Michael Pleva

Michael Pleva serves as a key procurement professional within the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), supporting the acquisition and lifecycle sustainment of advanced naval aviation systems. He specializes in managing complex contracts for airborne sensors, mission-critical avionics, and integrated weapon systems, ensuring alignment with the Navy and Marine Corps’ strategic modernization goals. His work directly supports the agency’s mission to maintain air superiority through the development, testing, and fielding of cutting-edge aeronautical technologies. Pleva typically handles full-spectrum acquisitions under FAR and DFARS frameworks, including sole-source, competitive, and performance-based contracts for high-technology platforms used on carrier-based and expeditionary aircraft. Pleva maintains consistent contracting relationships with industry leaders such as Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, Lockheed Martin Corporation, and General Atomics, partnering primarily with prime contractors possessing deep expertise in aerospace systems integration. These relationships are characterized by long-term sustainment contracts, engineering services, and technology refresh initiatives critical to fleet readiness. His procurement approach emphasizes technical performance, supply chain resilience, and mission-critical reliability, often involving multi-year engineering and logistics support agreements. Pleva’s contracting portfolio reflects a strong preference for open competition, with 100% of awards issued under no set-aside classifications. This indicates a focus on technical capability and mission urgency over socioeconomic categorizations, prioritizing the most qualified vendors regardless of business size or certification status. While small business participation is not formally incentivized in his portfolio, vendors of all sizes compete on technical merit and delivery performance. His primary procurement focus lies within NAICS 334511, encompassing the design, development, and integration of search, detection, navigation, guidance, and aeronautical systems. He routinely procures radar suites, electronic warfare components, flight control systems, and data link technologies essential to naval air operations, demonstrating deep expertise in avionics modernization and systems engineering within the defense aerospace domain.