FY2025 obligations by the NAICS code on the award
37% of the $3.0B obligated under AC33 in FY2025 went to awards coded NAICS 336411.
- 541330 Engineering Services$531.8M
- 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)not in NAICS 2022$131.1M
FY2025 federal contract obligations, USAspending.gov
PSC AC33 is experimental development coded to the defense-related activities subfunction. FY2025 obligations were $3.0 billion.
A manufacturer at the top
AC33 is one of only three A-series codes in this reference set where a manufacturing code outranks every research code. 336411, Aircraft Manufacturing, took $1.13 billion, edging out Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences R&D (541715) at $1.03 billion. Engineering services 541330 follows at $532 million, 541712 at $131 million, and 541511 at $82 million. That ordering is what prototype airframe and platform development looks like in the data: the work is genuinely developmental, but the performer is an aircraft prime.
The stage boundary still applies
Experimental development means prototypes and first-of-a-kind demonstrations at scale. Once a platform enters low-rate initial production or pre-production tooling, the manual pushes it out of the R&D series entirely, so a prototype program's later obligations often disappear from AC33 without the program ending.
PSC and NAICS in one line
The PSC classifies the requirement while the NAICS code classifies the industry assigned to the contract, so a research stage and a manufacturing industry can appear on the same award.
Watch AC13 alongside AC33; the subfunction split between them is applied unevenly.
PSC AC33 FAQ
What does PSC AC33 cover?
Experimental development under the defense-related activities subfunction: prototype design, construction, and testing and first-of-a-kind technology demonstrations at scale.
What NAICS codes win AC33 work?
Aircraft Manufacturing (336411) led FY2025 at $1.13 billion, narrowly ahead of Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences R&D (541715) at $1.03 billion and Engineering Services (541330) at $532 million.
Why does a manufacturing NAICS code lead a research PSC?
Prototype platform development is performed by aircraft primes on contracts assigned a manufacturing code. Only three A-series codes in this set share that pattern, and all involve airframes or space vehicles.
When does a program leave AC33?
When it moves into low-rate initial production or pre-production development. The manual excludes both from experimental development, so the obligations shift to non-R&D codes.