Victor J Howard

Victor J. Howard serves as a Contract Negotiator at Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport, where he plays a pivotal role in securing critical technologies that enhance naval warfare capabilities. Responsible for negotiating and administering complex acquisitions, Howard focuses on advanced maritime systems including sensor arrays, navigation instrumentation, electronic warfare components, and integrated communication platforms. His work directly supports NUWC’s mission to develop, test, and evaluate next-generation undersea, surface, and aerial warfare systems, ensuring the Navy maintains technological superiority across contested domains. He routinely handles sole-source and competitive procurements under FAR Part 15, with a strong emphasis on technical performance, risk mitigation, and lifecycle sustainment. Howard maintains consistent contracting relationships with industry leaders such as Science Applications International Corporation, Aerospace & Commercial Technologies, LLC, Astronics Test Systems Inc, Serco Inc, and Mikel Inc. These partnerships are characterized by long-term collaboration on high-technical-risk programs requiring specialized engineering expertise, rapid prototyping, and classified system integration. His negotiation approach emphasizes performance-based outcomes, technical compliance, and supply chain resilience, fostering trusted vendor relationships that align with the Navy’s innovation and readiness objectives. While the majority of his acquisitions—nearly 90%—are conducted without set-asides, Howard demonstrates a measured commitment to small business participation, with approximately 10% of awards structured as Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5. He actively encourages qualified small businesses to compete for opportunities aligned with niche technical capabilities, particularly in electronics manufacturing and systems integration. His procurement focus centers on NAICS 334220 (wireless communications equipment) and 334511 (navigation and guidance systems), with significant activity in custom computer programming (541511) and engineering services (541330). Howard specializes in procuring advanced sonar, radar, signal processing hardware, and embedded software systems essential for naval platform dominance.