The U.S. military acquisition system was not built for the pace of modern technology. What commercial markets adopt in months can take defense acquisition years — and by the time a capability clears program requirements, budget cycles, and procurement timelines, the threat environment it was designed for may have already changed. That gap is reshaping procurement priorities, technology policy, and industrial base strategy.
The technologies driving that reshaping — artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, next-generation communications, and spectrum-dependent capabilities — are active procurement priorities. The policy fights around them now reach beyond defense agencies into commercial technology companies, manufacturers, and investors — determining market access, vendor eligibility, and whether the right capabilities reach the field in time.
Meanwhile, decades of consolidation, offshoring, and supply chain dependency have weakened parts of the industrial base the country urgently needs. Reshoring defense and aerospace manufacturing is no longer a policy debate — it is a national security priority unfolding across Congress, the Pentagon, and state capitals.
Vertex helps companies, investors, and defense-adjacent organizations navigate the policy, funding, acquisition, and state-level market environments that determine whether capabilities move from promising technology to operational reality.
North Carolina Spotlight
- Fort Bragg, Camp Lejeune, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, Cherry Point, and Pope Army Airfield represent one of the densest concentrations of military presence in the United States — making North Carolina a defining operating environment for defense policy, procurement, and technology deployment.
- North Carolina’s defense economy generates more than $60 billion in annual economic impact, over 800,000 defense-tied jobs, and billions in annual DoD contract obligations — ranking the state among the top recipients of defense spending in the country and making basing decisions, investment attraction, and manufacturing expansion directly consequential to the broader regional economy.
Specialty Areas
- Defense and aerospace market strategy — including North Carolina military installation engagement, defense manufacturing investment, economic development incentives, state defense investment, federal defense community engagement, and state-federal coordination
- Defense appropriations, authorization, and congressional strategy — including NDAA positioning, program funding advocacy, PPBE process engagement, JCIDS requirements shaping, OMB and President’s Budget coordination, and Defense Production Act strategy
- Defense innovation, transition, and commercialization strategy, including dual-use technology, public-private partnerships, SBIR/STTR, STRATFI/TACFI bridge funding, Program Executive Office (PEO) engagement, and pathways into Programs of Record
- Non-traditional and Intelligence Community (IC) acquisition pathway strategy — including Other Transaction Authority (OTA), Middle Tier of Acquisition (MTA), Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO), IARPA and IC acquisition vehicles, and technology transition pathways
- Federal acquisition, contracting strategy, and compliance — including FAR/DFARS, Buy American, Trade Agreements Act (TAA), defense manufacturing regulatory requirements, and small business set-aside positioning including SDVOSB, HUBZone, WOSB, and 8(a)
- Defense cybersecurity, supply chain, and trusted technology policy — including CMMC 2.0, FISMA, CHIPS Act, Microelectronics Commons, trusted microelectronics, domestic sourcing compliance, defense semiconductor and supply chain risk, and NDAA Sections 889 and 5949
- Export controls, CFIUS review, foreign ownership risk, BIS licensing, Entity List navigation, dual-use technology restrictions, and NATO technology transfer and interoperability policy
- Defense AI, autonomous systems, and emerging technology policy — including CDAO engagement, Responsible AI policy alignment, unmanned systems policy, counter-UAS strategy, and Army Future Vertical Lift and Air Launched Effects program engagement
- Advanced air mobility, urban air mobility, and airspace policy — including FAA MOSAIC rulemaking and BVLOS rulemaking, eVTOL type certification and operational approval strategy, AAM and UAM corridor designation, vertiport siting policy, DOD and military AAM integration, state aviation authority and FAA-DOT-DOD interagency coordination, noise and community impact policy, and NAS modernization integration
- DoD and IC spectrum policy, including military-commercial 5G and FutureG coexistence, electromagnetic spectrum operations, satellite communications and FCC coordination, and spectrum competition strategy
- Military facility siting, approvals, and community strategy — including state and local approvals, military installation compatibility, encroachment mitigation, mission protection, and military community engagement
Relevant Regulatory & Government Bodies
Federal
- Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)
- Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)
- Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
- General Services Administration (GSA)
- Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
- U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)
- U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC)
- U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
- Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO)
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
- Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA)
- Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA)
- Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA)
- Defense Innovation Hubs (AFWERX, SpaceWERX, NavalX, AAL, SOFWERX)
- Defense Innovation Unit (DIU)
- Defense Logistics Agency (DLA)
- Defense Research Laboratories and Warfare Centers (AFRL, ONR, NAVSEA, DEVCOM, MCWL)
- U.S. Military Branches (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force)
- U.S. Department of State
- U.S. Senate & House Armed Services & Appropriations Committees
North Carolina
- Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC)
- Local Governments, Planning Boards, Municipal Utility Authorities, and Economic Development Authorities
- North Carolina Department of Administration (NCDOA)
- North Carolina Department of Commerce (NCDOC)
- North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT)
- North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (NCDMVA)
- North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT)
- North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA)
- North Carolina Global TransPark Authority
- North Carolina Military Affairs Commission (NCMAC)
- North Carolina National Guard (NCNG)
- North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM)