MDA awards $429M contract to evaluate potential breakthrough missile defense tech

The Missile Defense Agency has awarded a contract worth up to $429 million to Integration Innovation Inc. (i3) to evaluate potential next-generation missile defense capabilities -- just weeks after unveiling a sweeping new initiative to harness disruptive technologies across the missile defense enterprise.

On June 10, MDA announced an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity award to the Huntsville, AL-based company that will fund the “identification, collection, distribution and analysis of critical test data used to evaluate new and evolving Missile Defense System elements,” according to the contract award.

The agreement runs through 2030, with options extending to 2035. An initial task order of $100,000 was issued using fiscal year 2025 research and development funds.

The award comes in the wake of MDA's May 9 release of its Advanced Capability Concepts solicitation -- a five-year, open-ended call for industry and academia to submit white papers proposing high-impact technologies for missile defense.

That solicitation, structured under MDA's new Multiple Authority Announcement, aims to streamline awards across a broad portfolio of capabilities, including interceptors, artificial intelligence, space-based systems and electronic warfare.

MDA has emphasized the need for technologies that can be demonstrated within two to five years and have near-term operational relevance. Testing and evaluation will be a central part of that push.

Fourteen proposals were submitted for the award, according to the notice.