DARPA Multi X Office Support Contract Points to Everforth ECS’s 2021 Incumbency

DARPA Multi X Office Support Contract Points to Everforth ECS’s 2021 Incumbency

DARPA’s Multi X Office (MXO) is the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s materials and microsystems research arm. It awarded Everforth ECS Federal LLC a $30,936,971 DARPA Multi X Office support contract, a cost-plus-fixed-fee action. Four offers were received under solicitation HR001126RE002. DARPA obligated $1,489,000 in FY2026 RDT&E funds at award, roughly 5% of the ceiling.

This is not Everforth’s first DARPA relationship. Everforth, then registered as ECS Federal LLC, has held a support contract for MXO’s predecessor, the Microsystems Technology Office, since November 2021. That contract ends October 31, 2026, about five weeks after the new award. A BD lead might treat the new award as a fresh win. The timing looks more like a continuation to me. DARPA also made a smaller, separate $12 million reported-ceiling award to Guidehouse about a month earlier. That leaves MXO’s own Broad Agency Announcement, which funds research directly, as the one possible pathway. DARPA’s own listing doesn’t say whether it still accepts new submissions.

The basics, before the mechanics:

• Everforth’s $30,936,971 contract (HR001126FE084) drew four competing offers under solicitation HR001126RE002. DARPA obligated $1,489,000 in FY2026 RDT&E funds at award.
• The contract’s period of performance runs through October 2027, with work performed in Arlington, Virginia.
• Guidehouse separately won a $12,000,000 reported-ceiling, one-year contract (HR001126FE052) for the same office about four weeks earlier. It came under solicitation HR001126RE001 and reportedly drew one offer.
• MXO’s own Broad Agency Announcement, DARPA-PS-26-115, lists a June 4, 2026 submission-window deadline that has already passed, plus a separate 2027 deadline. DARPA’s own listing does not state whether it still accepts new submissions.

Why the Timing Points to a Continuation

DARPA formed the Multi X Office in May 2026, renaming and expanding the Microsystems Technology Office. The new portfolio covers materials beyond CMOS, domestic hardware supply chains, and non-traditional-electronics mission work. Everforth’s Microsystems Technology Office support contract, held under IDIQ HR001118D0004, ends October 31, 2026. DARPA awarded the new MXO contract about five weeks before that end date, for the same kind of support work. That overlap points to a continuing relationship under the successor office’s name. A formal, on-the-record follow-on isn’t confirmed. The new award also runs at a higher annual pace: about $28.5 million a year on the new ceiling versus roughly $10.5 million a year on the predecessor’s reported award amount. The two figures aren’t a like-for-like comparison. That rough 2.7-times increase fits expanded scope or a different scope entirely.

Four Prior DARPA Contracts Show the Same Incumbency Pattern

The Multi X Office contract is at least Everforth’s fifth DARPA support-services award. Everforth also holds a separate DARPA IDIQ vehicle position. Since 2019, Everforth (as ECS Federal LLC) has held four other contracts: two with the Contracts Management Office (2019-2024 and 2024-2026), one with the Microsystems Technology Office, and one with the Strategic Technology Office. The table below lists all five. Together, they show Everforth as a support-services incumbent across three DARPA offices since at least 2019. That work includes SETA (systems engineering and technical assistance).

A firm that sizes DARPA’s SETA contract market off one headline figure is measuring a ceiling. That’s the contract ceiling vs. obligated funding gap in miniature. The obligated-at-award figure is the more reliable near-term number: $1,489,000 against a $30,936,971 ceiling. The rest can obligate in steps as DARPA tasks the work. Size any near-term BD interest off that obligated figure.

DARPA Ran Two Separate Support Solicitations Within a Month

DARPA ran two separate competitive acquisition actions for the same office within a month: a smaller contract to Guidehouse first, a larger one to Everforth second. I’d call that two-solicitation pattern the more interesting signal here. Public award detail doesn’t describe whether the two contracts cover distinct scopes, tiered support levels, or the same scope run in parallel. It also doesn’t say whether the predecessor office had one or multiple support vendors before these awards. For a SETA-capable firm without a seat here, the next step is finding which vehicle each award sits under. That vehicle decides teaming access.

1. Late August 2026: Guidehouse wins a $12,000,000 reported-ceiling, one-year Multi X Office support contract (HR001126FE052) under solicitation HR001126RE001, reportedly drawing one offer.
2. September 24, 2026: Everforth ECS Federal LLC wins the $30,936,971 Multi X Office support contract (HR001126FE084) under solicitation HR001126RE002, drawing four offers.
3. October 31, 2026: Everforth’s predecessor Microsystems Technology Office support contract reaches its scheduled end date.
4. October 2027: Everforth’s new Multi X Office contract’s period of performance ends.

Who Else Is Positioned Around DARPA’s Multi X Office

Guidehouse is the other named firm in MXO’s support-contractor base. It holds a separate, smaller contract under a different solicitation, and it reportedly drew one offer against Everforth’s four. Public award detail doesn’t draw the boundary between the two contracts’ scopes. Everforth itself fits the profile of a mid-size systems integrator and professional-services federal contractor. It holds prime status on another DARPA SETA IDIQ (HR001124D0103), and its predecessor MTO2 contract ran under a different IDIQ, HR001118D0004. Either vehicle could plausibly sit behind the new award, and the public award detail doesn’t say which. Track either award’s federal posting for its IDIQ status. That posting would name the vehicle worth a teaming approach.

• Whether Everforth’s contract is a stand-alone award or an IDIQ task order (indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity) under one of its two DARPA IDIQ positions.
• The scope boundary between the two contracts.
• The identity of the three firms that lost Everforth’s solicitation.

What SETA-Capable and Research-Capable Firms Should Do Next

Both Multi X Office support contracts are already awarded. They are closed to new prime bids. That leaves MXO’s own Broad Agency Announcement, DARPA-PS-26-115, which funds materials-science, microsystems, and post-CMOS hardware research directly. It’s a pathway only if it still accepts submissions. Three different groups of readers need three different next steps.

• Firms with SETA or advisory-services capability at DoD research agencies: check Everforth’s Strategic Technology Office and current Contracts Management Office contracts for a follow-on requirement. Both end in 2026, and either may already be re-competed or folded into an IDIQ. Treat them as a leading indicator elsewhere in DARPA.
• Firms with materials-science, microsystems, or post-CMOS hardware research capability: confirm DARPA-PS-26-115’s current status before treating it as an open pursuit.
• Firms new to DARPA support-services work: use this pattern as a model. Check other DARPA offices for the same pairing: a recent rename or mission expansion alongside a support contract nearing its end date.

• Pull your contract history with DARPA and flag any award tied to a renamed, expanded, or reorganized office.
• Confirm DARPA-PS-26-115’s current submission status before drafting a response.
• Match your technical capability against MXO’s stated research priorities (materials beyond CMOS, domestic hardware supply chains, non-traditional-electronics mission capability) once that status is confirmed.

Everforth won the DARPA Multi X Office support contract in a four-offer competition, and the timing points to a continuation of its predecessor-office work. The finding I’d flag as more durable is what DARPA did around that win. A newly reorganized office ran two separate support solicitations within a month while keeping a separate research-funding mechanism in play. For a firm with SETA capability, both awards here are already closed, so watch for the same pattern elsewhere. For a firm with the research capability MXO is expanding into, confirm DARPA-PS-26-115’s current status before treating it as an active pursuit. A DARPA program officer or contracting officer watching this reorganization from the inside should document the same pattern before the next office reshuffle: two solicitations plus a BAA of unresolved status.

FAQ

What is DARPA’s Multi X Office, and how is it different from the Microsystems Technology Office?

DARPA’s Multi X Office is the successor to its Microsystems Technology Office, formed in May 2026 as a rename and mission expansion. It keeps the predecessor’s focus on microsystems research and adds materials beyond CMOS, domestic hardware supply chains, and non-traditional-electronics mission capability.

Is Everforth ECS’s $30.9 million DARPA contract a new relationship or a recompete of existing work?

The timing points to a continuation. A formal recompete isn’t confirmed. Everforth, then registered as ECS Federal LLC, has held a Microsystems Technology Office support contract since November 2021, ending October 31, 2026. DARPA awarded the new contract competitively about five weeks before that end date, and it drew four offers.

What is the difference between Everforth ECS’s and Guidehouse’s DARPA Multi X Office contracts?

Both cover Multi X Office support work, but on separate contracts awarded under different solicitations about a month apart. Everforth’s $30,936,971 contract drew four offers. Guidehouse’s smaller $12,000,000 reported-ceiling, one-year contract reportedly drew one offer. Public award detail does not describe the exact scope boundary between the two.

How can a firm respond to DARPA’s Multi X Office Broad Agency Announcement?

DARPA-PS-26-115 is the office-wide Broad Agency Announcement that funds research directly. Firms with materials-science, microsystems, or post-CMOS hardware research capability can prepare a written response describing their relevant technical capability. The BAA’s listing shows a June 4, 2026 submission-window deadline that has already passed, plus a separate 2027 deadline. Confirm current status before submitting.

Is the $30.9 million DARPA Multi X Office figure an obligated amount or a contract ceiling?

It’s a ceiling. DARPA obligated $1,489,000 in FY2026 RDT&E funds at award, roughly 4.8% of the $30,936,971 total. The remainder can obligate incrementally as DARPA tasks more work.

Does Guidehouse’s contract put Everforth’s Multi X Office position at risk?

Nothing in the award detail points that way. DARPA awarded the two contracts under separate solicitations about a month apart. The award detail describes no competition between them for the same scope.