 281,179 awards, with an average award value of $631,619. Obligations were heavily concentrated in the earlier part of the period, peaking in 2017 at $29.28 billion and remaining near that level in 2016, then generally declining year over year to $8.20 billion in 2025. Award counts followed the same pattern, falling from 53,322 in 2017 to 8,140 in 2025, indicating a broad contraction in both obligation volume and transaction volume over time.
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