Jessica R. Horst

Jessica R. Horst serves as a key procurement professional within the W6QK Acc-rsa office of the Department of the Army, where she supports the acquisition of mission-critical aerospace systems and technical services essential to the modernization of U.S. Army aerial and missile defense platforms. Her responsibilities encompass the full lifecycle management of contracts for avionics, propulsion components, and guided missile subsystems, with a primary focus on sustaining and upgrading platforms such as the UH-60 Black Hawk and AH-64 Apache. She ensures compliance with defense acquisition regulations while aligning procurement decisions with strategic readiness objectives, working closely with engineering and program management teams to translate technical requirements into enforceable contract deliverables. Horst maintains a broad network of industrial partners, engaging with prime contractors and specialized suppliers in aerospace manufacturing and systems engineering. Her procurement approach emphasizes technical proficiency and performance-based outcomes, often partnering with firms possessing deep expertise in radar integration, flight control systems, and missile guidance hardware. While no single contractor dominates her portfolio, she consistently works with vendors capable of delivering high-reliability components under stringent military specifications, fostering long-term collaborations built on quality assurance and supply chain resilience. Her contracting activity reflects a strong preference for open competition, with 100% of her acquisitions conducted without socioeconomic set-asides. This indicates a focus on technical capability and mission necessity over socioeconomic categorization, prioritizing performance, innovation, and readiness over programmatic diversity mandates. Horst’s procurement portfolio is concentrated in NAICS 541330 (Engineering Services) and 336413 (Other Aircraft Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing), underscoring her specialization in advanced aerospace engineering and precision component fabrication. She routinely procures integrated avionics suites, flight control actuators, missile seeker assemblies, and maintenance support services critical to maintaining air dominance and layered defense capabilities. Her technical domain expertise lies at the intersection of systems integration, survivability enhancements, and field-deployable aerospace hardware.