John C. Murtagh

John C. Murtagh serves as a key procurement lead within the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, supporting the Department of the Navy’s mission to advance naval aviation readiness through research, development, test, and evaluation of critical aircraft systems. He manages complex acquisitions for advanced avionics, flight control instrumentation, diagnostic systems, and mission-critical communications equipment, ensuring alignment with technical specifications for high-performance naval aircraft. His work directly enables the integration of next-generation sensor suites, real-time data acquisition tools, and maintenance infrastructure essential to fleet sustainment and operational superiority. Murtagh maintains long-standing relationships with leading defense contractors including Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc., PCI Aviation LLC, Critical Communications, Controls and Instruments, LLC, and Aerospace & Commercial Technologies, LLC. These partnerships center on the procurement of specialized electronic systems, industrial measurement devices, and embedded instrumentation for aircraft testing and diagnostics. His contracting approach emphasizes technical rigor, performance-based requirements, and vendor collaboration to meet stringent military aviation standards. His procurement portfolio reflects a strong preference for open competition, with 95% of awards issued without set-aside designations, indicating a focus on technical capability over socioeconomic categorization. Nevertheless, he consistently allocates approximately 5% of opportunities to total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5, demonstrating measured but intentional support for qualified small vendors capable of delivering niche aerospace and instrumentation solutions. Murtagh’s primary procurement focus lies in NAICS categories 334519, 334513, and 334515, encompassing the manufacture of precision measuring and controlling devices, industrial process instrumentation, and electrical signal testing equipment. He regularly acquires analytical laboratory instruments, flight data recorders, and wireless communication subsystems critical to aircraft system validation, reflecting deep expertise in avionics engineering and systems integration for naval airpower.