Clara Hayward

Clara Hayward serves as a key procurement lead within the W6QK Acc-ri, a critical unit of the Department of the Army responsible for sustaining and modernizing the U.S. Army’s industrial base for munitions, precision components, and battlefield support systems. She manages a diverse portfolio of acquisitions centered on cutting tool manufacturing, machine tool accessories, and mission-critical fabrication services, ensuring the readiness of weapons systems and ammunition production lines. Her work directly supports the lifecycle maintenance of field equipment and the modernization of defense manufacturing infrastructure, aligning closely with the agency’s strategic imperative to secure resilient, domestic supply chains for ordnance and precision-machined components. Hayward maintains consistent contracting relationships with specialized industrial contractors including AMD INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC, FAXON MACHINING, LLC, and Allied Metal Tech, LLC, all of which provide high-precision metal fabrication and tooling solutions. She also engages with technology partners such as PALANTIR USG INC to integrate data-driven maintenance and logistics systems into production workflows. Her procurement approach emphasizes long-term vendor partnerships with firms possessing specialized technical capabilities in defense-grade machining and industrial automation, prioritizing reliability, compliance, and supply chain security over volume-based sourcing. Her contracting patterns reflect a balanced commitment to socioeconomic goals, with half of her awards structured as Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5, and the other half open to all competitors. This dual-track strategy ensures robust small business participation while maintaining access to large-capacity industrial providers when scale or technical complexity demands it. She actively leverages small business set-asides to cultivate a diverse supplier base capable of supporting niche defense manufacturing requirements. Hayward’s primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 333515 for cutting and machine tool accessory manufacturing, complemented by equal emphasis on NAICS 511210 for software solutions supporting defense production and NAICS 518210 for secure computing infrastructure and data services. Her expertise spans both physical manufacturing systems and the digital ecosystems enabling predictive maintenance, inventory control, and production analytics for Army industrial facilities.