Naval Surface Warfare Centers
The Naval Surface Warfare Center divisions are NAVSEA's engineering and test labs, and each one buys parts, prototypes, and services through its own contracting office.
Naval Surface Warfare Centers in numbers
Obligated by fiscal year
What they buy
Who they buy from
Contracting offices
Office names arrive with award detail records, so this list grows over time.
What they buy
Each division has a specialty. Crane, in Indiana, works on electronics, sensors, power, and ordnance. Dahlgren, in Virginia, works on weapons and combat systems. Carderock, in Maryland, covers ship design, hydrodynamics, and materials. Panama City, in Florida, covers mine warfare, diving, and littoral systems. Indian Head, in Maryland, covers energetics. Port Hueneme, in California, supports fielded combat systems. Corona, in California, handles assessment and calibration. Philadelphia covers ship machinery and hull, mechanical, and electrical systems.
Across all of them, the buys a small shop will see are machined and fabricated parts, test fixtures, electronic assemblies, cable harnesses, prototype builds, calibration, and engineering support.
How they buy
Solicitations post on SAM.gov under the contracting office of each division. Engineering and technical services tend to run through indefinite delivery contracts and task orders, often set aside for small business. Parts and prototypes often go out as requests for quotation and are awarded as purchase orders.
The divisions also use sources sought notices and requests for information heavily, and some run their own industry days. Because the work is often one of a kind, drawings are frequently government owned and competition is more open than on production parts.
How a small shop gets in
Pick the division closest to you or closest to your specialty and follow its contracting office on SAM.gov. Respond to sources sought notices with a short capability statement that names your equipment, certifications, and similar work.
Each division has a small business deputy who can tell you what is coming and which contract vehicles it uses. Many divisions also buy through the prime contractors holding their engineering support contracts, so subcontracting is a second door. Being local matters more here than at most buyers, since engineers like to visit shops that build their prototypes.
Treat each division as its own buyer
The divisions share a name but not a contracting office. Search award history by the specific division before you assume what it buys.
Related guides
- Sources sought and RFIsRespond early to shape the set-aside decision.
- Subcontracting to primesHow to get on a prime's approved supplier list.
- Naval Sea Systems CommandThe parent command and its shipyards.
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