Office of the Secretary of Defense

The Office of the Secretary of Defense, the civilian policy and oversight arm of the Department of Defense within the federal hierarchy, procures and funds a broad portfolio of defense-related contracts and grants spanning operational support, technology development, and research activities. OSD manages acquisition and funding on behalf of the military departments and defense agencies operating under its authority.

OSD has awarded 93,668 federal contracts since 1978, with combined potential value of $140.45 billion and $112.99 billion obligated to date. Recent annual award volume has been 1,147 in 2022, 1,309 in 2023, 1,432 in 2024, 1,481 in 2025, and 726 year-to-date in 2026. Competitive concentration among prime contractors is highly fragmented; the top five by award count—United Parcel Service Co., Federal Express Corporation, New TECH Solutions Inc., Thundercat Technology LLC, and Advanced Technology International—hold only 10 percent of recent awards. By potential value, the top five (Booz Allen Hamilton, Advanced Technology International, Federal Express Corporation, United Parcel Service Co., and Polar Air Cargo Worldwide) account for 4 percent of combined potential value. OSD contracts heavily through logistics and transportation vendors and professional services firms; UPS and FedEx dominate by award count while Booz Allen Hamilton leads by dollar value, yet no single prime contractor commands a meaningful share of the overall portfolio.

The set-aside mix is heavily weighted toward unrestricted competition: 93 percent of awards carry no set-aside designation. Small-business set-asides (inclusive of total small business, 8(a) sole source, SDVOSB, competitive 8(a), HUBZone, and other designations) account for 6 percent of awards combined, with 8(a) sole source the largest single small-business category at 1 percent of all awards.

OSD has awarded 3,575 federal grants since 1997, with combined federal dollars obligated of $13.42 billion. Recent annual grant volume has been 63 in 2022, 239 in 2023, 304 in 2024, 199 in 2025, and 136 year-to-date in 2026. Grant recipients are highly fragmented; the top five by award count hold only 7 percent of recent awards, and the top five by federal dollars hold 1 percent of combined federal dollars. The Military Department of the State of Oklahoma leads recipients by both metrics with 29 awards totaling $48 million federal dollars. The remaining recipients are primarily universities (Purdue University, University of New Mexico, University of Texas at Arlington, Boise State University, University of West Florida, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, University of Central Florida). The assistance-type mix is evenly split between Project Grants (49 percent of awards) and Cooperative Agreements (48 percent), with Block Grants comprising 3 percent.

Open opportunities include SCO Offensive Fires (solicitation SCO-PS-26-11(12), due October 21, 2026) seeking offensive fires capabilities via SECRET or higher classification; the Department of War Innovation Unit's CLASS ACT pilot program (HQ084526SC002) enabling nontraditional defense contractors to gain facility clearances for classified work under 10 U.S.C. 4022; and Basic Information Awareness Operations (BIAO-RFI-2026), a pre-solicitation RFI from the Strategic Capabilities Office seeking layered information-awareness capabilities to detect and counter adversary cognitive-domain operations.