Maria Wells

Maria J. Wells serves as a Contract Specialist at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, where she plays a pivotal role in executing complex procurements to support the development, testing, and sustainment of advanced naval aviation systems. Her responsibilities encompass the full lifecycle of contract actions—from solicitation and evaluation to award and administration—for mission-critical avionics, flight control instrumentation, diagnostic systems, and specialized aircraft support technologies. She ensures compliance with federal acquisition regulations while aligning acquisitions with the Division’s strategic goals to maintain naval airpower readiness through cutting-edge technical innovation. Wells maintains established working relationships with leading defense and aerospace contractors, including Lockheed Martin Corporation, BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc., and PCI Aviation LLC. These partnerships are characterized by long-term collaboration on high-precision technical deliverables, often involving proprietary instrumentation, embedded software, and mission-critical hardware. Her procurement approach emphasizes technical rigor, risk mitigation, and performance-based contracting, fostering trust with vendors capable of meeting stringent military specifications for reliability and operational endurance. Her contracting patterns reflect a strong preference for open competition, with 89% of awards issued without set-asides, indicating a focus on technical capability over socioeconomic classifications. However, she consistently supports small business participation, with approximately 8.2% of awards designated as total small business set-asides and 2.7% reserved for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, demonstrating a balanced commitment to both mission necessity and socioeconomic goals. Wells specializes in procurements governed by NAICS codes 334515 and 334519, focusing on the manufacturing of precision measuring and controlling devices for electrical signals and industrial process variables. She routinely acquires diagnostic instrumentation, flight data acquisition systems, and auxiliary aircraft components, reflecting deep expertise in aerospace electronics, sensor integration, and test equipment procurement within the naval aviation domain.