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GSA is preparing an AI-specific acquisition reform rule

Alexandra Kelley — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 10:00:00 -0400

The General Services Administration is developing changes to artificial intelligence acquisition provisions within its general rules that will prioritize a firm fixed-price procurement model and reduce hurdles to agency adoption.

In the coming weeks, the agency is planning to debut a draft AI acquisition rule for addition into the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation, according to two people familiar with the proceedings.

The new rule is part of GSA’s effort to balance implementing AI procurement rules that encourage market growth and foster competition while benefitting government buyers and taxpayers, the same person said, and part of the government’s mission to bring a “common sense” approach to AI acquisition. To do so, the rule will focus on removing bureaucratic rules and hurdles to commercial item acquisition, including AI and IT software.

The same person said that part of the process will be to analyze which contracts are not on a firm fixed-price basis and what is able to be shifted over. Per the rules, resellers and partners will remain part of GSA’s business strategy, the same person said, but the agency is also trying to make itself a “more predictable business partner” to original equipment manufacturers, including AI developers.

“It's … not going to be a one size fits all solution,” the same person told Nextgov/FCW.

In addition to the AI-focused draft rule, new Federal Acquisition Regulation rule updates are also underway and are set to continue overhauling the government procurement process. These updates are intended to be finalized at the end of the fiscal year, pending approval by the FAR Council, and will consist of roughly a dozen rules, the source said. Both revisions will have a 30-day public comment window.

The FAR is a series of procurement regulations that govern how executive agencies enter into, develop and manage contracts. In his second administration, President Donald Trump has worked to overhaul the FAR, issuing an executive order that primarily aims to streamline the acquisition process and bring more companies to the federal market.

The future of OneGov

Changes to GSA’s contracting structure will further cement the government’s preference for firm fixed-pricing, echoing mandates outlined in a late April executive order that seeks to move the government away from cost-reimbursement models.

GSA’s landmark OneGov program could also see changes in its contracting structure. Through the initiative, GSA has partnered with roughly two dozen tech providers to offer deeply discounted rates on software to government customers by treating the government as a single large customer.

The person familiar predicts that OneGov contracts will change, anticipating the focus of the initiative to adopt longer-term contracts, echoing sentiments expressed in an agency leader’s remarks last week.

“I think the major change in OneGov from this year to last is going to be working to put in more longer-term OneGov agreements, things that are still going to be very competitively priced,” the same person said.

Washington Technology Editor-in-Chief Nick Wakeman contributed to this report.

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WT 360: Defense tech investing is cool again, but can it stay that way?

Ross Wilkers — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 06:00:00 -0400

If it feels like investors everywhere have some curiosity about the defense tech landscape, then it’s because more of them both want to increase their knowledge and sometimes involvement in the ecosystem.

Steve Brotman, founder and managing partner of the growth equity investment firm Alpha Partners, fits into that category as an observer and participant that works with venture capital firms to be involved in promising tech companies.

Steve joins our Ross Wilkers for this episode to answer the questions laid out in the title, namely how it became cool again for investors to get involved with defense tech companies and markers that indicate how long this boom of interest could last.

SpaceX’s initial public offering and corporate VC funds feature in the chat too. Also listen out for Steve’s tips and suggested homework for business leaders to do before venturing out into VC networks.

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Observable Space fetches $90M in Series A capital

Ross Wilkers — Fri, 29 May 2026 10:59:20 -0400

Observable Space, a developer of optical systems for use in laser communications and other sensing efforts in space, has collected $90 million in Series A capital from investors to support its product development efforts.

The company opened for business in February 2025 to build software-defined telescopes and other hardware for operators to track satellites and conduct deep space observation missions, among other space domain awareness missions.

Lux Capital led the Series A round announced Thursday. RTX’s venture capital arm acted as one of four co-leaders alongside Upfront Ventures, Detroit Venture Partners and Island Green Partners. BRV Capital, Fathom Fund and Venrex also participated.

Observable Space will use a bulk of the new capital to further iterate its products for laser communications and in-space systems, plus expand its international operations.

“If you control light, you control space,” Dan Roelker, co-founder and chief executive of Observable Space, said in a release. “Companies and nations that precisely track objects, navigate spacecraft and communicate terabits per second will define the next era of the space economy.”

In addition to the new investment, Observable Space also announced its booking of a potential $94 million Space Force contract to scale up the production of its optical telescopes.

The service branch is eyeing these telescopes as augmenting other space domain awareness systems and has awarded $22 million in initial task order work.

Space Force made the award through the Pentagon’s Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies program, known as APFIT, which aims to quickly field new solutions.

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Computacenter enters federal arena with acquisition of reseller

Ross Wilkers — Fri, 29 May 2026 10:12:00 -0400

Computacenter, a U.K.-headquartered technology services provider, has agreed to acquire IT product reseller Government Acquisitions Inc. for an initial $63 million cash consideration that marks a foray into the U.S. federal market.

GAI opened for business in 1989 and describes its core focus areas as including cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, automation, analytics and IT infrastructure. Like with other resellers, many agencies order products of commercial brand name tech providers via contracts held by GAI.

With this transaction announced Thursday, Computacenter is adding 90 employees to its North American operations as the current GAI leadership team will continue to run the business as a specialist federal unit.

“GAI provides us with access to a new market for growth in the United States, diversifies our business and leverages our growing capabilities and infrastructure,” Computacenter chief executive Mike Norris said in a release.

GAI reported $390 million in gross invoiced income for 2025 on $8 million in adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization).

All parties expect to close the transaction on Monday following the receipt of clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.

The transaction has a potential value of $92 million, inclusive of the initial $63 million payment and up to $29 million in further performance-based payments through to the end of 2027.

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Your PM heard it, but winning just isn't worth it to them

Nic Coppings — Fri, 29 May 2026 09:43:58 -0400

The customer started venting about a staffing problem that was killing their timeline.

It wasn’t on the agenda. Your project manager acknowledged the frustration and steered the conversation back to the status update.

Efficient. Professional. And exactly wrong.

Three months later, that staffing problem became a standalone contract. A competitor won it. It could have been a contract modification on the PM’s existing program — six figures — requiring nothing more than one question: “What would it look like if we helped you solve that?”

I heard this story from the PM. Not as a confession of failure. More like a shrug.

“I knew it was something,” he told me. “I just didn’t want to open that door.”

I asked why not.

“Because the last time I flagged an opportunity, my boss said, ‘Great — go and win it.’ That meant months of qualifying, briefing business development, sitting in capture reviews, and writing proposal sections — on top of running my program — with no additional resources. I became the de facto capture manager for something I had no time to own. Never again.”

He wasn’t disengaged. He wasn’t disloyal. He was a rational person who had learned exactly what his organization rewarded.

I hear similar stories in almost every training class we run.

The Intel Is There. It’s Going Nowhere.

Your PMs aren’t missing the intel. They’re in the room. They hear the customer comments that never make it into an email — the budget concerns, the frustrations, the requirements quietly forming. They know.

What they’ve also learned is exactly what happens when they say something.

Small stuff — a contract mod, a quick scope addition — they’ll flag that. Low-risk, easy to handle. But an adjacent opportunity? Something that’s going to trigger a capture effort? That calculation is instant: surface it, own it. Brief BD. Sit in reviews. Write the proposal. Stay close through the award. All while running a program where everyone expects flawless delivery.

So the intel stays in their head. The requirement matures. The RFP drops. Your organization finds out the same day your competitors do.

The Load Nobody Is Counting

GovCon PMs routinely carry 90% or higher billable targets. Every contracted hour spoken for before a single internal email gets answered. Real weeks well north of 40 hours.

Leadership adds a growth expectation on top and wonders why nothing changes.

The PM’s calculation isn’t complicated: I am already full. This will land on me. I’ve seen it happen. No.

“Everyone owns growth” lands very differently when you’re already beyond max capacity.

What Your System Is Teaching Them

The choice your PM is making isn’t really about the opportunity. It’s about survival.

Share it — and become the capture manager you were never trained to be, carrying a pursuit nobody resourced on top of a program you can’t afford to drop. Stay quiet — focus on execution, hit your numbers, and let someone else find it. Ignorance is bliss.

That’s not a hard decision. That’s not even a close call.

Presence, curiosity, the willingness to stay in an uncomfortable customer moment — these are not personality traits your PM either has or doesn’t have. These are operational skills that can be learned.

Most PMs are never taught them.

And the ones who figure it out on their own eventually learn something else: using what they know often creates more burden than benefit.

So they stay quiet and the intel dies with them. Not dramatically. Just… quietly. Permanently.

The Number You Can’t Calculate

You track the pipeline. Win rates. Weighted value.

What you don’t track — what no one tracks — is the opportunity that never made it to the pipeline. The requirement that should have developed inside a contract you were already running. The one your PM heard about months before the RFP and never shared.

That number is invisible, which is exactly why it’s so dangerous.

Think about your last three RFP surprises. Great relationships you had. Contracts that should have been yours to shape. When did your PM first hear about it?

If the honest answer is months before the RFP…the intel was there, so why didn’t you know about it?

Here’s the question that should keep you up at night.

How many other opportunities were undiscovered because staying quiet was easier than sharing?

Your team knows the answer. They just won’t say it out loud.

Consider the market your PMs are sitting inside right now. Federal agencies are reorganizing, shedding staff, and resetting priorities at a pace this market hasn't seen in a generation. New requirements are forming in real time as customers figure out how to do more with less. The federal market has never had more opportunity hiding in plain sight — inside relationships your delivery teams already own.

The PM who knows how to surface intel, and has a reason to share it, may be the most underused growth resource in your organization.

The intel is there. It always has been.

The problem isn't that your PMs don't see the opportunity. It's that your operating model has taught them staying quiet is safer than sharing it.

Because if surfacing opportunity feels like punishment, your PMs will keep choosing silence.

Nic Coppings is managing partner at Hi-Q Group, where he works with federal contractors on the relationship and engagement skills that drive on-contract growth, protect recompetes, and surface new opportunities. He has more than 20 years of experience in federal contracting and can be reached at ncoppings@hi-qgroup.com.

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Army logistics command wants to move away from staff augmentation

Nick Wakeman — Fri, 29 May 2026 01:17:00 -0400

The Army is looking to overhaul how it buys enterprise services by shifting from a staff augmentation to an outcome-based managed service model.

The service’s deputy chief of staff for logistics issued a commercial solutions opening on Thursday to solicit proposals for the G-4 Enterprise Logistics and Installation Support Services contract, or ELISS.

The Army wants a single provider to integrate logistics operations, installation management, and legislative and budgetary affairs support under one managed services umbrella.

In phase 1, companies will submit a solution brief with a rough order of magnitude for cost. This will include a narrative of no more than 10 pages.

The brief must cover four topics: turnkey execution model, cross-functional team integration, outcomes-based metrics, and footprint reduction and security.

Only offers whose phase 1 submissions are deemed viable will be invited to continue in the competition.

The Army currently relies on a staff augmentation approach, which places a heavy management burden on the service. The Army wants to move away from acting as daily task managers

The CSO describes the Army’s desire to move away from acting as daily task managers, which would help service branch personnel act more as strategic planners and focus on policy and strategy.

The Army's desired end state is a proactive industry partner who anticipates requirements, owns the processes and technology to deliver outcomes, and manages day-to-day work independently.

“The vendor will own the processes, enabling technology, and execution methodologies to deliver cross-functional expertise, superior analytical products, and seamless legislative integration,” according to the CSO’s statement of objectives.

The contract will be for 58 months, starting with a 10-month base period followed by four 12-month option periods.

Questions on the CSO are due at 12 p.m. Eastern time on June 4 with proposals due June 11.

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Tribal 8(a) contractor wins round 1 of its suspension fight, but remains sidelined

Nick Wakeman — Thu, 28 May 2026 16:16:06 -0400

The Small Business Administration’s Office of Hearings and Appeals has found the agency fell short of several requirements when it suspended ATI Government Solutions from the 8(a) program.

ATI was suspended from federal business after an employee was caught on a hidden camera saying that the company, owned by the Susanville Indian Rancheria tribe, acted merely as a pass-through front to funnel 8(a) contract dollars to non-8(a) companies.

The suspension covered both the 8(a) program and all federal contracting under the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

In a May 18 ruling of ATI's appeal, the judge said that SBA did not provide enough evidence to justify the suspension. The judge’s decision was first reported by GovConIntelligence.com.

However, the judge did not lift the suspension of ATI. He instead sent the case back to SBA and set a June 12 deadline to resubmit a complete record of ATI’s suspension.

What the agency submitted originally was woefully inadequate, the judge found.

After ATI filed its appeal, the judge ordered SBA to submit all documents the agency relied on when making the suspension. But the only document SBA submitted was the FAR suspension letter.

SBA's submission to the judge included no certification by an agency official and no copy of the 8(a)-suspension notice.

When pressed on this, SBA changed its story. The original FAR suspension letter said the move was based on what an ATI employee said to undercover agents working for conservative activist and video producer James O’Keefe.

But in its legal response to the judge, SBA said that ATI should be out of the 8(a) program because it was already suspended under the FAR contracting rules.

“The agency response here does not mention these statements [by the employee] and makes no effort whatever to substantiate them or to rely upon them as reasons for the suspension,” the judge wrote. “The agency has thus stated on appeal a completely different justification for its action.”

SBA argued that it is allowed to make the change, but the judge said it is “settled law” that the agency cannot do that.

In its appeal, ATI said the person captured by the hidden camera was a temporary employee who was not privy to how the company operated. ATI argued that SBA would have learned this if it conducted its own investigation.

The judge seems to agree: “SBA conducted no such investigation and instead relied on a video that does not establish the individual had any personal knowledge of the facts underlying her statements.”

While the judge’s ruling is a victory for ATI, it is not a full vindication yet. The judge has essentially said that the record SBA submitted is such a mess, that he cannot determine whether a suspension is warranted.

SBA has a chance to rectify that with its June 12 filing. ATI must file objections by June 22 and then file an amended response by June 29.

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Parry Labs hires Claussen as chief executive

Ross Wilkers — Thu, 28 May 2026 14:22:10 -0400

Parry Labs has hired a new chief executive in Don Claussen, a nearly two-decade defense technology veteran who joins after three years as CEO of ST Engineering iDirect.

Claussen succeeds co-founder John “JD” Parkes, who has moved to executive chairman of the board of directors. Parry Labs said Wednesday that Parkes continues to focus on the company’s long-term strategy, while Claussen will assume responsibility for leading the business day-to-day.

This transition takes almost two years after Parry Labs completed its first institutional investment round that collected $80 million in capital from investors. Parry Labs planned to put a majority of that capital toward efforts in command-and-control, interoperability and artificial intelligence.

Parkes and his colleague Robert Miller started Parry Labs in 2016 to bring together open architecture software and smaller-form hardware into a digital framework for military operators.

As its new CEO, Claussen will lead the next phase of Parry Labs’ efforts to scale the company’s market presence and operating model.

“Now more than ever, it is paramount to build mission outcomes at speed and scale,” Parkes said in a release. “As we, Parry, have continued to grow, I am happy to bring a new CEO and leader that will help us do that.”

"As the (Defense Department) shifts its priorities, I am excited to help position Parry within this evolving opportunity space,” added Claussen. “The defense industry needs exactly these capabilities right now: open architecture, edge compute, C2, and integrated systems with the warfighter at the center."

More recently, Claussen led the U.S. government-focused subsidiary of Singapore Technologies Engineering in its push to expand across federal satellite communications programs.

Claussen’s career in industry also includes leadership roles at Intelsat General, that satellite network operator’s U.S. government subsidiary, plus L3Harris Technologies and Intelsat.

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Entarian starts anew with rebrand after ERT-Sev1Tech combination

Ross Wilkers — Thu, 28 May 2026 14:18:23 -0400

Earth Resources Technology Inc.’s acquisition of Sev1Tech in February not only tripled the size of the workforce, it also provided an opportunity to take a fresh look at how to present this new company.

Entarian is the new name for this now-1,600 employee team after going through the exercise of what has already not been taken. CEO Mark Lee described the word as a rough Latin translation of “two becoming one,” which also applies to the environment Entarian is looking to create through this fresh start.

“You want to make sure that whatever culture you want to establish at the corporate level is kind a big tent that a lot of different kinds of people can feel a part of,” Lee told WT. “That's really what we've been striving to create as we've come together, to make sure that we've got a big tent that supports a lot of different points of view, different types of expertise and the different kinds of customers that we're serving.”

Space Force and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration certainly would represent customer diversity for Entarian. But those agencies also share the common thread of having to manage space assets as part of their missions.

With that mission set evolving, how can Entarian move as their customers do and well before it is time to start the recompete process?

Enter into the equation a solution development team that Entarian has stood up to act as an engine constantly looking at what their customers need during the course of the contract. This team reports directly to Lee.

Martin Wright and Vir Thanvi lead this effort in their respective roles as chief solutions officer and senior vice president of integrated solutions.

Chris Rodriguez, Entarian’s chief growth officer, told WT this team is tasked with creating ideas to answer both explicit and implicit requirements that then are pitched to the customer.

Rodriguez provided example problem sets that include resiliency in satellite communications and finding ways to integrate artificial intelligence into cybersecurity functions.

“We don’t want our solutions to be exclusively focused on growth initiatives,” Rodriguez said. “It’s a matter of finding ways to be good stewards of our clients' time, our clients' dollars, and always finding ways to advance their missions.”

As ever when forming a company like Entarian, having one eye on growth and entering new markets along the way is a core part of the strategy and approach for carrying it out.

That includes looking at opportunities Entarian sees itself as better positioned to compete for as a larger business.

Rodriguez said the ground operations of Space Force is one area Entarian believes it can now enter, thanks to a $188 million global network contract that Sev1Tech booked in 2024.

“We look for areas where we're engaging in common domain sets that represent a new customer base,” Rodriguez said. “The long-term pole in the tent here from the from the growth perspective is how we take our space capabilities and move into other market sets, whether its supporting the Army, MDA (Missile Defense Agency) or Navy.”

Much of that harkens back to the rationale behind putting ERT and Sev1Tech together in the first place. ERT’s business was mostly civilian and Sev1Tech’s portfolio tilted more toward defense, while Sev1Tech largely defined themselves as a technology company.

But Lee characterized both companies as having similar approaches to looking at and coming up with solutions for problems customers navigate, so finding common ground on that front has not been a significant hurdle to climb.

“If you want to deliver technology, understanding the underlying subject matter allows you to do that a lot more effectively,” Lee said.

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GSA joins White House’s fraud prevention task force

Edward Graham — Thu, 28 May 2026 13:59:00 -0400

The General Services Administration announced on Thursday that it is joining the White House’s anti-fraud task force, a move that enlists a key federal acquisition agency into President Donald Trump’s self-described “war on fraud.”

The unit, led by Vice President JD Vance, was created by a March executive order and is tasked with rooting out waste, fraud and abuse across federal benefits programs.

GSA said in a press release that it is “uniquely positioned to help the Task Force detect irregularities, accelerate investigations, and safeguard taxpayer dollars,” with members of the anti-fraud unit “now leveraging GSA’s unmatched reach in acquisition, shared services, technology modernization, and federal real estate.”

Although the order establishing the task force emphasized efforts to identify federal benefits fraud, GSA said it will support the unit’s work by identifying waste, fraud and abuse across government contracting programs.

“GSA sits at the center of the federal acquisition and contracting ecosystem, making us a critical force in the fight against fraud,” GSA Administrator Edward Forst said in a statement, adding that the agency “will bring advanced analytical capabilities, investigative support, and cross-government coordination to help expose high-risk fraud patterns and stop bad actors from exploiting taxpayer-funded systems.”

Trump’s directive establishing the task force also granted it the authority to withhold funds from states and local jurisdictions “that do not have adequate anti-fraud requirements.”

The effort has been clouded by allegations of political bias, however, with the order creating the unit notably calling out Democrat-led states and accusing public officials of intentionally failing to police benefits programs so migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border can receive assistance.

Vance said earlier this month the unit was “deferring” $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursements to California and threatened to withhold payments from other states if they do not adequately enhance their efforts to combat fraud in federal benefits programs. That came after the White House kicked off its anti-fraud push in February by announcing that it was withholding over $240 million in Medicaid funds from Minnesota following claims about the misuse of funds in the state’s social services programs.

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Pentagon consolidates Microsoft software buys into a single $9.7B Dell agreement

Nick Wakeman — Thu, 28 May 2026 13:37:05 -0400

The Defense Department has bundled its Microsoft software licenses into a single $9.7 billion blanket purchase agreement awarded to Dell.

The Wednesday announcement covers DOD’s existing Microsoft products – Windows enterprise operating system and Office Professional Plus – as well as cloud capabilities through Microsoft 365 licenses.

The BPA also includes specialized bundles, such as “Disconnected No Cloud Access” licenses.

The scope of the BPA supports the transition of specific workloads to the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract, on which Microsoft is one of the primes.

DOD describe the contract as a follow-on award to streamline and consolidate software acquisition across the department as well as the intelligence community and the Coast Guard. The agreement allows customers to buy Microsoft software licenses, cloud subscriptions and software assurance.

The BPA is structured as a firm-fixed-price award, which was made as part of DOD's enterprise software initiative. The announcement does not give an expiration date for the Dell agreement.

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Navy picks 5 companies to keep its ships, subs and bases connected

Nick Wakeman — Wed, 27 May 2026 15:59:12 -0400

Five companies will compete for task orders under a $453 million Navy contract to support the network that connects ships, submarines, shore installations and aircraft.

Global Technical Systems, Leidos, Serco North America, Systems Engineering Support Co. and VT Milcom will work on future cyber threat upgrades and mission-focused upgrades. They will also provide production units, components, commercial software, spares, and lab materials.

Work will support the Automated Digital Network System, which is the communications backbone that allows the Navy to share data across its networks regardless of platform.

The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command in San Diego is managing the eight-year contract, the Pentagon said in its Thursday awards digest. There are no option periods, so the contract will expire in May 2034.

Work will take place in San Diego; Herndon, Virginia; Manassas, Virginia; Reston, Virginia; and Virginia Beach.

Data from GovTribe and Deltek indicates this is a new contract, which bundles several previous contracts into a single vehicle.

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Someone robbed the SEC during the shutdown

Eric Katz — Wed, 27 May 2026 15:34:08 -0400

When federal agencies closed their doors for a record-setting 43 days last fall, one person saw an opportunity.

An individual is awaiting trial after burglarizing the Securities and Exchange Commission during last year’s government shutdown. The alleged thief did not wait long before entering the SEC regional office in Fort Worth, Texas, as the individual entered the building during the shutdown’s first week.

A contracted security officer was present for the incident, but failed to stop the person, identify them or sign them in, as building protocols require, the SEC’s inspector general said. The burglar “bypassed” a locked door, walked past the security guard and entered the SEC’s office suite. The security guard failed to escort the individual through the building and in the elevators, also in contravention of the building’s security policies.

The person then stole four laptops valued at more than $5,000, a bluetooth earpiece and a rolling briefcase.

Federal employees are generally prohibited from using their government devices during a shutdown if they are placed in non-working furlough status, but are required to report to their offices on the first day of a lapse to ensure their devices are secured. SEC furloughed 88% of its workforce during the most recent funding lapse, though an IG official was not aware of how many employees may have been reporting to the office during the burglary.

The SEC IG worked with local law enforcement to identify the suspect, who is now being held in a Texas corrections center on multiple burglary charges—including the SEC incident—while awaiting trial. While the suspect was arrested, the stolen laptops and other items were not recovered.

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Carlyle builds out middle-market play in aerospace and defense

Nick Wakeman — Wed, 27 May 2026 13:01:48 -0400

The Carlyle Group has been involved in some of the largest transactions in the government market.

Many are measured in the billions – Booz Allen Hamilton in 2008 ($2.54 billion) and ManTech in 2022 ($4.2 billion) to name a few.

Now the global investment firm is looking farther down the market and has built a platform to pursue opportunities in the middle market.

Carlyle is expanding its aerospace, defense and government, and industrial teams to pursue opportunities in the U.S. and Europe.

The effort will be led by Aaron Hurwitz, who leads Carlyle’s investments in defense, and Wes Bieligk, a partner on Carlyle’s industrials team.

Ian Fujiyama has been named chairman of the new organization. He has been with Carlyle for 28 years and currently works as global head of aerospace, defense and government.

Carlyle is also bringing in Bryan Fenton, former commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, as an operating executive. Fenton will focus on strategic sourcing, evaluation of investment opportunities, and engagement with management teams and industry stakeholders across the defense market.

“We see this initiative as a natural extension of our broader franchise and an opportunity to dedicate capital and expertise to the middle-market segment across the U.S. and Europe,” Fujiyama said.

Carlyle executives see the increase in defense spending in the U.S. and Europe as a multi-decade opportunity.

“Governments are prioritizing military modernization, force preparedness, and resilient industrial capacity at a scale that we believe will drive long-term demand for advanced technologies and strategic capabilities,” said James Stavridis, Carlyle vice chair and a former allied commander at NATO.

Carlyle will have teams across the U.S. and Europe who will tap into the firm’s sector expertise and resources.

“We believe we are well positioned to build and scale businesses that are essential to the industrial base," Hurwitz and Bieligk said jointly in the announcement.

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SpaceX awarded $2.3B contract for satellite network backbone

Ross Wilkers — Wed, 27 May 2026 11:12:51 -0400

Space Force has awarded a $2.3 billion contract to SpaceX for satellites that can act as the backhaul data layer of a network for transporting military data while operating in low-Earth orbit.

In the telecommunications industry, backhaul refers to the immediate network segment that connects localized edge networks to the central core network. The idea is to aggregate and move data between end-user devices and central servers in order to connect local traffic to the broader network.

For the Space Data Network Backbone effort, SpaceX will build a network of optically-interconnected satellites that can transport military data through space as opposed to using ground-based systems like terrestrial systems or stations.

Space Force has structured the contract as an Other Transaction Authority agreement, under which SpaceX is tasked with delivering a prototype by the end of 2027.

“The SDN Backbone supports the broader SDN, which acts as a core communications layer for the USSF warfighting systems, ensuring our sensors and shooters are connected continuously, globally and securely,” Space Force Col. Ryan Frazier, acting portfolio acquisition executive for space-based sensing and targeting, said in a release Tuesday.

Space Force envisions the broader Space Data Network as a hybrid architecture of military and commercial satellites that can provide communications pathways for data involving missile warning and tracking functions, among others.

The service branch is working to accomplish that effort through an SDM consortium comprising multiple companies with the intention of expanding the pool over the summer.

“Our acquisition strategy is designed to foster competition and broaden our industrial base,” said Space Force Lt. Col. Jeffrey Fry, SDN Backbone system program manager. “We aren’t trading speed for scale; we are demanding both. By using rapid prototyping and Other Transaction Authorities, we are ensuring our advanced solutions are integrated and delivered to the warfighter as fast as possible.”

For SpaceX, its capture of the OTA comes as the Elon Musk-owned company prepares to undertake what is widely regarded as the largest-ever initial public offering in the history of the public markets.

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Booz Allen puts more emphasis on products in its new fiscal year

Ross Wilkers — Tue, 26 May 2026 14:28:00 -0400

Booz Allen Hamilton has directly tied growth in headcount to financial success on its top and bottom lines, but that relationship appears likely to be less direct in future iterations of the company’s strategy. That is especially true when considering the rough waters Booz Allen has traveled over the past 12 months with respect to its civil business and workforce cuts.

During Booz Allen’s fourth quarter and fiscal-year end earnings call Friday, CEO Horacio Rozanski described some of the company’s efforts to evolve its business model in a market still experiencing many changes.

In its fiscal year 2026 financial report, Booz Allen said its headcount stood at 31,500 as of March 31 to show a 12% decline from the prior year.

The Trump administration’s ongoing push to overhaul government procurement, including an executive order calling for more fixed-price contracts, is one factor in a landscape that many in industry appear to be readjusting to.

For Booz Allen, a big piece of its readjustment to a world of more fixed-price and outcome-based contracts involves working toward providing more of its offerings as products.

Rozanski told analysts Booz Allen is fast-tracking efforts to develop Vellox, a portfolio of cyber defense products that pair operators with artificial intelligence agents to counter adversaries that also use agentic AI techniques.

“We took the decision of taking what was going to be a release over the next 18 months, or four different aspects of our Vellox suite, to try and compress it all into the first half of this year because the demand is now,” Rozanski said. “Things that we're not going to be out in the market for another one-and-a-half years are in beta with some customers already.”

Calendar year 2026 is one where offensive cyber tools are becoming more agentic in nature at a faster rate than defensive cyber tools, Rozanski said.

Any conversation about the relationship between cyber and AI also brings up Anthropic’s release of Claude Mythos, a large language model developed to find software vulnerabilities.

Rozanski acknowledged that every conversation with federal and commercial clients “may begin with Mythos, but doesn’t end with Mythos.”

When referring to conversations about Booz Allen and headcount, Rozanski said the company typically increased its workforce “evenly during the year” in every year. But now, Rozanski said the math is “much more complicated given the year we had last year."

In essence, Booz Allen’s idea behind productizing its offerings is meant to align with the administration’s desire to structure more technologies as fixed-price or outcome-based.

“Customers, when they pay for an outcome, give us a lot more flexibility in terms of how we bring technology and structured technology inside a program,” Rozanski said. “That's where you begin to see this divergence.”

How quickly will agencies shift toward these types of contracts and when do they typically do so? Rozanski said procurement teams inside agencies tend to be more willing to discuss a move to fixed-price or outcome-based at the time of awarding an option year, or some other conversion point in the contract.

Many of Booz Allen’s civil contracts that got reduced in scope were fixed-price, Rozanski said, whereas the majority of the company’s national security work is cost-plus.

“Certainly the recent (executive order) and upcoming guidance from OMB (the Office of Management and Budget) is going to push our customers in that direction,” Rozanski said.

Fourth quarter revenue of $2.8 billion was down 6.4% from the prior year period, while profit of $309 million showed a 2.2% year-over-year decrease in adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization).

Full fiscal year 2026 revenue of $11.2 billion was also down 6.4% from that of FY 2025, and adjusted EBITDA of $1.2 billion showed a 6.5% decrease. The adjusted EBITDA margin of 11% was flat.

Booz Allen’s initial guidance for its 2027 fiscal year, which started April 1, has revenue in the range of $11.2 billion to $11.7 billion, with an adjusted EBITDA outlook of $1.24 billion-to-$1.29 billion.

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Airbus' US defense arm promotes Veneziano to CEO

Ross Wilkers — Tue, 26 May 2026 13:22:49 -0400

Airbus’ subsidiary for the U.S. government market has promoted a new chief executive from within its own ranks in Alex Veneziano, a 15-year company veteran and formerly chief administrative officer.

Veneziano’s promotion takes effect immediately and he succeeds Robert Geckle, who is departing for another role in industry after nearly four-and-a-half years in the CEO post. Kevin Sweeney has been appointed chairman of the board of directors, Airbus U.S. Space and Defense said Friday.

During Veneziano’s tenure at Airbus, he was part of the leadership team responsible for standing up the Airbus U.S. entity as an American defense company with the ability to pursue classified work.

The chief administrative officer role covered responsibilities for functions in legal, ethics and compliance, information security, and human resources.

Venezio joined the defense business in the fall of 2020 after a stint as legal counsel for Airbus Americas Inc., the U.S. commercial aviation subsidiary.

Airbus U.S. Space and Defense touts its core work areas as including satellites, geospatial intelligence, cybersecurity, secure communications, space exploration, military helicopters, unmanned aerial systems, and fixed-wing aircraft.

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The edge is where military AI meets reality

Cale Stephens — Tue, 26 May 2026 13:06:58 -0400

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming military operations and the conversation is shifting.

The defense community is no longer asking whether AI can deliver operational value. The focus now is how to deploy AI reliably in the environments where missions occur: at the tactical edge.

That shift changes everything.

Most commercial AI architectures were designed around centralized cloud infrastructure, abundant power, stable connectivity, and controlled operating conditions. Tactical environments offer none of those conveniences. Forward-deployed systems must operate in extreme temperatures, high-vibration platforms, contested electromagnetic environments, and disconnected or degraded networks, all while delivering real-time decision support to operators who cannot tolerate latency or system failure.

As AI adoption accelerates across intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), autonomy, sensor fusion, electronic warfare, and predictive maintenance applications, engineering teams are confronting a difficult reality: advanced AI models are only as effective as the infrastructure supporting them.

Compute performance alone is no longer enough.

Running AI workloads at the edge requires a fundamentally different approach to system design. High-density GPUs and accelerators generate significant thermal loads, demand reliable high output power, and often exceed the size, weight, and power constraints of tactical platforms. Systems originally engineered for commercial data centers frequently struggle when exposed to shock, airborne vibration, dust intrusion, or intermittent connectivity.

The challenge is not simply ruggedizing hardware after the fact. It is designing infrastructure from the outset to sustain AI operations in austere environments.

That distinction matters because the tactical edge introduces operational requirements that cloud-native architectures were never intended to solve. Data must often be processed locally due to bandwidth or operational limitations, or even communications denial. AI inferencing must continue even when disconnected from centralized networks. Systems must integrate with legacy platforms while maintaining cybersecurity, performance, and long lifecycle supportability.

Equally important is the growing emphasis on trust and operational reliability.

Operators need AI-enabled systems that provide actionable outputs under pressure, not black-box recommendations that cannot be validated in time-sensitive scenarios. Transparency, predictable system behavior, and infrastructure resilience are becoming increasingly important as AI transitions from experimental capability to mission-critical functionality.

Programs such as Project Maven demonstrated the operational value of AI-assisted analysis, but they also reinforced the importance of deploying AI within reliable, field-ready compute environments.

This is creating a broader industry realization: operational AI is now a full-stack engineering challenge. Success depends on more than algorithms or model accuracy alone. It requires tightly integrated compute, networking, thermal management, cybersecurity, and ruggedization strategies engineered specifically for contested environments.

The organizations that lead the next phase of AI deployment will be those that understand the realities of operating at the edge, where connectivity is uncertain, environmental stress is constant, and mission continuity is non-negotiable.

The future of military AI will not be defined solely by model sophistication. It will be defined by whether those systems can perform reliably where the mission demands them most.

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Deloitte awarded $249M Army contract as lone bidder

Nick Wakeman — Tue, 26 May 2026 13:03:45 -0400

Deloitte was the sole bidder on a $249 million to provide enterprise IT and other solutions support as part of the Army’s base modernization program.

The 15-year, $18 billion endeavor kicked off in 2021 and is known as the Army Organic Industrial Base Modernization Implementation Plan. This is an effort to modernize facilities, processes and the related workforce.

The OIB consists of 23 depots, arsenals and ammunition plants. The Army is focusing on five key areas: facilities and infrastructure, tooling and processes, workforce, network and cyber, and energy and environmental.

Deloitte will work with the Army on development, integration and “innovation acceleration” work in support of the OIB, according to a Friday contract announcement by the Defense Department.

The contract runs through May 21, 2031. The announcement describes the contract as a firm-fixed price, time-and-materials contract.

The Army solicited bids via the internet, but Deloitte’s was the only proposal they received.

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Army walks away from business system consolidation contract

Nick Wakeman — Tue, 26 May 2026 13:01:19 -0400

The Army has started to move away from a multiple-year plan to consolidate its various business systems by not renewing its contract with Accenture's U.S. federal subsidiary for the Enterprise Business Systems – Convergence program.

The Army declined to exercise the second-year option on the contract after the first year ended May 18. The branch is now focused on modernizing existing systems rather than consolidating them, an Army spokeswoman said.

"Leveraging insights gained from real-world operations, we must accelerate the enhancement of core business systems to better support soldiers in wartime conditions and enable seamless data exchange with tactical applications," said Tara Clements, director of public affairs for the Army's Capability Program Executive, Enterprise Software and Services.

The decision is notable given that the Army spent several years building toward the EBS-C award. The competition used an other transaction authority process that first tasked three competitors with building prototypes — Accenture Federal, IBM and Groundswell.

IBM dropped out, which left Accenture Federal and Groundswell as head-to-head competitors. AFS won the contract in October 2024, with an initial award of $69.4 million and a ceiling value of around $1 billion over eight years.

Groundswell then took its case to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, raising several challenges and an accusation that the Army shifted requirements to favor Accenture Federal.

The court ultimately ruled against Groundswell in May 2025, allowing Accenture Federal to begin work.

EBS-C would have consolidated multiple Army business systems including the Logistics Modernization Program, General Fund Enterprise Business System, Global Combat Support System-Army and Army Enterprise Systems Integration Program.

Accenture Federal declined to comment on the Army's decision not to exercise the option.

While the loss of a major program is significant, Accenture Federal isn't out in the cold. The company is the incumbent contractor supporting many of the systems now slated for modernization, and is the Army's largest SAP contractor.

No new contracts are currently planned, according to the Army spokeswoman. Accenture Federal remains in place supporting many of the business systems on its existing contracts.

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Army MAPS protest saga takes new twists

Nick Wakeman — Fri, 22 May 2026 17:34:53 -0400

The protest issues swirling around the Army’s $50 billion MAPS vehicle have added a few new twists and turns.

We reported earlier this week that the TechSur-Guidehouse Joint Venture had withdrawn its protest. This week, it refiled.

Meanwhile, ICF International saw its protest dismissed after the Army said it would amend the solicitation to address the issues in its protest.

That’s the same message that they sent TechSur-Guidehouse, but the JV refiled after it looked at the changes and believes they cause different problems, namely that they are restrictive to competition.

The Army also announced the proposals for the Marketplace for the Acquisition of Professional Services contract are now due June 22. The original due date was May 8, then May 20.

While ICF’s protest has been dismissed, the company is still free to file a new protest to challenge the amended solicitation.

The new TechSur-Guidehouse protest challenges the Army’s decision to prohibit companies from submitting work under grants and cooperative agreements as part of the past performance.

A decision from GAO is expected by Aug. 28.

Still pending are several protests filed earlier at GAO. They have decision dates ranging from Aug. 3 to Aug. 17.

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Commerce commits to funding incentives with 9 companies to spur quantum development

Alexandra Kelley — Fri, 22 May 2026 15:34:00 -0400

The Commerce Department signed letters of intent with nine quantum computing and quantum foundry companies to provide funding from the CHIPS and Science Act to support innovation in quantum computing.

Announced on Thursday, $2.013 billion in CHIPS funding will go to IBM, GlobalFoundries, Atom Computing, Diraq, D-Wave, Infleqtion, PsiQuantum, Quantinuum and Rigetti to spur different components of the burgeoning quantum computing ecosystem.

IBM and GlobalFoundries will receive $1 billion and $375 million, respectively, to build quantum tech-specific foundries. IBM will focus on manufacturing quantum-grade superconducting wafers, while GlobalFoundries will be tasked with scaling components of leading quantum computing architectures and modalities, such as superconducting circuits, photonics, trapped ions and more.

The remaining seven companies will use Commerce’s funding to improve their proprietary quantum computing technologies and modalities. Infleqtion, for example, manufactures quantum computers powered by neutral atom systems, and will receive $100 million to further scale its work.

Of the seven companies funded to continue innovation in their individual quantum computing spaces, Diraq, which specializes in quantum computing via silicon spin qubits, received $38 million. The other six each received $100 million.

“With today’s CHIPS Research and Development investments in quantum computing, the Trump administration is leading the world into a new era of American innovation,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a press release. “These strategic quantum technology investments will build on our domestic industry, creating thousands of high-paying American jobs while advancing American quantum capabilities.”

Commerce’s announcement follows the Trump administration’s behind-the-scenes work on at least one executive action that will spur agency migration to post-quantum cryptographic standards ahead of the advent of a cryptographically-viable quantum computer, which poses a threat to the classical encryption schemes safeguarding modern digital networks.

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SpaceX’s governance structure is built for one person: Elon Musk

Nick Wakeman — Fri, 22 May 2026 15:18:32 -0400

Elon Musk has a well-earned reputation for doing things his way and the S-1 filing for taking SpaceX public reinforces that reputation.

Unlike other large publicly-traded companies, SpaceX eschews many of the safeguards used to hold corporations and their management accountable.

First, there is dual classes of stock. Musk holds a 12.3% stake in Class A common shares, which give him one vote per share. At the same time, he also owns 93.6% of the Class B shares. Each Class B share gets 10 votes.

When those shares are combined, he holds 85.1% of the voting power of the company.

A dual class of stock is not unheard of, but SpaceX also will not put in place many of the safeguards commonly used by public companies. For example, the majority of the board of directors will not be independent directors.

The board also will not have an independent nominating and compensation committee.

The company claims it is exempt from these NASDAQ requirements because it is considered a “controlled company,” due to the high percentage of ownership held by Musk.

For example, a shareholder must hold 3% of the voting shares for six months and have the support of 67% of the voting shares just to get a proposal on the ballot.

Given Musk controls 85% of the voting power, no proposal can get on the ballot without his support.

Removing Musk as CEO and chairman is impossible because it requires a majority of Class B shares to vote in favor of it. Because he holds 93.6% of Class B shares, Musk himself is the only one who can grant that majority.

The S-1 contains a "Corporate Opportunities" provision that effectively gives Musk a free pass to pursue business opportunities at his other companies — Tesla, the Boring Company and Neuralink — even if SpaceX might otherwise have an interest in them. Board members face no legal liability for steering opportunities away from SpaceX.

The structure of SpaceX is built to allow Musk to have total control and veto power at the company. The safeguards are in place to protect Musk, not common shareholders.

Investors in the IPO will own a piece of the company, but virtually no ability to influence how it runs. This raises the question of where accountability will come from.

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Navy turns to autonomous vessels to map the ocean floor

Nick Wakeman — Fri, 22 May 2026 12:48:03 -0400

The Navy needs better maps of the ocean floor, but it doesn’t have the ships to capture the data.

To solve that problem, the service wants to hire contractor-owned, contractor-operated vessels that can autonomously sail and collect bathymetric (200 meters to the ocean floor) and seamount data (vessel draft to 4,000 meters.)

The Navy wants long-endurance unmanned sea vessels that can travel 2,000 nautical miles of data each month, according to solicitation documents.

The multiple-award contract is being managed by the Naval Oceanographic Office, which is responsible for collecting and maintaining high-resolution, ocean floor mapping data. The primary purpose of the contract is to support the safety of navigation for the fleet, but the data is also used to improve situational awareness.

Collecting more and higher resolution data is a goal of the Navy, but the solicitation acknowledges that the Navy itself doesn’t have the ships or manpower to collect the data itself.

The Navy plans to award a two-year contract with a $40 million ceiling. The companies will compete for task orders. The contract is set aside for women-owned small businesses.

Some of the key technical requirements include:

25-day continuous deep ocean surveys.
Multibeam sonar that can measure from 200 meters to the full-ocean depth.
Deliver 2,000 linear nautical miles of compliant data per month
A secure online platform that will allow the Navy near-real-time monitoring.
End-to-end encryption of all data that will be delivered via NIPRNET.

The solicitation also requires that the contractor is responsible for all equipment, operations, and logistics.

The requirements are essentially pass-fail. Failure to meet just one requirement disqualifies the bidder.

Proposals are due June 11.

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A Ukrainian ground robot defended a position from Russian assault for six weeks

Patrick Tucker — Fri, 22 May 2026 12:00:00 -0400

A single remote-controlled Ukrainian ground combat vehicle defended a “key intersection under constant adversary attack” for 45 days last summer, according to a 3rd Army Corps spokesperson who called it “Ukraine’s first fully robotic defensive operation of a position.” It likely won’t be the last.

The robot—a Droid TW 12.7 armed with a machine gun—and its operator, some 10 kilometers away, “disrupted every attempted breakthrough and prevented enemy infiltration,” with no loss of Ukrainian life, the spokesperson said in a recent interview.

As the United States and other militaries work to catch up, Ukraine is putting remote-controlled air and ground systems to uses the world has never seen.

“Drones in the air provided continuous surveillance” for the operation, the officials said. “They detected enemy movement and transmitted information in real time. Once a threat was confirmed, the operator received the signal and engaged the target with the machine gun.”

Olena Kryzhanivska, a defense analyst who was first to report on the operation, writes that Ukrainian ground robots now perform 80 percent of logistics tasks on the front lines— from carrying explosives into enemy positions to evacuating the wounded. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense hopes to bring that up to 100 percent.

Kryzhanivska writes that unmanned ground vehicles, which can cost $10,000 to $30,000, will soon take a much larger role in combat.

“There is an expectation that we might see the first encounter between Ukrainian ground drones and Russian ground drones.”

But practical challenges stand in the way of the fully roboticized front line, the Ukrainian army spokesperson said.

“Battery charge is a major factor. There is never enough of it. The main solutions are either installing higher-capacity batteries on the systems or equipping each platform with two to four batteries. The same applies to ammunition load. There is never enough,” one said.

Another hurdle is the amount of training it takes to produce a ground-robot operator.

“Planning and executing an operation with an [unmanned ground vehicle or UGV] is significantly more difficult than, for example, operating a UAV, because the number of obstacles is substantially higher,” an official said, adding that it requires a deeper understanding of terrain, navigation, and other nuances that also bedevil self-driving cars. “It is a misconception to think that any UAV pilot can simply sit down and successfully carry out an operation with a UGV.” .

As autonomy improves, a single soldier might be able to control multiple robots on different missions. But Ukraine limits what its lethal robots can do.

“Ukrainian forces are still operating in the territories that are populated by civilians. There are children. They are elderly. So just giving ground robots that ability to make decisions, to engage, to strike and kill, that would be a very dangerous development, and Ukrainians are against that,” Kryzhanivska said.

The Ukrainian officials emphasized that humans will remain part of the decision-making process.

“Everything that happens in war must be controlled and coordinated by a soldier. The missions performed by our systems carry a high level of responsibility,” one said.

Still, new concepts of “predictive intelligence” could enable ground drones to make more decisions as part of a network of sensors and intelligence nodes. They might, for example, predict where or how enemy forces might move in order to get into position.

It’s a concept that Lt. Col. Eric Sturzinger, who leads research and engagements at the Army’s Artificial Intelligence Integration Center, is exploring via the Tactical Joint Embedding Predictive Architecture, or JEPA—a framework to enable drones to predict how adversaries might plan an attack, potentially making ground robot operations even more effective.

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