Kay J. Baltz

Kay J. Baltz serves as a key procurement professional within the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, supporting the agency’s mission to advance undersea warfare technologies through strategic acquisition of specialized industrial systems. Responsible for managing contracts aligned with the Navy’s undersea dominance goals, Baltz oversees the acquisition of ruggedized electronic components, signal processing hardware, and mission-critical subsystems for submarines and unmanned undersea vehicles. Her work directly enables the development, testing, and sustainment of advanced sonar, navigation, and electronic warfare systems, ensuring operational readiness through timely and technically precise contracting actions. Baltz maintains consistent relationships with a core group of contractors including ORDNANCE TECHNOLOGY SERVICE, INC., Boh Environmental, L.L.C., AEROSPACE & COMMERCIAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, MCKENZIE CONSTRUCTION & SITE DEVELOPMENT LLC, and EOS OF NORTH AMERICA, INC. These partnerships reflect a focus on niche engineering firms capable of delivering high-reliability components and infrastructure tailored to harsh undersea environments. Her contracting patterns indicate a preference for established vendors with proven expertise in defense-grade manufacturing and environmental compliance, suggesting a reliance on long-standing, performance-based vendor relationships rather than open-market bidding. Baltz’s procurement activity reflects a 100% no set-aside approach, indicating a prioritization of technical capability and mission-critical performance over socioeconomic preferences. This pattern underscores the specialized nature of the systems being acquired, where only a limited pool of vendors meets the stringent performance, certification, and ruggedization requirements of undersea warfare platforms. Her primary focus is on NAICS 332911 (Industrial Valve Manufacturing), reflecting a deep specialization in procuring precision fluid control systems, hydraulic actuation components, and pressure-rated enclosures essential for undersea sensor integration and vehicle propulsion systems. This technical domain demands stringent compliance with military specifications, highlighting Baltz’s expertise in acquiring mission-essential hardware for extreme operational environments.