Strategic Advisory

Navigate defense procurement like someone who has done it before.

Government contracting is one of the most complex business environments in the world. We help defense and dual-use technology companies build capture strategies, win contracts, and scale within the federal procurement ecosystem.

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annual DoD
contract spend
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of DoD dollars go
to the top 5 primes
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SBIR Phase II to
Phase III transition
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contractors facing
CMMC certification

01 · The Challenge

Defense Procurement Is Not Just Complex. It Is a Different Operating System.

Selling to the Department of Defense is fundamentally different from selling to the private sector. The Federal Acquisition Regulation runs to over 2,000 pages. The Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement adds thousands more. Each agency maintains its own supplements, evaluation criteria, and procurement culture. What works at Air Force Materiel Command will not work at Naval Sea Systems Command.

Beyond the regulatory framework, competitive dynamics in defense are unlike any commercial market. Incumbents build relationships over decades. Proposals are evaluated by color teams with scoring rubrics that penalize ambiguity. A single administrative error in proposal formatting can eliminate an otherwise superior technical solution. Bid protests can delay awards for months. Pricing must survive audit scrutiny under DCAA standards.

Most companies that fail in government contracting do not fail because their technology is inadequate. They fail because they underestimate the procurement environment, pursue the wrong opportunities, or submit proposals that do not speak the language evaluators expect. The companies that succeed consistently are the ones that treat capture management as a discipline, not a side project.


02 · What We Provide

End-to-End Capture and Competitive Positioning

US Defense Group provides strategic advisory across the full lifecycle of government contract capture, from opportunity identification through post-award transition. Our team includes former defense acquisition professionals, military officers, and technology company founders who have competed for and won federal contracts across DoD, intelligence community, and civilian agencies.

01Capture Management
Structured capture processes from opportunity identification through proposal submission. We build capture plans that define win themes, competitive positioning, customer engagement strategies, and teaming requirements before the solicitation drops.
02Competitive Intelligence
Detailed analysis of incumbent contractors, likely competitors, and award patterns. Understanding who holds the current contract, what they bid, and where their performance gaps are is essential to building a credible displacement strategy.
03Proposal Strategy
Win theme development, compliance matrix construction, volume architecture, and color team review facilitation. We structure proposals to score well against published evaluation criteria, not just to describe your capabilities.
04Pricing Strategy
Cost volume development, rate structure analysis, and pricing models that are competitive while surviving DCAA audit scrutiny. Includes labor category mapping, indirect rate positioning, and should-cost analysis for competitive benchmarking.
05Past Performance Positioning
Past performance is often the most heavily weighted evaluation factor after technical approach. We help companies structure past performance narratives, identify relevant contract references, and frame commercial experience in terms evaluators recognize.
06Vehicle Strategy
GWAC, IDIQ, BPA, and GSA Schedule strategy. The right contract vehicle can mean the difference between competing against 200 bidders on an open solicitation and competing against 15 on a task order. We help companies identify, qualify for, and position on the vehicles that matter for their market.

03 · How Engagements Work

Five Phases from Assessment to Award

Every engagement begins with an assessment of where the company stands today and what it will take to compete effectively. From there, we build and execute a structured capture plan.

01

Strategic Assessment

We evaluate your company's current positioning: existing contract vehicles, past performance portfolio, compliance readiness, competitive landscape, and organizational capacity. This produces a clear picture of where you can compete today and what gaps need to close before you can compete for larger or more complex opportunities. The assessment typically takes two to four weeks and results in a prioritized roadmap.

02

Pipeline Development

Using a combination of GovSeek intelligence and direct market research, we build a qualified pipeline of opportunities matched to your capabilities, past performance, and certifications. Each opportunity is scored on probability of win, strategic value, and resource requirements. The goal is a pipeline deep enough to sustain consistent growth, not a list of everything on SAM.gov.

03

Capture Execution

For priority pursuits, we execute a full capture plan: customer engagement, competitive analysis, teaming partner identification and outreach, solution development, and pre-proposal positioning. The best proposals are written months before the RFP drops. Capture execution is where most companies underinvest, and where the outcome is most often determined.

04

Proposal Support

When the solicitation is released, we provide proposal management, volume architecture, compliance review, and color team facilitation. This includes constructing the compliance matrix, developing win themes for each evaluation criterion, structuring past performance narratives, and building cost volumes that are both competitive and defensible. We can support a full proposal effort or augment your internal team for specific volumes.

05

Post-Award Transition

Winning the contract is not the finish line. We support the transition from award to performance, including staffing plans, subcontractor onboarding, compliance infrastructure activation, and initial program management office standup. For companies winning their first significant government contract, this phase is critical. Poor transition execution can turn a strategic win into a performance risk.


04 · Who This Is For

Companies at Critical Growth Inflection Points

Our advisory engagements are designed for companies that have the technical capability to compete in the defense market but need the capture infrastructure, procurement expertise, and strategic positioning to convert that capability into contract revenue.

Small Businesses Entering Defense
Companies with proven technology seeking their first federal contract or SBIR award. We help build the compliance foundation, identify the right entry points, and structure initial proposals that establish past performance. For companies navigating their first government contract, the learning curve is steep, and the cost of mistakes is measured in years, not weeks.
Commercial Tech Pivoting to GovCon
Established commercial technology companies expanding into the defense market. The technology may be ready, but the go-to-market is entirely different: compliance infrastructure, security clearances, proposal culture, and customer engagement all need to be built or adapted. We help commercial companies make that transition without losing two years to trial and error.
Mid-Market Contractors Scaling Up
Companies with existing federal revenue that need to break through to the next tier, whether that means qualifying for larger contract vehicles, expanding into new agencies, or building the capture management discipline required to compete for $25M+ opportunities. Teaming strategy and teaming agreements become critical at this stage.
Defense Startups Post-SBIR
SBIR and STTR Phase II awardees facing the Valley of Death between research funding and production contracts. Only about 5% of Phase II awards transition to Phase III. We help companies navigate the DoD acquisition cycle, build the relationships and compliance posture needed to bridge that gap, and position for production-scale awards.

05 · Why US Defense Group

Operators, Not Observers

The defense advisory landscape is full of former government officials who advise from a distance and consultants who have never competed for a contract themselves. US Defense Group is different. Our team includes people who have built and scaled technology companies in the defense sector, who have served as test pilots and acquisition professionals inside DoD, and who have personally led capture efforts from opportunity identification through contract award.

We are not a Beltway consultancy charging $500 an hour for slide decks. We are an operating platform that works alongside your leadership team to build repeatable capture processes, develop qualified pipelines, and win contracts. Our affiliated platform GovSeek provides the AI-powered intelligence layer, and our accelerator Launcher Station provides a structured pathway for companies at the earliest stages of federal market entry.

When we advise on proposal strategy, it is because we have written and won proposals. When we advise on pricing, it is because we have built cost volumes that survived DCAA scrutiny. When we advise on teaming, it is because we have structured and executed teaming agreements on live pursuits. That is the difference between advisory and operating.


06 · The Landscape

Defense Procurement by the Numbers

Annual DoD Contracting
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The Department of Defense awards over $450 billion in contracts annually, making it the largest single buyer in the world. That spending spans everything from aircraft carriers to cybersecurity software.
Small Business Share
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Federal agencies are required to award at least 23% of prime contract dollars to small businesses. In practice, meeting this goal requires companies that know how to find and win set-aside opportunities.
SBIR/STTR Annual Funding
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SBIR and STTR programs, reauthorized through 2031, provide approximately $6 billion annually in R&D funding. These programs are one of the most accessible entry points into defense contracting for technology startups.

Ready to Build Your Capture Strategy?

If your company has the technology to compete in defense and needs the capture infrastructure to win, we should talk.