JULY 22, 2025 – A recently awarded $54.7 million contract is set to play a key role in maintaining the operational readiness of one of the U.S. Navy’s most vital aircraft; the P-8A Poseidon.
Mackenzie Cannataro, a contracting officer with Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support (NAVSUP WSS), successfully led the award of a firm-fixed-price, long-term repair contract for 351 commercial components used on the P-8A. The five-year deal ensures critical parts are available for repair, overhaul and upgrade through June 2030.
More than just a procurement milestone, the contract directly supports warfighters by keeping the Navy’s premier maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft mission-ready.
The P-8A Poseidon, based on the Boeing 737 platform, is a multi-mission aircraft used for anti-submarine warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), and search and rescue operations.
The P-8A Poseidon plays a central role in patrolling contested maritime regions such as the South China Sea, the Arctic, and the North Atlantic; areas where freedom of navigation and undersea threat detection are critical to U.S. and allied security. Operated by the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Norway, South Korea, Germany, and New Zealand, the aircraft’s reliability is essential to joint operations and maintaining coalition readiness in these high-stakes environments.
Cannataro collaborated across multiple functional teams throughout the process, ensuring alignment on requirements, compliance, and mission objectives. Her efforts ensured robust competition under a 100% small business set-aside, maximizing value to the Navy while strengthening supply partnerships with domestic industry.
“Working on this program for the P-8A and watching the team’s efforts come together was a very rewarding experience,” said Cannataro. “This was a very complicated requirement that involved a lot of coordination between the NAVSUP WSS Integrated Weapon System Team, Contracting Department, and Office of Counsel to evaluate proposals and ultimately select the one that offered the best value to the Government.”
Christopher Ruoff, Item Manager Product Lead, served as the technical team lead for the acquisition. The complex nature of the requirement, he explained, required collaboration across multiple disciplines, careful evaluation of proposals, and significant time and resources to ensure the best solution for the fleet.
“I’m happy that I’ve had this experience, especially since not many people in NAVSUP have had the opportunity to be a part of a technical source selection team,” said Ruoff.
He added that the contract will have a meaningful impact on fleet readiness by enabling more timely and reliable support to the P-8A program.
As the Navy continues to meet global security demands, contracts like this are vital to supporting the aircraft, and the sailors, who carry out that mission.
“The work that went into awarding this contract provided me with valuable experience in complex competitive acquisitions and was a reminder of why I love my job,” said Cannataro. “The work we do at NAVSUP WSS directly supports the Fleet, and I’m confident that this five-year contract will ensure our P-8A Fleet remains mission ready. It is very fulfilling to be involved in such important and meaningful work.”
NAVSUP WSS provides the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and allied forces the program and supply support for the weapon systems that keep naval forces mission ready. With locations in Philadelphia; Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; Norfolk, Virginia; and Tucson, Arizona, NAVSUP WSS manages operational readiness for almost 300 deployable ships, 92 submarines, and 3,700 aircraft worldwide.
Story by Maj. Asya Parker
NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support