Rachel Pyle

Rachel Pyle serves as a key procurement professional within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Propulsion Directorate, supporting critical research and development initiatives in aerospace propulsion, hypersonics, and advanced materials. She manages complex contract actions aligned with the agency’s mission to accelerate next-generation propulsion systems and adaptive flight control technologies. Her work focuses on securing technical expertise and specialized engineering services to advance U.S. air and space dominance, primarily through competitive, full and open acquisitions under the Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences NAICS category. She plays a central role in translating technical requirements into executable contract vehicles that ensure rapid innovation and fielding of mission-critical capabilities. Pyle maintains consistent working relationships with industry leaders including UES INC, General Electric Company, DCS Corporation, Spirit Aerosystems Inc, and Advanced Thermoplastic Composites LLC. These partnerships reflect a preference for established contractors with proven capabilities in propulsion system design, high-temperature materials development, computational fluid dynamics, and aerospace manufacturing. Her procurement approach emphasizes technical rigor, performance-based outcomes, and long-term collaboration with vendors capable of supporting classified and high-consequence R&D programs under stringent government oversight. Pyle’s acquisition portfolio is exclusively structured as full and open competitions, with no set-asides designated for 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, or other socioeconomic categories. This reflects the highly specialized, mission-critical nature of the work, which demands advanced technical capabilities typically found only among large, experienced defense contractors with extensive security clearances and infrastructure for classified R&D. While small business participation is not formally prioritized, her contracting strategy ensures rigorous evaluation of all offerors based on technical merit and mission readiness. Her primary procurement focus is on NAICS 541715, encompassing fundamental and applied research in propulsion physics, combustion dynamics, thermal protection systems, and advanced composite materials. She procures engineering services, prototype development, test and evaluation, and analytical modeling for hypersonic flight regimes and next-generation turbine and scramjet systems, ensuring the Air Force maintains technological superiority in air and space propulsion domains.