Cheryl A. Abele

Cheryl A. Abele serves as a key procurement professional within the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, supporting the Department of the Navy’s mission to advance naval aviation readiness through research, development, test, and evaluation of critical aircraft systems. She manages complex acquisitions for advanced avionics, flight control instrumentation, diagnostic tools, and specialized aerospace components, ensuring alignment with operational requirements for high-performance naval aircraft. Her work directly enables the integration of next-generation technologies into the fleet, bridging technical innovation with acquisition compliance and lifecycle sustainment. Abele maintains longstanding relationships with leading defense contractors including Lockheed Martin Corporation, BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc., and PCI Aviation LLC, among others. These partnerships are centered on the procurement of mission-critical aerospace subsystems, embedded computing hardware, and integrated test and evaluation equipment. Her contracting approach emphasizes technical rigor, performance-based outcomes, and long-term sustainment support, fostering collaborative vendor engagement to meet stringent military aviation standards. Her procurement portfolio reflects a strong preference for open competition, with 95.8% of awards issued without set-aside designations, indicating a focus on technical capability over socioeconomic categorization. While small business participation is limited to 4.2% of awards, primarily under Total Small Business Set-Asides, her approach prioritizes mission-critical performance and system interoperability, aligning with the specialized nature of naval aviation requirements. Abele’s primary NAICS focus areas include 336413 for other aircraft parts and auxiliary equipment, 334511 for aeronautical navigation and guidance systems, and 511210 for software publishing related to defense applications. She routinely procures flight data recorders, avionics integration modules, diagnostic instrumentation, and precision-fabricated metal components used in high-reliability aerospace environments, demonstrating deep expertise in airborne systems engineering and defense electronics procurement.