Shipcom Awarded $9.3 Million Air Force Deal for AI Test Sets

Shipcom Federal Solutions LLC, a Houston-based small disadvantaged business, received a $9.3 million firm-fixed-price contract to deliver eight artificial intelligence test program sets at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, by August 2028.

First Published: August 6, 2026, 2:15 PM ET

HOUSTON, TEXAS — Shipcom Federal Solutions LLC, a Houston-based minority-owned technology firm, received a $9.3 million Air Force contract to build eight artificial intelligence test program sets, as announced on war.gov.

The firm-fixed-price award totals $9,287,035, and the Air Force obligated fiscal 2025 procurement funds in full at award, according to war.gov. The deal came through the Small Business Innovation Research Phase III direct-award track. That pathway lets agencies buy technology matured under earlier research phases without recompeting the effort.

“These changes are painful but necessary,” no official quote accompanied the contract notice, so the Air Force Sustainment Center at Hill AFB stands as the contracting activity under identifier FA822826-C-0007. Work will run at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and should finish by Aug. 5, 2028, according to war.gov. The Air Force dated the award Aug. 4, 2026, and posted it publicly on August 6, 2026 at 5:27 PM ET.

Shipcom specializes in wireless and enterprise technology solutions for federal agencies and operates as a small disadvantaged business, according to shipcom.io. Test program sets combine hardware and software that verify whether electronic components perform within specification. Folding artificial intelligence into those sets can speed fault detection and cut the labor hours needed to diagnose aircraft and equipment systems at a sustainment depot such as Hill.

The contract carries clear beneficiaries. Shipcom gains a two-year revenue stream and a foothold in the Air Force sustainment market, while the service modernizes its diagnostic tooling. Taxpayers bear the cost, and rival vendors lose a chance to compete because the direct-award mechanism bypasses open bidding.

This marks the first contract awarded to Shipcom in 2026, lifting the company’s total contract value for the year to $9.3 million. It is not the largest deal in the company’s history, a record that stands at $43 million. The award ranks as the 64th Department of Defense contract booked in Texas during 2026, and it sits toward the smaller end of an Air Force portfolio whose 2026 awards range from $17 to $5.6 billion. It was one of 10 Department of Defense awards issued nationwide on August 6, 2026.

Most Americans will never touch a test program set, yet the tooling shapes how quickly military aircraft return to service. Faster fault detection can trim maintenance backlogs and support readiness, outcomes that ripple through the budgets taxpayers ultimately fund.

Small Business Innovation Research awards of this kind have happened before. The program routinely converts early-stage research into production contracts across the armed services, and Phase III direct awards give agencies a repeatable path to buy proven technology from small firms. Shipcom’s larger past deals show the company has cleared federal procurement thresholds more than once.

The next decision rests with the Air Force Sustainment Center, which will manage delivery and acceptance of the eight test sets through completion. A date for any follow-on award or contract extension has not been announced.

Small-business set-asides in federal contracting trace back decades. Congress created the Small Business Innovation Research program in 1982 to steer federal research dollars toward small firms, and the Small Business Administration reports the effort has since channeled billions into thousands of companies, according to businesswire.com. Lawmakers reauthorized the program repeatedly, and firms that graduated to Phase III production work often became durable suppliers to the agencies that first funded their ideas.

This contract represents the 1st contract awarded to Shipcom Federal Solutions LLC, in 2026, bringing the company’s total contract value for the year to $9,287,035. It is also the 64th Department of Defense contract awarded in Texas during 2026. While this is not the largest contract ever awarded to Shipcom Federal Solutions LLC, whose record stands at $42,996,685, it is notable within the Air Force portfolio. Specifically, it falls between the 2026 Air Force portfolio’s year-to-date minimum of $17 and maximum of $5,600,000,000. Overall, this award was announced among 10 Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on August 6, 2026.