Cynthia S. Panos

Cynthia S. Panos serves as a Contract Specialist at the Naval Air Warfare Center Air Division, where she plays a critical role in executing complex acquisitions for advanced naval aviation systems. Her responsibilities include managing the full lifecycle of contract actions—from market research and solicitation development to award and administration—for mission-critical aerospace technologies. She supports the agency’s strategic imperative to modernize airborne sensor suites, enhance electronic warfare capabilities, and sustain legacy aircraft subsystems through technically rigorous procurement processes. Panos routinely handles sole-source and competitive acquisitions for high-performance avionics, communications networks, navigation systems, and integrated mission equipment essential to air superiority and fleet readiness. She 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 are characterized by deep technical collaboration, often involving classified or controlled technical data under ITAR and DFARS compliance frameworks. Panos fosters long-term vendor engagement through structured performance monitoring and risk-informed contract management, ensuring alignment with evolving operational requirements. Panos’s procurement portfolio reflects a 100% no set-aside preference, indicating a focus on full and open competition for mission-essential capabilities requiring specialized engineering expertise and large-scale industrial capacity. While small business participation is not formally prioritized in her award patterns, she ensures compliance with all applicable socioeconomic requirements through transparent solicitation design and fair evaluation criteria. Her primary procurement focus is squarely on NAICS 336411 (Aircraft Manufacturing), encompassing the integration of advanced flight control systems, radar and electro-optical sensors, electronic countermeasures, and data link architectures. She specializes in procuring complex, high-integrity systems for manned and unmanned naval aircraft, demonstrating deep familiarity with military aviation standards, DO-178C, MIL-STD-1553, and other aerospace certification frameworks.