Federal contractor · TORRANCE, CA

PHYSICAL OPTICS CORPORATION

PHYSICAL OPTICS CORPORATION received $4.8M in federal contract obligations in FY2026, on 5 awards (+64% vs FY2025). Since FY2017: $611.8M. Its largest customer was Department of the Navy ($4.5M).

Obligations · FY2026
$4.8M
New awards
5
Sole-source
95%
Single offer
0.0%
UEI
DG3AB4E8R4D8
Parent company
MERCURY SYSTEMS INC
Small businessWoman-owned
Open in the contracts explorerRelationship graph

Company family

Grouped from reported parent companies (UEI) and, where marked, AI judgments that two records name the same organization or group.

22 registered entities of the same company or corporate group, $63.9M in FY2026 together.

  1. PHYSICAL OPTICS CORPORATIONTORRANCE, CA · Family page
    $4.8M
  2. MERCURY MISSION SYSTEMS LLCTORRANCE, CA
    $40.3M
  3. MERCURY SYSTEMS INCANDOVER, MA
    $18.4M
  4. MERCURY MISSION SYSTEMS LLCGULF BREEZE, FL
    $540K
  5. MERCURY SYSTEMS, INC.HUDSON, NH
    $384.7K
  6. MERCURY SYSTEMS, INC.CHANTILLY, VA
    $22.8K
  7. DELTA MICROWAVE, LLCOXNARD, CA
    $0
  8. GERMANE SYSTEMS, LCCHANTILLY, VA
    $0
  9. LEWIS INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.DECATUR, AL
    $0
  10. MERCURY DEFENSE SYSTEMS, INC.CYPRESS, CA
    $0
  11. MERCURY LLC - RF INTEGRATED SOLUTIONSCAMARILLO, CA
    $0
  12. MERCURY SYSTEMS - TRUSTED MISSION SOLUTIONS INC.CHANTILLY, VA
    $0
  13. MERCURY SYSTEMS - TRUSTED MISSION SOLUTIONS INC.FREMONT, CA
    $0
  14. MERCURY SYSTEMS INCWEST CALDWELL, NJ
    $0
  15. MERCURY SYSTEMS INCOXNARD, CA
    $0
  16. MERCURY SYSTEMS, INC.OXNARD, CA
    $0
  17. MERCURY SYSTEMS, INC.FREMONT, CA
    $0
  18. MERCURY SYSTEMS, INC.CYPRESS, CA
    $0
  19. MERCURY SYSTEMS, INC.PHOENIX, AZ
    $0
  20. MICRONETICS INCORPORATEDHUDSON, NH
    $0
Show all 22 members
  1. SYNTONIC MICROWAVE LLCCAMPBELL, CA
    $0
  2. MERCURY SYSTEMS INCHUNTSVILLE, AL
    -$508.2K

AI-inferred: entity-match@1 · Analisa AI · 2026-10-05

Spending by fiscal year

Obligations per federal fiscal year (October–September).

  1. 78MFY2017
  2. 83.7MFY2018
  3. 88.5MFY2019
  4. 99.1MFY2020
  5. 64.1MFY2021
  6. 57.1MFY2022
  7. 87.9MFY2023
  8. 45.7MFY2024
  9. 2.9MFY2025
  10. 4.8MFY2026

Top buying agencies

Obligations in FY2026.

  1. Department of the Navy$4.5M95%
    3 awards
  2. Department of the Army$250K5.2%
    1 awards
  3. Defense Contract Management Agency$00.0%
    1 awards

What was bought · Where the work was performed

Obligations in FY2026.

What was bought

  1. Research & development$4.8M100%

Where the work was performed

  1. Los Angeles County, CA$4.8M100%

Integrity signals

Shares of the year's obligations, next to the country's.

  • Low competition95%
    US 39% · $4.5M
  • Sole-source awards95%
    US 30% · $4.5M
  • Single-offer competitions0.0%
    US 8.7% · $0
  • Urgency justifications0.0%
    US 5.1% · $0

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Largest awards

  1. T-45 HUD PRODUCTION UNITS$70.9M
    Department of the Navy· Los Angeles County, CA· Weapons, aircraft, ships & vehicles· Jun 12, 2023 – Mar 10, 2026· N6833523F0001
  2. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT JARVIS$55.6M
    Defense Contract Management Agency· Los Angeles County, CA· Research & development· Jul 10, 2018 – Jun 4, 2026· N6833518F0061
  3. NON-RECURRING ENGINEERING (NRE) DVMC-U$34.8M
    Department of the Navy· Los Angeles County, CA· Research & development· Jun 30, 2022 – Feb 11, 2026· N6833522F0005
  4. HUD PRODUCTION NRE$28.4M
    Department of the Navy· Los Angeles County, CA· Research & development· Apr 29, 2020 – Mar 24, 2026· N6833520F0001
  5. PHYSICAL OPTICS CORP - SBIR PHASE III$10.5M
    Department of the Army· Los Angeles County, CA· Research & development· Jun 28, 2019 – May 5, 2026· W911W619C0072

Federal grants & assistance received

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

PHYSICAL OPTICS CORPORATION received $0 in federal assistance in FY2026, on 0 actions (0 new awards).

Assistance · FY2026
$0
New awards
0
Actions
0
Since FY2021
-$119.5K

Assistance by fiscal year

  1. 0FY2021
  2. -119.5KFY2022

Source: Federal financial assistance transactions (Financial Assistance Broker Submission) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 8, 2026, loaded Oct 8, 2026 · FY2021–FY2022.

Subawards

Matched by Unique Entity ID: the first-tier subawards this organization reported as a prime recipient, and those primes reported paying it.

As a prime: who it pays · FY2026

No subawards reported as a prime in FY2026.

As a sub-recipient: who pays it · FY2026

No subawards reported to it in FY2026.

By fiscal year

  • FY2021: $22.9M paid out · $26M received
  • FY2022: $5.6M paid out · $20.8K received
  • FY2023: $136.1K paid out · $0 received
  • FY2024: $715.3K paid out · $0 received
  • FY2025: $193.2K paid out · $0 received

Primes report first-tier subawards of $30,000 or more themselves, and many go unreported (GAO-24-106214). Reporting moved from FSRS to SAM.gov in March 2025 and fewer sub-contracts have been reported since. Amounts are what primes reported; they are never added to prime award totals.

Source: Subawards (first-tier sub-contracts and sub-grants reported under FFATA) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov (reports filed in SAM.gov, formerly FSRS)), data current to Oct 9, 2026, loaded Oct 9, 2026 · Subawards loaded from FY2021.

Teaming partners

Companies this company reported paying, primes that reported paying it, from FFATA subaward reports.

Companies it pays

35 companies · $47M reported

  1. ELECTRONIC SOURCE COMPANY, LLC$10.6M
    VAN NUYS, CA · 31 subawards · Aerospace product and parts manufacturing
  2. ELBITAMERICA, INC.$6.4M
    FORT WORTH, TX · 3 subawards · Scientific research and development services
  3. RAMP ENGINEERING INC$5.9M
    PARAMOUNT, CA · 18 subawards · Scientific research and development services

Primes that pay it

42 companies · $1.4B reported

  1. LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION$625.4M
    FORT WORTH, TX · 548 subawards · Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing
  2. RAYTHEON COMPANY$235.5M
    TUCSON, AZ · 322 subawards · Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing
  3. THE BOEING COMPANY$130.9M
    SAINT LOUIS, MO · 79 subawards · Aerospace product and parts manufacturing

Showing the top 3 of each list. Open the profile for potential partners and the full lists.

Primes report first-tier subawards of $30,000 or more themselves, and many go unreported (GAO-24-106214). Reporting moved from FSRS to SAM.gov in March 2025 and fewer sub-contracts have been reported since. Amounts are what primes reported; they are never added to prime award totals.

Source: Subawards (first-tier sub-contracts and sub-grants reported under FFATA) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov (reports filed in SAM.gov, formerly FSRS)), data current to Oct 9, 2026, loaded Oct 9, 2026 · Subawards loaded from 2021.

Competitors

Companies that win from the same buyers in the same markets: obligations by agency and industry compared over the last three fiscal years.

Compared on 37 markets (agency × industry), FY2024–FY2026.

  1. SYSTEMS APPLICATION & TECHNOLOGIES INC$145.4M−21% in FY2026
    UPPER MARLBORO, MD · 2 entities · 28% of this company's obligations are in markets they both serveNavy · Aerospace product and parts manufacturingNavy · Scientific research and development servicesArmy · Scientific research and development services
  2. ARETE ASSOCIATES$109.1M−47% in FY2026
    NORTHRIDGE, CA · 2 entities · 26% of this company's obligations are in markets they both serveNavy · Scientific research and development servicesAir Force · Scientific research and development servicesNavy · Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing+1 more
  3. SABRE SYSTEMS, LLC$147.4M−44% in FY2026
    LEXINGTON PARK, MD · 2 entities · 28% of this company's obligations are in markets they both serveNavy · Scientific research and development servicesNavy · Aerospace product and parts manufacturing

Showing the top 3 of 25 competitors. Open the profile for the full list.

Who sells to the same buyers in the same markets, not who wins against whom on a given contract. Prime contract obligations by the agency and NAICS code of each award; subawards are never added. A company is a family of legal entities, joined by parent UEI or, in part, by an AI reading of names.

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 9, 2026, loaded Oct 9, 2026 · FY2024–FY2026.

Lobbying and PAC activity

Organizations in House lobbying disclosures and FEC records whose names an AI judgment matched to this company. Those records carry no identifier shared with contracts, so every match is by name.

Across the company family of PHYSICAL OPTICS CORPORATION (22 recipients).

Matched organizations

  • MERCURY SYSTEMS INC.AI match · 100%
Lobbying · 2025
$190K
8 reports
Lobbying · 2023–2026
$760K
$760K in its own reports
PAC giving · 2026
$13.5K
1 PAC

Lobbying by year

  1. 2023$330K
    8 reports
  2. 2024$240K
    8 reports
  3. 2025$190K
    8 reports
  4. 2026$0
    2 reports

Top issues

  1. Defense21 reports
  2. Taxation and the Internal Revenue Code8 reports

Who was contacted

  1. U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES21 reports
  2. U.S. SENATE17 reports

Houses of Congress and federal agencies the reports list as contacted (a report names every one for all its issues).

Lobbying firms hired

  1. A1.9 STRATEGIES LLC$410K
    12 reports

Registrants who are individuals are counted, not named.

PAC giving to candidates by party, 2026 cycle

  1. Republican$13K96%
  2. Democratic$5003.7%

PACs sponsored

  • MERCURY SYSTEMS INC. EMPLOYEES' POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (MRCYPAC)$85.9K raised this cycle

PACs these organizations sponsor (connected organizations in FEC records). A PAC gives employees' and members' voluntary contributions, not the company's own money.

Lobbying amounts are the filers' own good-faith estimates on quarterly LD-2 reports (the law asks for amounts rounded to $10,000; under $5,000 need not be itemized), latest amendment only. When an organization files its own report, it replaces what outside firms report for it that quarter. Matches are by name. Lobbying and political giving are legal and public: they show engagement with government, not influence over any award. Correlation is not influence: these organizations' lobbying and their contracts are shown side by side, and nothing here implies either affected the other.

Source: Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives), data current to Oct 9, 2026, loaded Oct 9, 2026 · 2023–2026.

Source: Committees, candidates and committee contributions to candidates (Federal Election Commission), data current to Oct 9, 2026, loaded Oct 9, 2026 · 2026, 2024, 2022.

Matches: Analisa AI name judgments (entity-match@1), updated Sep 30, 2026.

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 9, 2026, loaded Oct 9, 2026.