The Missile Defense Agency has handed an up-to-$82,448,871 acquisition and contracting support contract to Hive Group, LLC, a HUBZone-certified, service-disabled veteran-owned small business based in McLean, Virginia. The award covers technical acquisition support work spread across five MDA sites, from Fort Belvoir to Redstone Arsenal.
Background
MDA runs a sprawling acquisition portfolio spanning interceptor programs, sensor networks, and directed-energy research, and like most defense agencies it leans on contractor support staff to keep that machinery moving. Business systems, source selection, contract pricing, and small-business outreach all require specialized labor that the agency supplements through competitively awarded support contracts rather than growing its own civilian workforce to match every surge in acquisition activity.
Hive Group has built its business around exactly that niche, having picked up multiple GSA OASIS+ Small Business IDIQ awards for management and advisory services and positioning itself as a go-to acquisition-support vendor for agencies that need help running source selections, pricing evaluations, and compliance reviews without adding permanent federal headcount. The firm's HUBZone and service-disabled veteran-owned certifications give it access to additional small-business set-aside categories beyond the standard OASIS+ Small Business pool.
The new MDA task order was competed under that OASIS+ Small Business vehicle. Five proposals came in, and Hive Group's technical and price offer won out. The contract number is HQ085826FE009, and the Missile Defense Agency in Huntsville, Alabama, holds the contracting authority.
OASIS+ itself is GSA's successor to the original OASIS multiple-award vehicle, built to give agencies a fast lane for professional services task orders without running a full and open competition from scratch every time. The Small Business pool under OASIS+ restricts competition to small businesses, which is why a firm like Hive Group — holding HUBZone and SDVOSB certifications on top of its OASIS+ position — can compete on a level field against other small firms rather than facing off against the large systems integrators that dominate much of MDA's technical contracting.
Key Details
The contract is structured as a cost-plus-fixed-fee vehicle with a total potential value of $82,448,871 once all options are exercised. Only $908,688 in fiscal 2026 research, development, test, and evaluation funds were obligated at the time of award, which is typical for a support services contract where funding flows through task orders tied to actual work performed rather than a lump sum paid up front.
Hive Group's scope of work spans seven functional areas: business systems support, policy and compliance support, source selection support, contract pricing support, contract management and strategic operations support, acquisition operations support, and dedicated support to MDA's Office of Small Business Programs. That last line item is notable given Hive Group's own small-business pedigree — the company will be helping the agency run the very small-business outreach programs that helped build its own contract portfolio.
Performance is split across five locations that map to where MDA does its acquisition and testing work: Fort Belvoir and Dahlgren in Virginia, Colorado Springs in Colorado, Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, and Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, where MDA's headquarters sits. Spreading the work across those sites means Hive Group will need acquisition support staff embedded near program offices rather than centralized in a single location, a common feature of MDA support contracts given how geographically distributed the agency's programs are.
The award appeared in the Department of War's July 9, 2026 daily contracts announcement alongside a handful of other Navy and missile-defense awards, a routine batch release the Pentagon issues most business days to disclose contract actions above the reporting threshold.
What It Means for Contractors
The award is a useful data point for small businesses eyeing acquisition support work at MDA specifically and inside the missile defense enterprise generally. A five-offer field on a competed OASIS+ task order shows there is real competition for this kind of work, but also that a well-positioned HUBZone/SDVOSB firm with a track record can still win against a crowded field of acquisition support vendors chasing the same OASIS+ pool.
For teaming partners and subcontractors, the geographic spread across five sites signals where MDA expects acquisition workload to concentrate over the life of the contract. Firms with existing footholds near Redstone Arsenal, Kirtland, Dahlgren, Colorado Springs, or Fort Belvoir may find subcontracting opportunities as Hive Group staffs up to cover all five locations simultaneously.
The contract also underscores how much of MDA's day-to-day acquisition machinery — source selection panels, pricing analysis, small business coordination — now runs through outside contractor support rather than in-house federal staff. That trend has held steady for years across the Department of War's acquisition workforce, and contracts like this one keep the pipeline of acquisition support work flowing to small businesses that can demonstrate both the technical expertise and the compliance track record MDA is looking for.
Competitors watching the small-business acquisition support space should note the low initial obligation relative to the ceiling value. With only about 1.1 percent of the total contract value obligated at award, the bulk of the $82.4 million will flow through task orders issued over the life of the contract, meaning the real competitive action for subcontractors and follow-on opportunities is still ahead rather than already locked in.
Firms that hold OASIS+ Small Business positions and have acquisition support experience with sensor, missile defense, or other high-tempo DoD acquisition programs should watch for follow-on task order announcements as MDA staffs out the seven functional areas covered under this award. The Office of Small Business Programs support line in particular could open doors for firms looking to build relationships with MDA's small-business advocates directly.
The award also illustrates a broader pattern worth tracking: agencies increasingly favor OASIS+ Small Business task orders over standalone solicitations for acquisition support labor, because the vehicle lets them skip a lengthy new procurement and instead run a shorter, targeted competition among firms already vetted for the pool. Small businesses that have not yet secured an OASIS+ Small Business position may find themselves locked out of opportunities like this one regardless of technical qualifications, making pursuit of that underlying vehicle position — not just individual task orders — the more strategic long-term play for firms chasing MDA and broader DoD acquisition support work.
