Erica M. Collins

Erica M. Collins supports the Naval Oceanographic Office in executing mission-critical procurement activities aligned with the agency’s mandate to deliver advanced oceanographic and geospatial intelligence for naval operations. While her formal title is not specified, her procurement focus centers on acquiring specialized systems for environmental sensing, navigation instrumentation, and undersea warfare technologies. She manages acquisitions that enable real-time data collection, modeling, and analysis of oceanic and atmospheric conditions, ensuring operational superiority in maritime and undersea domains. Her work directly supports strategic priorities in anti-submarine warfare, safe navigation, and global maritime domain awareness through the procurement of high-precision sensors, command and control systems, and geospatial software solutions. Collins collaborates with a diverse set of defense contractors and technology providers, particularly those specializing in nautical and aeronautical instrumentation, hardware manufacturing, and custom software development. Her contracting patterns reflect engagement with firms capable of delivering ruggedized, field-deployable systems that meet stringent military specifications. She maintains collaborative relationships with both established defense primes and innovative small businesses, fostering partnerships that bridge cutting-edge commercial technologies with operational naval requirements. Her procurement strategy prioritizes small business participation, with nearly 28% of awards structured as total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5. While no specific socioeconomic categories like 8(a) or HUBZone are dominant, her consistent use of small business set-asides signals a deliberate commitment to expanding vendor diversity and fostering innovation from non-traditional defense suppliers. Her primary NAICS focus lies in the manufacturing of search, detection, and navigation systems (334511), alongside custom computer programming services (541511) and specialized hardware manufacturing. She routinely procures underwater acoustic sensors, seabed mapping instruments, environmental modeling software, and integrated command systems—reflecting deep technical expertise in oceanographic instrumentation and geospatial data infrastructure critical to naval mission success.