Catherine V. Pickering

Catherine V. Pickering serves as a key procurement professional within the Naval Air Warfare Center Air Division, supporting the development, testing, and sustainment of advanced naval aviation systems. She manages complex acquisitions for mission-critical avionics, electronic warfare subsystems, and integrated aircraft systems, ensuring alignment with the Navy’s strategic priorities in air superiority and fleet readiness. Her work spans the full acquisition lifecycle—from requirements definition to contract award and administration—focusing on high-technology platforms that enhance sensor capability, communications resilience, and mission system interoperability across next-generation and legacy aircraft. Pickering maintains consistent working relationships with leading defense contractors including SABRE SYSTEMS, LLC, THE BOEING COMPANY, SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION, SYSTEMS PLANNING AND ANALYSIS, INC., and ONTIC ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING, INC. These partnerships reflect a preference for established prime contractors with deep expertise in aerospace systems integration, signal processing, and mission-critical hardware manufacturing. Her contracting approach emphasizes technical rigor, risk mitigation, and performance-based outcomes, often leveraging indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) and cost-reimbursement contract types to accommodate evolving R&D and sustainment needs. Her procurement portfolio is overwhelmingly dominated by non-set-aside acquisitions, with only 9.1% designated for total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5, indicating a primary reliance on large, technically capable vendors. While small business participation is limited, her contracting patterns remain compliant with statutory requirements and reflect the specialized nature of the systems being procured. Her primary NAICS focus areas include 334511 for airborne sensor and navigation systems, 336411 for aircraft manufacturing, and 423430 for commercial-grade computer and software wholesaling, underscoring her technical expertise in avionics integration, airborne computing architectures, and mission system components. She consistently procures systems requiring compliance with MIL-STD and DO-178C standards, demonstrating deep familiarity with aerospace engineering and defense acquisition regulations.