Kate Arsenault

Kate Arsenault serves as a Contract Negotiator at Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport, where she plays a pivotal role in securing advanced maritime technologies critical to naval dominance. She manages the negotiation and award of complex contracts for sensor systems, electronic warfare components, and integrated communication platforms that support undersea, surface, and aerial operations. Her work directly enables NUWC’s mission to advance naval warfare capabilities through rigorous research, development, testing, and evaluation. Arsenault specializes in technical acquisitions requiring deep engineering expertise, particularly in navigation, sonar, and signal processing systems, ensuring compliance with DoD acquisition regulations and operational readiness requirements. She maintains strong, ongoing relationships with key contractors including Science Applications International Corporation, Aerospace & Commercial Technologies, LLC, Astronics Test Systems Inc, Serco Inc, and Mikel Inc. These partnerships reflect a consistent reliance on established defense technology providers with proven capabilities in high-performance electronic systems and mission-critical test equipment. Arsenault’s negotiation approach emphasizes technical validation, performance-based outcomes, and risk mitigation, fostering collaborative yet disciplined vendor engagement aligned with naval operational needs. While the majority of her acquisitions are unrestricted, Arsenault demonstrates a meaningful commitment to small business participation, with approximately 35.7% of her contracts awarded under total small business set-asides per FAR 19.5. She actively facilitates opportunities for qualified small businesses in the defense technology sector, though she does not routinely utilize specialized socioeconomic programs such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB set-asides. Her primary procurement focus centers on NAICS 511210 (Software Publishers), reflecting significant investment in custom software for sensor data processing and mission systems integration. She also regularly procures services under NAICS 561492 (Court Reporting) and 541511 (Custom Computer Programming), alongside technical hardware manufacturing under NAICS 334511 (Navigation and Guidance Systems) and 334417 (Electronic Connectors), underscoring her expertise in both software and hardware domains critical to modern naval systems.