Jessica Hadden

Jessica Hadden serves as a key procurement professional within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Propulsion Directorate, supporting the FA8650 organization’s mission to advance next-generation aerospace propulsion, hypersonics, and high-performance materials. She manages complex research and development contracts focused on technical innovation in flight systems, adaptive control technologies, and advanced functional materials. Her acquisitions primarily involve professional scientific services and specialized fabricated metal products, ensuring the timely integration of cutting-edge capabilities into Air Force and Space Force platforms. She operates within a high-stakes R&D environment where rapid prototyping and technical agility are critical to maintaining U.S. air and space dominance. Hadden maintains consistent working relationships with leading aerospace and defense contractors including UES INC, General Electric Company, DCS Corporation, Spirit Aerosystems Inc, and Advanced Thermoplastic Composites LLC. These partnerships reflect a preference for established industry leaders with proven expertise in propulsion system development, composite material fabrication, and systems integration. Her procurement approach emphasizes technical rigor, performance-based outcomes, and long-term collaboration with vendors capable of delivering mission-critical solutions under demanding aerospace standards. Her contracting activity shows no reliance on socioeconomic set-asides, with 100% of awards issued under full and open competition. This reflects a strategic focus on technical capability over socioeconomic criteria, prioritizing mission readiness and performance over programmatic diversity requirements. While small business participation is not formally incentivized, her portfolio may still include small firms as subcontractors within larger prime contracts. Her primary NAICS focus is 541990, encompassing advanced scientific and technical services such as propulsion modeling, computational fluid dynamics, and materials characterization, with a secondary emphasis on 332999 for specialized metal fabrication of engine components and hypersonic structures. She procures high-fidelity research outputs, prototype hardware, and validated material systems essential to next-generation air-breathing and rocket propulsion architectures.