Philip J. Zaleski

Philip J. Zaleski serves as BAA Manager at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), under the FA8750 organization, where he leads the solicitation, evaluation, and award of Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs) to advance foundational research in aerospace and defense technologies. His role is central to AFRL’s mission of accelerating innovation in autonomous systems, resilient communications, AI-enabled battle-space awareness, and quantum-enabled capabilities. Zaleski manages complex, non-traditional procurements that bridge academia, industry, and government labs, prioritizing scientific rigor and technical feasibility over commercial off-the-shelf solutions. He oversees the full lifecycle of R&D contracts, from technical proposal evaluation to performance monitoring, ensuring alignment with national security imperatives and emerging technological frontiers. Zaleski maintains strategic partnerships with leading defense and aerospace innovators, including Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin, Eaton Corporation, Technergetics, and Caelight, Inc. These relationships are characterized by long-term, mission-critical collaborations focused on high-risk, high-reward research in physics, engineering, and life sciences. His contracting approach emphasizes technical merit over cost alone, fostering agile, iterative development cycles and encouraging non-traditional defense contractors to engage with AFRL’s research ecosystem. He frequently works with firms possessing deep domain expertise in free-space optical communications, sensor fusion, and advanced materials. Zaleski’s procurement portfolio reflects a strict focus on open competition, with 100% of awards issued under no set-aside conditions. This reflects AFRL’s mandate to source the most technically capable solutions regardless of vendor size or socioeconomic status, prioritizing mission outcomes over socioeconomic preferences. While small businesses are not excluded, they compete on equal footing within a merit-based framework that emphasizes technical superiority and innovation potential. His primary procurement focus is NAICS 541712—Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences—encompassing advanced modeling and simulation, autonomous control architectures, quantum sensing, and next-generation signal processing. Zaleski’s expertise lies in identifying and funding breakthrough research that transitions from lab to field, ensuring AFRL maintains technological dominance in critical defense domains.