Jay Classen

Jay Classen serves as a key procurement professional within the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division, supporting the Department of the Navy’s mission to advance ordnance systems and explosive technologies. He manages the acquisition lifecycle for highly specialized munitions manufacturing and ordnance handling systems, ensuring alignment with national defense priorities. His responsibilities include soliciting, evaluating, and awarding contracts for precision explosives, detonation control systems, and specialized testing instrumentation critical to naval weapon reliability. Classen operates within a technically rigorous environment requiring deep familiarity with federal acquisition regulations and defense-specific engineering standards. Classen maintains consistent relationships with a select group of contractors experienced in explosives manufacturing and ordnance lifecycle support, including TOTAL CONCEPTS OF DESIGN INC, Boh Environmental, L.L.C., CHUCKING MACHINE PRODUCTS, INC., CANADIAN COMMERCIAL CORP, and DEVAL LIFE CYCLE SUPPORT LLC. These partnerships reflect a preference for vendors with proven expertise in high-hazard environments, precision machining for munitions, and defense-compliant environmental remediation. His contracting approach emphasizes technical capability, regulatory compliance, and supply chain resilience over volume-based competition. Classen’s procurement portfolio reflects a 100% no set-aside preference, indicating a focus on mission-critical capabilities that require specialized expertise not typically available within small business pools. While socioeconomic set-asides such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB are not utilized, this reflects the highly technical and safety-sensitive nature of the work rather than a lack of small business engagement elsewhere in the agency. His primary procurement focus is exclusively under NAICS 325920—Explosives Manufacturing—encompassing the development, testing, and sustainment of high-energy materials, detonators, propellant systems, and automated ordnance handling equipment. Classen’s expertise lies in acquiring mission-essential components that demand stringent quality controls, hazardous material handling certifications, and compliance with Department of Defense explosives safety standards.