Missile and Space Intelligence Center

Organization and history

The Missile and Space Intelligence Center (MSIC) is a component of the Defense Intelligence Agency located at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama. A December 2025 DIA overview briefing posted by the Huntsville chamber of commerce gives its mission as "Provide premier technical and foundational analysis of foreign weapon systems to prevent and decisively win wars," and its lineage as three stages: Army Ballistic Missile Agency (Army research and development), 1956; Army Intelligence Agency, 1985; Defense Intelligence Agency, 1992.¹ The briefing lists threat systems by initial operating capability from the SA-2 (1959) and the AT-1 antitank guided missile (1956) through a "DEW System" and the S-400 (both 2018), and lists "Ballistic Missile Systems," "Anti-Tank Guided Missile Systems," "Anti-Satellite Systems," "Command and Control Systems," "Directed Energy Weapons" and "Air and Missile Defense Systems" as its categories.¹

The same briefing describes the analytic cycle as "Technical analysis to characterize threat weapon systems, quantify their performance, understand operational employment, and identify vulnerabilities to enable their defeat," drawing on HUMINT, COMINT, OSINT, GEOINT, MASINT, ELINT and foreign instrumentation signals intelligence together with modeling and simulation.¹ It states that the Huntsville campus is the largest in DIA's real property portfolio: 52 buildings on Redstone Arsenal, 341,000 square feet of workspace and 305 acres under management, with the Shelby Center constructed in 1999. It records about 15,000 square feet of contractor SCIF space supporting the center, "growing to ~43K sq ft in near future," and lists planned military construction including a Material Exploitation Center of 102,000 square feet and a Modeling Analysis and Computing Exploitation facility of 154,000 square feet.¹

Materiel Exploitation Center

On August 25, 2026 DIA leaders held a ribbon-cutting for the Materiel Exploitation Center, which 256 Today described as "nearly 92,000-square-foot," and as Phase I of the center's Advanced Analysis Complex, "a project more than 20 years in the making." The report states that "Congress allocated more than $150 million for the first phase, which includes nine high bays for the exploitation of large foreign weapons systems, specialized scientific laboratories, secure intelligence spaces, logistics capabilities, vehicle maintenance and supporting infrastructure." MSIC chief Steven Rush is quoted: "We're responsible for over 700 weapons systems to analyze, exploit and inform the intelligence community and acquisition community for impact to the warfighter." DIA Deputy Director Sharon Rose is quoted: "A lot of what we'll do behind these walls is highly sensitive and we can't get into the details." Only select government and military personnel were admitted to the event.² Parsons Corporation announced its position on the Contract Operations for Missile Evaluation and Testing vehicle on the same date.²³

Contract Operations for Missile Evaluation and Testing

The Contract Operations for Missile Evaluation and Testing (COMET) vehicle was solicited by the DIA Virginia Contracting Activity, 4545 Fowler Road, Redstone Arsenal, under presolicitation HHM402-25-R-0025 (September 23, 2025); a special notice of September 9, 2025 invited small businesses to an industry technical exchange meeting, and the final request for proposals, numbered HHM40226COMET, was posted April 23, 2026 under NAICS 541715. The December 2025 briefing states "10 years (base 5 years with 5 x 1-year options) with $14B ceiling," lists the five areas as "Foundational & Technical Intelligence Analysis, Foreign Material Exploitation, IT Operations, Modeling & Simulation, and Business Processes," and notes "COMET - Delayed release due to furlough."¹⁴

The 355-page request for proposals prices its contract line items 0001 through 0005 as "Informational CLIN Only: Labor for Offensive Missile System Analysis Support, in accordance with the Performance Work Statement," with a base ordering period of July 5, 2026 to July 4, 2031, an option period of July 5, 2031 to July 4, 2036 and a second option of July 5, 2036 to January 4, 2037.⁵ Its background section defines the exploitation area: "Foreign Materiel Exploitation (FME) involves the reverse-engineering of foreign weapon systems to analyze and understand their capabilities and vulnerabilities. MSIC's exploitation laboratories are equipped with advanced capabilities in several critical areas, including software reverse-engineering (SWRE), radiofrequency (RF) and electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) analysis, materials science, adversarial-AI, computed tomography (CT) imaging, and microelectronics." Evaluation item 7.2.2.4 asks offerors to describe expertise "in reverse engineering of foreign weapon systems to characterize the capabilities, characteristics, performance, and vulnerabilities of the weapon systems," with techniques named as "software reverse engineering, RF analysis, EO/IR analysis, materials science, inertial measurement unit testing, 3D X-Ray computed tomography imaging, microelectronics, and Field Programable Gate Arrays (FPGAs)." Another item asks for expertise "in handling, storage, and disposal of explosives, caustic materials, and other hazards inherent in weapon systems; execution of explosive ordnance disassembly and render-safe; and live-fire support."⁵

The title used for the labor lines matches that of an earlier MSIC requirement, "Offensive Missile System Analysis Support" (MSIC-OMS-2021, presolicitation posted March 4, 2021), described in its notice as "model development, simulation, and hardware & analysis activities related to Offensive Missile Sysrems Support & Analysis, including extensive hardware exploitation." The performance work statement for that requirement, dated August 8, 2019, states: "Efforts to test, analyze, evaluate, document, and reproduce missile system hardware obtained by the U.S. shall also be required."⁶

The solicitation's questions-and-answers matrix records the following exchange. Asked whether the Government planned to award to all offerors meeting the FAR 2.101 definition of qualifying offeror, the Government answered: "Yes, the Government confirms that we intend to award IDIQ contracts to ALL 'Qualifying Offerors' who meet the requirements defined in FAR 2.101 and this solicitation. There is no predetermined ceiling on the number of awards, and the Government will not limit awards based on numerical quotas or competitive ranking." A second answer states that "Twenty (20) percent of the total IDIQ awards are set aside exclusively for Small Business concerns."⁷ Washington Technology reported in March 2026 that "COMET is a new requirement with no incumbents."⁸

Contractor announcements of COMET positions

Parsons Corporation announced on August 25, 2026 that it had been awarded a position on COMET, "valued at an estimated $14 billion."³ Science Applications International Corporation stated in a Form 8-K exhibit dated August 31, 2026: "SAIC was awarded a position on the estimated $14 billion Contract Operations for Missile Evaluation and Testing ('COMET') multiple-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity ('IDIQ') contract with the Missile and Space Intelligence Center ('MSIC')," adding that backlog "does not include estimates of revenues to be derived from multiple-award, IDIQ contracts, but rather we record backlog and bookings when task orders are awarded."⁹ Modern Technology Solutions announced a position on September 2, 2026.¹⁰ Integration Innovation (i3) announced on September 8, 2026 that it "has secured a Small Business position" and named four mission areas, including "Foreign Materiel Exploitation."¹¹ Radiance Technologies announced on September 9, 2026 that it leads its own team and "holds positions on two other winning COMET teams: one led by SAIC and one through its Radiance Ignite Technologies joint venture," with a performance period of July 21, 2026 to January 1, 2037.¹² Intuitive Research and Technology Corporation announced on September 17, 2026 "a prime position," giving "an estimated ceiling of more than $14 billion."¹³

The Government Accountability Office docket B-424401.1 records a protest by Radiance Ignite Technologies, Inc. against solicitation HHM40225R0025, agency Defense Intelligence Agency, filed April 9, 2026 and dismissed April 22, 2026; the proposal due date in the solicitation was April 27, 2026.¹⁴⁴

Predecessor contracts

MSIC contracting has run through the Virginia Contracting Activity under PIID prefix HHM402. A 2012 notice for "Integrated System Production & JRAAC Operations" (HHM402-12-R-0084) describes the Joint Research Assessment and Analysis Center as "a digital computer laboratory" developed "to provide a simulation infrastructure that supports the analysis of the capabilities, limitations, and vulnerabilities of threat systems," names threat systems in the center's mission area as "surface-to-air-missiles (SAMS), short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs), anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), and directed energy weapon (DEW) systems," and calls the requirement a follow-on to HHM402-07-D-0016 with Sparta, Inc.¹⁵

Washington Technology reported on January 26, 2015 that Dynetics had won a $172 million Defense Intelligence Agency contract to support the center, with work at Redstone Arsenal expected to be completed by January 25, 2020.¹⁶ Parsons Government Services was awarded, as reported by AFCEA SIGNAL on May 9, 2018, HHM402-18-D-0004, a five-year contract with a potential five-year option and a ceiling of $164,693,682, for "modeling and simulation architecture analytical tools, model development and integration, integrated forces analysis, and C4 exploitation and analysis," completion expected May 7, 2028, awarded through full and open competition with two offers.³ GovConWire reported on September 29, 2016, citing the Department of Defense announcement of September 28, that COLSA Corp. had won a potential five-year, $103 million scientific computing contract, with three proposals received and completion expected September 27, 2021.¹⁷

A February 26, 2019 synopsis for "Defensive Systems Analysis Support (DSAS)" states that "required expertise shall include detailed knowledge of missile structures, propulsion systems," guidance and control techniques, position, navigation and timing techniques, advanced upper stage systems, and, in its words, "countermeasures, and counter-countermeasures, radar systems, electronic designs, antenna designs, transmitters, aerodynamic principles, sensors, computers, power sources, and optics."¹⁸ On November 6, 2019 AFCEA SIGNAL reported that Dynetics (HHM402-19-D-0023) was awarded a five-year base, five-year option contract with a ceiling of $737,992,267 for support services to the center, work at Redstone Arsenal and Huntsville, completion October 31, 2029, "full and open solicitation, and one offer was received."¹⁶

A synopsis posted December 28, 2020 for "FME Laboratory Operations" states that the center "requires contractor support to accomplish diverse scientific and technical intelligence missions associated with the Missile and Space Intelligence Center, Program Management Division (MSIC4) and the Joint Foreign Material Program Office (JFMPO)," and that the scope "addresses laboratory operation, laboratory support requirements, cross-functional logistic support requirements, and Joint Captured Material Exploitation Center (JCMEC) support for the JFMPO," as a single-award indefinite-delivery contract with a five-year base and five-year option ordering period.¹⁹

A 2024 sources-sought notice for Defensive Systems Analysis (April 24, 2024; response due June 3, 2024) describes market research on industry capability to support a possible multiple-award contract with a five-year base and five-year option, and states that "the contractor shall support the acquisition/exploitation of defensive systems foreign materiel." Its performance work statement, section 3.2.1 (Hardware Examination and Characterization), reads: "The contractor shall extract firmware and data from digital electronic devices contained in key hardware subsystems, document findings and reverse engineer firmware," and "shall evaluate firmware and software devices for vulnerabilities to electronic attack including cyber operations." Section 3.4.1 covers "Radar and Missile Hardware Prototypes."²⁰

In June 2023 Radiance announced that Peraton had been awarded a $284 million task order, "SCAR" (Countering Advanced Conventional Weapons Analytical Requirements), under the DIA Solutions for Intelligence Analysis 3 program, with a one-year base and four option years, and that Radiance was a team member; the release describes "analysis of foreign weapon systems across all MSIC's missions and disciplines, including air and missile defense systems, ballistic missiles, anti-tank guided missiles, and directed energy weapons." Radiance executive vice president Karl Walli is quoted: "While Radiance has supported MSIC for over 15 years."²¹

Scientific computing and congressional funding

The 2021 competition for "Scientific Computing Operations, Analysis, and Applications" (SCOAA), contract HHM402-21-D-0151, went to COLSA. A justification for other than full and open competition, control number J-FV23 0010, dated August 31, 2023, states that the requested increase is $85,000,000 for the base ordering period, "approximately 39% of the total contract ceiling value of $217,439,429.92 (base plus option periods)." It continues: "In the acquisition planning phase, the ceiling was contemplated at $345,000,000 and the acquisition plan was approved at this amount. A large influx of Congressionally Directed funding (approximately $45,000,000 in FY23) resulted in the award of numerous Task Orders that were not originally anticipated. An additional $40,000,000 is anticipated by MSIC Resource Managers in FY24." The base period "ends 27 September 2026"; the option period runs through September 27, 2031 and a six-month extension through March 27, 2032. The services support production of assessments of "foreign ground-based air defense missiles, ballistic missiles, ballistic missile defense systems, anti-tank guided missiles, anti-satellite and directed energy weapons, as well as their associated command, control, communications, and computer (C4) systems." Section 8 records that "a competitive solicitation issued in 2021 yielded three proposal submissions." Section 11 states: "Congressionally directed awards are anticipated in the future" and "Any follow-on actions are anticipated to be full and open competition."²²