Who buys Product and Service Code B541 (Special Studies/Analysis – Defense), who wins it, what's open now and which contracts expire next — from FY2026 USAspending awards and live SAM.gov solicitations.
Contract data as of Oct 18, 2026 (USAspending) · recent coverage verified weekly
| Quarter | Awards | Obligated | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 FY2026 | 67 | $62.4M | — |
| Q2 FY2026 | 53 | $97.6M | +57% |
| Q3 FY2026 | 3 | $4.9M | -95% |
| Q4 FY2026 · partial | 10 | $3.9M | -20% |
Federal fiscal quarters (Q1 = Oct–Dec). Awards are counted in the quarter they start; obligations are the award's obligated amount. The Department of Defense publishes contract awards to USAspending with a 90-day delay, so Q4 FY2026 is still missing most DoD awards (DoD is 100% of this code's dollars) — treat that quarter as incomplete, not as a spending decline.
| # | Contractor | Obligated | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DZYNE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC | $73.9M | 43.8% |
| 2 | THE RAND CORPORATION | $44.2M | 26.2% |
| 3 | THE CNA CORPORATION | $35.5M | 21.0% |
| 4 | SPACE KINETIC CORP. | $2.3M | 1.4% |
| 5 | THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY LLC | $2.0M | 1.2% |
| 6 | THE NAVSYS CORPORATION | $1.8M | 1.1% |
| 7 | SIX24 CYBER LABS LLC | $493K | 0.3% |
| 8 | MORSECORP, INC | $406K | 0.2% |
| 9 | CAUSERIE.AI INC. | $365K | 0.2% |
| 10 | BIOCIRCUIT TECHNOLOGIES INC | $350K | 0.2% |
Registrations are rolled up to their corporate parent (USAspending parent UEI), so a company with several SAM registrations ranks once.
| Agency | Obligated | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | $168.7M | 100.0% |
| Start | Contract · recipient | Obligated |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 7, 2026 | DETERMINING EFFECTIVE ACCESSION POLICIES BY ASSESSING HOW SERVICEMEMBERS WITH ALTERNATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OR CREDENTIALS PERFORM; 0007.6267.G279.00 THE CNA CORPORATION · Department of Defense | $800K |
| Jul 6, 2026 | CNA SCIENTIFIC ANALYST SUPPORT FOR N1 REORGANIZATION- 0007.6292.X183.00 THE CNA CORPORATION · Department of Defense | $450K |
| Jul 8, 2026 | ASSESSING MANPOWER MIX CRITERIA CODES FOR CURRENCY, RELEVANCY, AND CLARITY - 0007.6258.G268.00 THE CNA CORPORATION · Department of Defense | $450K |
| Jul 8, 2026 | NAVY FFRDC STUDY ENTITLED: ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS TO INFORM STRUCTURE CHANGE REQUEST FOR MARFOREUR/AF; PROJECT NO. 0007.6240.G248.00 THE CNA CORPORATION · Department of Defense | $450K |
| Jul 8, 2026 | NAVY FFRDC STUDY ENTITLED: NAVY OIL ANALYSIS PROGRAM FOLLOW-ON STUDY; PROJECT NO. 0007.6253.G262.00 THE CNA CORPORATION · Department of Defense | $425K |
The largest obligations on awards that started in the window’s latest quarter.
| Ends | Contract · recipient | Obligated |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 29, 2027 | MULTIPLE RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS SUPPORT SERVICES RELATING TO WARFARE CAPABILITIES. THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY LLC · Department of Defense | $324.9M |
| Apr 23, 2027 | RESEARCH, ANALYSES, TECHNICAL ASSESSMENTS, AND TEST AND EVALUATION SUPPORT TO THE ENTIRE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE INCLUDING THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, JOINT STAFF, MILITARY DEPARTMENTS , THE COMBATANT COMMANDS, AND THE DEFENSE AGENCIES. INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE ANALYSES · Department of Defense | $219.7M |
| Jan 31, 2027 | RAND NATIONAL DEFENSE RESEARCH INSTITUTE FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER RESEARCH AND STUDIES THE RAND CORPORATION · Department of Defense | $76.1M |
| May 27, 2027 | FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS SUPPORT TO THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, JOINT STAFF, DEFENSE AGENCIES, AND OTHER USERS SPECIFIED IN THE SPONSORING AGREEMENT. THE RAND CORPORATION · Department of Defense | $71.2M |
| Jan 31, 2027 | HPM SUPPORT BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON INC · Department of Defense | $53.2M |
130 contracts under this code reach their final end date (options included) in the next 12 months.
| Set-aside type | Obligated | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Small business set-aside | $0 | 0.0% |
| 8(a) | $0 | 0.0% |
| SDVOSB | $0 | 0.0% |
| WOSB / EDWOSB | $0 | 0.0% |
| HUBZone | $0 | 0.0% |
| No set-aside (full & open) | $87.0M | 100.0% |
Share of obligations on awards whose set-aside type is recorded — 52% of this market's dollars. Most USAspending bulk-archive records leave the field blank, so blank awards are excluded rather than counted as full & open.
Links open the notice on SAM.gov.
Source: USAspending.gov contract awards (prime awards with a start date from Oct 1, 2025 through Sep 30, 2026), SAM.gov contract opportunities, and SBA size standards. Recompetes are contracts whose final end date — options included — falls in the next 12 months. Figures are recomputed when a new USAspending load lands. See our data sources.