Krista Hayden

Krista Hayden serves as a key procurement professional within the Naval Air Warfare Center Air Division, supporting the development and sustainment of advanced naval aviation systems. She manages complex engineering and technical acquisitions critical to modernizing airborne sensor suites, electronic warfare systems, and mission-critical avionics. Her work directly enables the Navy’s operational readiness by ensuring timely delivery of high-performance aircraft subsystems through competitive contracting processes. Hayden focuses primarily on engineering services contracts that support systems integration, test and evaluation, and lifecycle sustainment of next-generation naval aircraft platforms. She maintains consistent partnerships with leading defense contractors including SABRE SYSTEMS, LLC, THE BOEING COMPANY, SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION, SYSTEMS PLANNING AND ANALYSIS, INC., and ONTIC ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING, INC. These relationships reflect a preference for established industry leaders with proven expertise in aerospace systems engineering, electronic integration, and mission systems support. Her contracting approach emphasizes technical rigor, performance-based outcomes, and long-term sustainment capabilities, fostering collaborative partnerships with vendors capable of delivering mission-critical solutions under stringent military specifications. Hayden’s procurement portfolio reflects a 100% no set-aside preference, indicating a focus on full and open competition across the defense industrial base. While small business participation is not formally prioritized through socioeconomic set-asides, her contracts often involve subcontracting arrangements that enable small businesses to contribute specialized technical capabilities under prime contractor oversight. Her primary procurement focus is on NAICS 541330 (Engineering Services), encompassing systems engineering, avionics integration, signal processing, and flight control system development. She routinely procures services related to radar and electronic warfare system modernization, airborne communication architecture upgrades, and sustainment of legacy naval aircraft platforms, demonstrating deep expertise in aerospace engineering and defense systems lifecycle management.