3R Blog

The $151 Billion "SHIELD" Expansion: Just days ago (Dec 18), the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced an additional 1,086 awards under the SHIELD IDIQ. They have officially transitioned to the "Ordering Phase." The Takeaway: If you aren't a Prime on SHIELD, you need to be a Sub. These Primes are now actively looking for partners to help them deliver AI, Machine Learning, and Digital Engineering at "War Speed."  The  SHIELD (Systems, Hardware, Integration, Engineering, Logis

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) enters FY 2026 in a familiar but more constrained position. Contract spending remains substantial and mission-critical, yet the way DHS buys—and what it prioritizes—is clearly evolving under the Trump 2.0 administration. For contractors, the message is not to exit the market, but to recalibrate. A Consistent Market Share, With Internal Rebalancing Over the last five years, DHS has maintained a steady share of total federal contract ob

As attention turns toward FY 2026, defense contractors are navigating a procurement environment shaped by fiscal restraint, structural reform, and sharper scrutiny of how taxpayer dollars are spent. Despite the political noise surrounding a second Trump administration, the data tells a more measured story: defense agency contracting is not collapsing—but it is changing. A Flat Market, Not a Frozen One Defense agency contract obligations have remained relatively flat over the

For years, artificial intelligence sat on the sidelines of state and local procurement conversations—mentioned often, purchased rarely. That dynamic has now shifted. Recent procurement data shows AI moving decisively from exploratory language into real buying activity across state, local, and education (SLED) agencies. The SLED market represents more than $2 trillion annually and generates hundreds of thousands of competitive opportunities each year. Within that landscape, AI

The Department of Defense has officially overhauled its acquisition structure, transforming the legacy Defense Acquisition System (DAS) into the Warfighting Acquisition System (WAS) —and this isn’t a rebrand. It’s a structural rewrite designed to deliver capabilities faster, integrate commercial innovation, and expand the industrial base at a wartime pace. 1. From Bureaucracy to Speed: A Warfighting Mindset DoD is eliminating key bottlenecks: Program Executive Offices (PEOs)

Two major pieces of defense acquisition reform legislation are now moving through Congress: the Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery (SPEED) Act and the Fostering Reform and Government Efficiency in Defense (FoRGED) Act. While both bills target long-standing inefficiencies in how the Department of Defense buys, manages, and delivers capabilities, they approach reform from different directions. For small and mid-sized defense contractors, understanding

The Philippines once again is reeling from a catastrophic typhoon: lives lost, communities displaced, infrastructure torn apart. As co-founder of 3R Strategic Solutions, I can’t scroll past the devastation unfolding in my home country, the Philippines, without speaking up. Thankfully, my family is safe — but for millions of others, this is not the case. Many Americans may never see this story, but for those back home, it’s not rare... it’s routine. And that’s what makes it so