Naval Sea Systems Command
NAVSEA, headquartered at the Washington Navy Yard, designs, builds, buys, and maintains the Navy's ships, submarines, and combat systems.
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What they buy
NAVSEA buys new ships and submarines, ship repair and modernization, combat systems, weapons, and the engineering behind all of it. New construction goes to the private shipbuilders. Repair and overhaul is split between the public naval shipyards at Norfolk, Portsmouth, Puget Sound, and Pearl Harbor and private yards under NAVSEA oversight.
Below the ship level, NAVSEA activities buy machined and fabricated metal parts, valves, pumps, pipe fittings, castings, electrical and electronic assemblies, test fixtures, and tooling. The warfare center divisions, covered on their own page, buy prototypes and engineering support.
How they buy
Headquarters awards the large shipbuilding and combat system contracts, mostly to a few primes. The naval shipyards and regional maintenance centers have their own contracting offices that post smaller buys: repair parts, shop supplies, tooling, and local services, often as purchase orders or blanket purchase agreements.
Common ship spares are usually bought by NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support and DLA Land and Maritime, so a valve or fitting may appear under those buyers instead. NAVSEA notices often cite military specifications, welding and NDT requirements, and Level I or SUBSAFE controls on critical items.
How a small shop gets in
Register in SAM.gov, then follow the contracting offices closest to your work: a specific naval shipyard, a regional maintenance center, or a warfare center division. Set SAM.gov alerts for those offices and for your NAICS codes.
The NAVSEA Office of Small Business Programs publishes outreach events and the small business deputies at its field activities. For shipbuilding and combat systems, subcontracting to the shipbuilder or systems prime is the practical path. Respond to sources sought notices so you are counted as a capable small business before the set-aside decision is made.
Critical ship parts carry extra controls
Items flagged Level I or SUBSAFE require material traceability, certified processes, and objective quality evidence. Read those requirements before you price anything.
Related guides
- Subcontracting to primesHow to get on a prime's approved supplier list.
- Sources sought and RFIsRespond early to shape the set-aside decision.
- Set-asides and small business programsWhich set-asides you qualify for.
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