Indefinite Delivery Contract HQ085926DE789

Merlin Labs Inc. (UEI: RSMGNMETUQX9) was awarded a Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) on December 29, 2025, with a ceiling value of $151 billion and an ultimate completion date of December 28, 2035. This is a full and open competition contract with no set-aside designations. The contract supports the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) program, which aims to procure an advanced, multi-domain defense system capable of detecting, tracking, intercepting, and neutralizing threats to U.S. homeland, deployed forces, allies, and friends across air, missile, space, cyber, and hybrid domains. Work under this vehicle encompasses research and development, prototyping, disruptive technologies, systems engineering, weapon design, production, test and evaluation, cybersecurity, and modernization efforts targeting ballistic, hypersonic, cruise missiles, and other advanced aerial threats across all phases of flight. The contract structure supports both classified and unclassified programs with leverage of advanced technologies including artificial intelligence, machine learning, digital engineering, and open systems architectures.

Under this IDIQ vehicle, individual task and delivery orders will utilize various contract types across multiple North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes and may be issued at different classification levels requiring appropriate facility clearances. The contracting approach positions the SHIELD IDIQ as a comprehensive, long-term contracting solution enabling the MDA and other Department of Defense entities to rapidly issue orders under a single flexible mechanism. The original solicitation was issued as a pre-solicitation notice on May 21, 2025, with a draft solicitation released in late July 2025 and the final Request for Proposal (RFP) anticipated in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025. Award was made to all qualifying offerors determined to be responsible sources with technically acceptable proposals conforming to solicitation requirements and demonstrating fair and reasonable pricing, consistent with Federal Acquisition Regulation 15.304(c)(1)(ii) provisions for multiple award IDIQ vehicles.