Author Archive

Ross Wilkers

Senior Staff Reporter

Ross Wilkers
Ross Wilkers covers the business of government contracting, companies and trends that shape the market. He joined WT in 2017 and works with Editor-in-Chief Nick Wakeman to host and produce our WT 360 podcast that features discussions with the market's leading executives and voices. Ross is a native of Northern Virginia and is an alumnus of George Mason University.
Contracts

Space Force narrows the field in $100M terminal competition

Three companies are tasked to develop prototypes of the terminals, which Space Force will evaluate for interoperability and fit into a future data transport network.

Companies

X-Bow closes $105M Series B round, enters Lockheed partnership pact

The world’s largest defense company led this round to continue its involvement in the solid rocket motor maker, while Boeing Ventures also is staying in.

Podcasts

WT 360: Clear themes to note from the emerging structural changes to acquisition

Tris Carpenter, general manager for strategic growth at Red Team Consulting, goes over what companies should look for in the proposed rewrite of the Federal Acquisition Regulation dubbed FAR 2.0.

Companies

Mpower Technology closes $21M Series B round to aid 'solar glitter' development

The company spun out of Sandia National Laboratories to commercialize its product for making solar cells much smaller than the norm and has caught the eye of two defense-focused venture firms.

Companies

Adobe, GSA ink access and discount software pact

Agencies can now buy the company's document management software at a significantly lower price, which is similar to the General Services Administration's agreement with Google.

Companies

IonQ to acquire Capella Space for quantum network development push

The 10-year-old quantum company envisions its future network as enabling the kind of satellite-to-ground and satellite-to-satellite communications desired by U.S. government agencies.

Companies

Tyto Athene buys compliance automation software provider

This purchase is Tyto Athene's second during the past 12 months to focus on cyber.

Companies

In-Q-Tel invests in rare earth mineral extraction startup

China’s domination of global supply chains for these key tech ingredients helps explain why the intelligence community's venture investment arm is backing Alta Resource Technologies.

Companies

Leidos CEO sheds light on GSA dialogue and the company's strategic priorities

In talking with Wall Street, CEO Tom Bell gave Leidos' perspective on conversations with the General Services Administration about the future of federal contracting. He also dove deeper into the company's NorthStar 2030 vision and provided (some) detail on its first acquisition in three years.

Companies

SSATI closes a pair of intel-focused acquisitions

The buyer is looking to further build its core offerings in custom software development and system integration.

Contracts

Army awards $499M geospatial tech development contract

The Army doubles the pool of awardees for this new iteration of its Geospatial Research, Integration, Development and Support program.

Companies

Anduril acquires communications hardware provider

This is acquisition number nine for Anduril since it opened for business in 2017.

Contracts

Space Force picks a dozen for $237M tech development, demonstration contract

The service branch wants to establish a base of commercial spacecraft suppliers that can supply systems on a more rapid turn.

Contracts

IRS chooses 6 for $181M system testing support pact

Awardees will work with the agency to help carry out a “Final Integration Test,” which is intended to be all-encompassing and the last check before tax filing season begins.

Contracts

Booz Allen wins $743M cloud app modernization job

For this portion of its Cloud One Next program, the Air Force seeks help in analyzing what applications should move to a cloud environment and how to do so.

Opinion

ANALYSIS: GSA's new procurement strategy begins with consumer tech

The General Services Administration's push to become the government's single buyer for most IT products and services starts with a focus on some of the most common tools we use in our daily lives.

Companies

Apex, True Anomaly detail next steps after their Series C capital rounds

Both of these three-year-old space startups are looking to scale up their production postures as blueprints for programs like the Golden Dome missile defense system start to emerge.

Companies

VTG acquires radio frequency tech provider

VTG now employs 1,500 people and grows its intelligence community footprint with this acquisition.

Companies

Operations, finance and growth leadership moves across the market

One of the GovCon market's main publicly-traded companies hires a new chief human resources officer and three board appointments also feature.