Maripet Short, Contracting Officer

Maripet Short serves as a Contracting Specialist within the FA8539 organization of the Department of the Air Force, responsible for managing complex acquisitions of airborne electronic systems critical to air dominance and mission readiness. She supports the sustainment and modernization of advanced avionics, radar, navigation, and identification systems across legacy and next-generation platforms, ensuring operational integrity and cybersecurity resilience. Her portfolio primarily encompasses full lifecycle procurement activities—from requirements definition through contract award and administration—for mission-critical defense electronics, with a strong emphasis on technical compliance and system interoperability. Maripet maintains consistent working relationships with key industry partners including Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, AMD International Technologies LLC, and R F Products, Inc., leveraging their deep expertise in electronic warfare, signal processing, and aerospace-grade component manufacturing. These partnerships are characterized by long-term collaboration on high-priority sustainment programs, often involving engineering change proposals, obsolescence management, and technology insertion initiatives. Her procurement approach emphasizes technical rigor, risk mitigation, and performance-based outcomes, fostering trusted vendor relationships grounded in quality and mission alignment. Maripet’s contracting activity reflects a 100% non-set-aside profile, indicating a focus on full and open competition for technically demanding systems requiring specialized capabilities not typically available within small business pools. While socioeconomic set-asides are not utilized in her portfolio, her acquisitions remain compliant with all federal procurement regulations and prioritize mission necessity over socioeconomic preferences. Her primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 334511, encompassing the development and integration of search, detection, navigation, and guidance systems, alongside NAICS 811219 for specialized maintenance and repair of aerospace electronics. She routinely procures mission-critical components such as radar processors, electronic countermeasure modules, secure data links, and embedded flight systems, demonstrating deep technical fluency in airborne electronic warfare and avionics modernization domains.