Samantha Pennini

Samantha Pennini serves as a Contract Specialist at the Naval Air Warfare Center Air Division, where she plays a pivotal role in acquiring mission-critical aviation systems and technical services that support air superiority and fleet readiness. She manages the full lifecycle of complex procurements for advanced avionics, electronic warfare subsystems, and aircraft integration programs, ensuring compliance with FAR and DoD acquisition regulations. Her work directly enables the development and sustainment of next-generation naval aircraft platforms, bridging technical requirements with sound contracting practices to deliver operational capability on schedule. Pennini maintains longstanding relationships with key industry partners including SABRE SYSTEMS, LLC, THE BOEING COMPANY, SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION, SYSTEMS PLANNING AND ANALYSIS, INC., and ONTIC ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING, INC. These partnerships reflect a focus on high-technology engineering services and specialized aerospace manufacturing, with an emphasis on firms capable of delivering integrated avionics, mission systems, and aircraft component solutions. Her contracting approach emphasizes performance-based outcomes, technical risk mitigation, and collaborative vendor engagement to meet rapidly evolving operational needs. While the majority of her acquisitions are conducted under open competition—approximately 83% with no set-aside—Pennini consistently allocates a meaningful portion of her portfolio to total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5, demonstrating a deliberate commitment to expanding opportunities for qualified small businesses in the defense aerospace sector. Her socioeconomic contracting patterns prioritize broad-based small business participation without reliance on specific socioeconomically designated programs. Her procurement focus centers on NAICS codes 541330 (Engineering Services), 336411 (Aircraft Manufacturing), and 336413 (Other Aircraft Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing), reflecting deep expertise in avionics integration, flight control systems, and mission-critical hardware. She routinely procures technical services supporting sensor modernization, electronic warfare upgrades, and legacy system sustainment, aligning acquisitions with the Navy’s strategic priorities in airborne systems innovation.