Huettel

Cheryl Huettel serves as a key contracting professional within the Missile Defense Agency, where she oversees the acquisition of advanced research and development services critical to the nation’s ballistic and hypersonic missile defense capabilities. Her role centers on managing complex, technical contracts that support the design, integration, and operational testing of sensor networks, command-and-control architectures, and kinetic intercept systems. As a primary point of contact for R&D procurement, she ensures alignment with the MDA’s strategic mission to field layered, adaptive defense solutions through rapid innovation and systems engineering. Her acquisitions typically involve high-risk, high-reward technical projects requiring specialized expertise in aerospace systems, radar phenomenology, and real-time battle management. Huettel maintains collaborative relationships with a diverse ecosystem of defense contractors and research institutions, particularly those with proven capabilities in missile defense technologies and systems integration. While no single contractor dominates her portfolio, she consistently engages firms with deep domain knowledge in hypersonics, missile tracking, and countermeasure development. Her working relationships are characterized by early-stage collaboration, technical risk-sharing, and iterative prototyping, reflecting the MDA’s emphasis on agile acquisition and rapid fielding cycles. Cheryl demonstrates an unwavering commitment to small business participation, with 100% of her acquisitions structured as full small business set-asides under FAR 19.5. This policy ensures that emerging innovators—particularly those certified as HUBZone, SDVOSB, or WOSB firms—have equitable access to high-impact defense R&D opportunities. Her contracting patterns actively foster economic inclusion while cultivating a pipeline of specialized small firms capable of supporting the nation’s evolving missile defense architecture. Her primary procurement focus is NAICS 541715, encompassing physical and engineering research services essential to missile defense innovation. She routinely sources expertise in computational modeling, signal processing, sensor fusion, and live-fire test support, ensuring the MDA maintains technological superiority through cutting-edge, non-biotech R&D. Her domain expertise lies at the intersection of systems engineering and national security innovation, driving procurement decisions that directly enable next-generation intercept capabilities.