Kara Briscoe

Kara Briscoe serves as a key procurement professional within the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), supporting the lifecycle acquisition and sustainment of advanced naval aviation systems. She manages complex contracting actions for high-priority defense platforms, including guided missiles, unmanned aerial systems, and integrated avionics, ensuring alignment with the Navy and Marine Corps’ operational readiness goals. Her work is central to NAVAIR’s mission of maintaining air superiority through the development, testing, and fielding of next-generation aerospace technologies, with a focus on rapid capability insertion and logistics support for carrier-based and expeditionary aircraft. Briscoe maintains consistent contracting relationships with leading defense prime contractors, including Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, Lockheed Martin Corporation, and General Atomics, partnering with organizations that deliver critical systems such as rotary-wing platforms, strike aircraft, and missile defense solutions. Her procurement approach emphasizes performance-based contracting, technical risk mitigation, and long-term sustainment partnerships, fostering collaboration with vendors capable of supporting integrated weapon system development and fielding across multiple platforms. Her contracting activity reflects a strong preference for full and open competition, with 100% of her acquisitions conducted without set-asides for 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, or other socioeconomic programs. This reflects a strategic alignment with NAVAIR’s requirement for mission-critical capabilities that demand specialized technical expertise and industrial base capacity typically found among large, established defense contractors. Briscoe’s primary focus lies within NAICS 336414—Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Manufacturing—where she procures advanced munitions, guidance systems, propulsion technologies, and associated test and evaluation services. Her domain expertise spans weapons integration, electronic warfare systems, and autonomous aerial platforms, ensuring that procurement decisions support the Navy’s modernization priorities in air dominance, precision strike, and networked combat systems.