Charlotte T. Brooks

Charlotte T. Brooks serves as a key procurement professional within the Naval Research Laboratory, supporting the agency’s mission to advance foundational scientific and technological capabilities for naval and national security. She manages complex research and development acquisitions focused on high-precision sensors, electronic warfare systems, signal processing architectures, and autonomous navigation technologies. Her work ensures that cutting-edge innovations in physical sciences and engineering are rapidly transitioned from laboratory prototypes to operational maritime platforms, aligning contract execution with strategic R&D priorities. She typically handles sole-source and competitive negotiated procurements under FAR Part 35 and Part 36, emphasizing technical merit and mission-critical performance over cost alone. Brooks maintains longstanding relationships with a select group of high-technical-capability contractors, including Assurance Technology Corp, L3Harris NexGen Communications LLC, Envisioneering Inc, Integration Innovation Inc, and Analex Corporation. These partnerships are characterized by deep technical collaboration, often involving early-stage engineering support, prototype development, and rapid iteration cycles. Her procurement approach favors vendors with proven expertise in defense-grade instrumentation, embedded systems, and classified signal analysis, frequently engaging them through direct award or limited competition to preserve proprietary research integrity and schedule agility. Brooks’s contracting portfolio reflects a strict focus on open competition, with 100% of awards issued under no set-aside categories. She does not routinely utilize 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, or other socioeconomic programs, prioritizing technical capability and mission readiness over socioeconomic preferences. This approach underscores the specialized nature of NRL’s work, where proprietary technologies and security clearances often limit the pool of qualified offerors. Her primary procurement activity falls under NAICS 541712, encompassing research and development in physical and engineering sciences. She procures advanced hardware and software systems for radar signal interpretation, electronic countermeasures, autonomous underwater vehicle guidance, and quantum-enhanced sensing, requiring contractors with expertise in RF design, FPGA programming, and classified data fusion architectures.