Defense Systems And Solutions

Defense Systems And Solutions, an Alaskan Native Corporation-owned, minority-owned small disadvantaged business based in Huntsville, Alabama, competes exclusively under the Competitive 8(a) set-aside on rotary-wing aircraft modifications, avionics integration, aircraft survivability equipment installation, and ground vehicle engineering as a prime contractor to the Department of Defense. The company is a subsidiary of Yulista Integrated Solutions LLC and holds 417 prime awards collectively valued at $8.69 billion combined potential, with $5.33 billion obligated as of July 2026.

Defense Systems And Solutions' footprint is heavily concentrated in rotary-wing sustainment and modernization. The company delivers aircraft modifications and test equipment for UH-60 Black Hawk, AH-64 Apache, CH-47 Chinook, MV-22/V-22 Osprey, and H-1 Attack Reconnaissance helicopters. Recent work includes a $135.8 million Naval Air Systems Command delivery order (September 2024) for V-22 Osprey fleet modernization under the Mission Computer Obsolescence Initiative and VFORCE programs; a $183 million PEO Aviation delivery order (March 2023) for design, modification, and documentation of UH-60M aircraft configured for the Commonwealth of Australia with ultimate completion February 2031; a $74.2 million order (July 2025) for UH-60M modification kits configured for Hellenic Army specifications; and a $48.1 million order (July 2025) for modification and delivery of UH-60M Black Hawks for the Brazilian Army under Foreign Military Sales. Concrete capabilities span airworthiness certification support, survivability equipment integration including Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasure systems, ballistic panel installation, foreign military sales technical support, and component provisioning across platform variants.

Customer concentration sits with the Army's Research Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) and the Army Acquisition Support Center's Program Executive Office for Aviation (PEO Aviation). RDECOM carries 60 awards valued at $5.16 billion combined potential (59% of portfolio dollars); PEO Aviation carries 167 awards valued at $1.92 billion (22% of dollars). The Navy's Naval Air Systems Command places 22 awards worth $285 million. The top five customer agencies account for approximately 89% of the combined potential value across 305 awards, indicating substantial concentration. This split reflects tension between award volume (PEO Aviation leads with 167 orders) and dollar magnitude (RDECOM dominates with $5.16 billion).

Defense Systems And Solutions operates almost entirely on a single parent vehicle: Indefinite Delivery Contract W58RGZ-18-D-0001, the Prototype Integration Facility (PIF) at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. The source explicitly states the company holds 373 of its 397 prime awards on this vehicle, collectively valued at $3.52 billion combined potential. The PIF IDC, administered by the Army and covering rotary-wing aircraft modifications, ground vehicle engineering, missile defense systems, and advanced sensor integration across Army and Navy platforms, anchors the vendor's entire competitive posture. A secondary vehicle, Indefinite Delivery Contract W911KF17D0005, carries 22 task orders worth $17.1 million.

Activity has grown modestly year-over-year: 39 awards in 2022 to a peak of 54 in 2023, then stabilizing at 52 awards in 2024 and 53 in 2025. Through July 2026, 26 awards have been placed. Critically, 124 awards (combined potential value $1.73 billion) complete within the next twenty-four months and face recompete. This represents a significant recompete cliff—approximately 20% of the portfolio's combined potential value is exposed to competitive renewal in the FY2026–FY2027 window.

SCI-reportable invoiced revenue on federal services contracts demonstrates scaling. The vendor invoiced $6.5 million in FY2022 across 33.5 FTEs, growing to $42 million in FY2024 across 74.8 FTEs. Government-paid hourly rates derived from SCI data run a wide spectrum: 10th percentile at $72.12 per hour, median around $130 per hour, and 90th percentile reaching $1,512.37 per hour, reflecting a mix of field technician labor, engineering support, and program management roles. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors account for approximately 1 percent of total contractor hours; Defense Systems And Solutions predominantly self-performs labor with minimal subcontractor engagement on reportable work. The source identifies only 2 named subcontractors in SCI records, indicating the vendor builds its own delivery teams rather than operating as a feeder contractor.

Outside SCI reporting, the award narratives reveal extensive teaming relationships. Named subcontractors span major defense primes—Honeywell International (avionics and power systems), Boeing (aircraft components and structural assemblies), Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (helicopter components and technical support), L3Harris Technologies (electronic warfare and communications), and BAE Systems (defense electronics)—alongside specialized small businesses including Robertson Fuel Systems (crashworthy fuel systems), Martin-Baker America (aircraft safety equipment), Strata-G Solutions (Alaskan Native Corporation-owned aerospace materials), and numerous women-owned and veteran-owned small disadvantaged businesses providing materials, components, and fabrication support across the rotary-wing modernization supply chain. This multi-vendor approach reflects the complexity of aircraft modification and foreign military sales sustainment, where the prime integrates specialized component suppliers rather than manufacturing all deliverables in-house.

The vendor's footprint is nearly 100 percent concentrated in the Competitive 8(a) set-aside category; only a handful of awards (fewer than five from the 417 listed) carry "No Set-Aside Used" designation. This means Defense Systems And Solutions competes predominantly under 8(a) vehicles and has built its entire federal contracting posture around small business contracting advantage rather than full-and-open competition. The reliance on a single parent IDC vehicle and exclusive 8(a) positioning creates both strategic depth—the PIF contract is stable and long-lived—and concentration risk if the parent vehicle is not recompeted in Defense Systems And Solutions' favor or if 8(a) eligibility changes.