Richard S. Zheng

Richard S. Zheng serves as a key procurement professional within the Naval Air Warfare Center Air Division, overseeing the acquisition of advanced naval aviation systems critical to air superiority and fleet readiness. He manages complex contracting actions focused on the development, integration, and sustainment of mission-critical avionics, electronic warfare suites, communications networks, and airborne sensor systems. His portfolio centers on high-technology aircraft subsystems aligned with the Department of Defense’s modernization priorities, ensuring seamless interoperability across next-generation platforms. Zheng’s work directly supports the agency’s mission to field cutting-edge capabilities while maintaining legacy aircraft readiness through lifecycle sustainment contracts. Zheng maintains consistent partnerships with leading defense contractors including SABRE SYSTEMS, LLC, THE BOEING COMPANY, SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION, SYSTEMS PLANNING AND ANALYSIS, INC., and ONTIC ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING, INC. These relationships reflect a pattern of engaging prime contractors with proven expertise in aerospace systems integration, signal processing, and mission systems engineering. His contracting approach emphasizes technical rigor, performance-based acquisition, and long-term sustainment planning, often leveraging Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) and Other Transaction Authority (OTA) mechanisms to accelerate innovation and responsiveness. Zheng’s procurement activity shows no preference for socioeconomic set-asides, with 100% of awards issued under full and open competition. This reflects a strategic focus on technical capability and mission urgency over socioeconomic classifications, prioritizing the most qualified industry partners 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 is exclusively under NAICS 336411 (Aircraft Manufacturing), encompassing the design, integration, and testing of airborne systems including radar, electronic countermeasures, data links, and flight control subsystems. Zheng’s expertise lies in procuring highly specialized hardware and software solutions for military aircraft, requiring deep familiarity with MIL-STD, DO-178C, and DO-254 compliance standards.