DOD

Department of Defense

The Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest federal contracting agency, responsible for coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the U.S. government relating directly to national security and the armed forces.

$491.4B
FYFY2026 Contract Spending
~2.87 million (military and civilian)
Employees (Est.)
$886 billion (FY2024)
Total Budget (Est.)
23% of prime contracts to small business
Small Business Goal

Mission & Overview

To provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security.
Headquarters:The Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia
Procurement Office:Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment

Key Programs & Initiatives

  • 1
    Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) contracts
  • 2
    Army Corps of Engineers construction
  • 3
    Navy SEAPORT contracts
  • 4
    Air Force IT modernization
  • 5
    Space Force acquisition programs

Major Contract Vehicles

Key acquisition vehicles used by DOD for procuring goods and services.

SEWP V

Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement for IT products

Alliant 2

Government-wide IT services GWAC

OASIS+

One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services

STARS III

8(a) small business IT GWAC

NETCENTS-2

Air Force network-centric solutions

Recent Initiatives & Priorities

Current focus areas that may present contracting opportunities.

JADC2 (Joint All-Domain Command and Control)Zero Trust cybersecurity implementationCloud modernization via JWCCArtificial Intelligence integrationSupply chain security and reshoring

How to Win DOD Contracts

  • Register in the DoD Procurement Portal (DoDPOC)
  • Obtain required security clearances early
  • Understand the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS)
  • Build relationships with Program Executive Offices (PEOs)
  • Consider teaming arrangements for large contracts

Recommended Certifications

  • CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification)
  • ISO 9001:2015
  • ISO 27001
  • FedRAMP (for cloud services)
  • ITAR compliance (for defense articles)

Top Industries for DOD

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Contract spending data sourced from USASpending.gov, the official source for federal spending data. Employee counts and budget figures are estimates based on publicly available information.