Johns Hopkins lab gets up to $500M for DARPA research

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Pentagon’s advanced research arm, has awarded the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory a contract worth up to $499.8 million to keep the lab working on DARPA engineering, development and research projects through October 2031.

The U.S. Department of War announced the award on Oct. 14. Under the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, DARPA will place individual task orders with the Laurel, Maryland, laboratory as work is needed, paying costs plus a fixed fee, up to the $499.8 million ceiling. No money was obligated at signing, and the minimum guaranteed amount will be funded with the first task order.

The contract covers what the Pentagon describes as an essential capability for engineering and developmental work that puts scientific and technical findings into practical use. DARPA awarded it on a sole-source basis, without a competition, which is standard for work assigned to a university affiliated research center.

APL is one of the Pentagon’s university affiliated research centers, a small group of nonprofit laboratories tied to universities that the U.S. Department of War keeps on long-term contracts for engineering work it considers too important to compete for each time. Based in Laurel, between Washington and Baltimore, the lab works for several defense customers, including the U.S. Navy, which holds a separate APL contract for fiscal 2023 through 2032 with a potential value of up to $10.6 billion.

The new award continues a long-running arrangement between DARPA and APL. DARPA gave the lab a $225 million sole-source contract in November 2021 for the same kind of engineering and development support, then raised its value to $740 million with a $515 million modification in May 2024. A later $388.8 million modification lifted the total to about $1.1 billion, with task orders running into November 2027, ExecutiveGov reported.

Under the earlier contract, DARPA issued task orders for support services on programs it often identifies only by code names. Two such orders placed in April 2026, labeled Ibiza and Bratislava, were worth about $6.1 million and $5.3 million, according to federal contracting data.

DARPA runs research programs across areas ranging from hypersonics and space to biotechnology and artificial intelligence, and relies on outside laboratories such as APL for engineering analysis, prototyping and technical support as those projects move from research toward practical systems.

Work under the new contract will be performed primarily in Laurel, and DARPA can place orders under it until October 2031.