Commercial Security Technology Set to Grow in Federal Market Amid Acquisition Reforms and New Policy Priorities

In the last six months, Congress and the executive branch have accelerated significant acquisition reforms, which will make it easier for security technology companies with commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions to secure government contracts. At a fundamental level, the government seeks to shift from a buying environment that benefits defense and government-native companies that build bespoke solutions for government customers to an environment that privileges existing commercial solutions as the default.

At the same time, the U.S. Department of War (DOW), U.S. military and other federal agencies are advancing policy and spending priorities that require cutting-edge security technology to secure the U.S. homeland. These include countering unauthorized uncrewed aircraft systems (C-UAS), protecting critical infrastructure, and advancing artificial intelligence-enabled physical security and surveillance and biometrics and border screening technologies.

The next 12–18 months will be a period of significant flux in the defense and government market, as legacy incumbents rethink their business models and new entrants from the commercial sector have the opportunity to cement a foothold in government agencies. Security technology companies with proven commercial technology—i.e., those that already have significant books of commercial business—are well positioned to capitalize, if they can quickly and effectively position their capabilities for a government audience.

This memorandum is intended for C-suite, strategy, marketing and sales leaders with security technology companies that have proven commercial qualifications but limited experience doing business with the U.S. government, as well as companies already in the federal market looking to expand their footprint under the new COTS preference framework.

Key Reforms in DOW and Government Acquisition

Recent acquisition reforms that advantage commercial vendors are laid out in a series of documents published or signed by the Trump administration over the last year. These include:

• Executive Order (EO) 14271—Ensuring Commercial, Cost-Effective Solutions in Federal Contracts (April 2025): The broadest reform is EO 14271, which applies to all federal agencies and establishes a government-wide commercial-first direction. The 2025 EO directs every government contracting officer to justify any noncommercial procurement in writing, subject to senior procurement executive review and annual OMB compliance reporting. Read the full EO
• DOW Acquisition Transformation Strategy (November 2025): In late 2025, DOW published a new Acquisition Transformation Strategy, which provides policy guidance to DOW employees and military servicemembers to prioritize speed, flexibility and rigorous execution in acquisition activities. It directs the workforce to “maximize purchase of products, services and parts available in the commercial marketplace to avoid additional cost and schedule.” Read the full strategy
• 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (December 2025): One month after DOW released its Acquisition Transformation Strategy, the president signed the 2026 NDAA, which cemented some of the strategy’s policy guidance into law. Specifically, Section 1822 strengthens the commercial-first procedural default by requiring a written memorandum based on market research, signed by the new portfolio acquisition executive, before noncommercial solicitation procedures may be used. Read the full law
• National Defense Strategy (NDS) (January 2026): The Trump administration’s NDS provided these reforms with a high-level policy imprimatur. One of only four strategic lines of effort in the strategy is to “supercharge the U.S. defense industrial base” including by “grow[ing] nontraditional vendors.” Read the full strategy

Taken together, these reforms promise to reduce friction for proven commercial offerings, but they also increase the premium for companies to articulate a product’s function within the context of the administration’s top policy and spending priorities.

Policy and Spending Priorities Related to Security Technology

As broad policy context, it is important to recognize how much homeland defense and security have been prioritized by the current administration. The NDS lists defending the U.S. homeland as its first line of effort, a significant departure from previous defense strategies which have focused abroad. Last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the administration’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 budget request, released this month, reflect a strong emphasis on defense and security spending.

Under that umbrella, there are some specific security technology areas receiving high levels of attention and investment from the DOW, military and federal government:

C-UAS

Last month, the U.S. Army awarded a $20 billion-ceiling contract vehicle to Anduril Industries, which the Pentagon characterized as “a critical step in establishing a common framework for counter-UAS interoperability.” The scale of that contract signals that C-UAS has moved from an emerging capability to a core force protection requirement across all military branches and federal facilities.

Beyond the Army, U.S. Northern Command and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are advancing parallel C-UAS efforts to protect domestic critical infrastructure and mass-gathering venues. Commercial vendors with proven detection, tracking or defeat capabilities, particularly those with open-architecture software that can integrate with existing government systems, are well-positioned to compete for task orders across these expanding programs.

AI-Enabled Physical Security and Surveillance

In September 2025, the Army published a story about Joint Munitions Command’s efforts to lead the way in testing AI software to enhance physical security at U.S. military installations. That initiative reflects a broader DOW push to accelerate AI transformation across the military, which is likely to have significant implications for the full range of physical security activities at U.S. military installations domestically and overseas.

The 2026 NDAA and related acquisition reforms lower the barriers for commercial AI security platforms to enter this market, as contracting officers are now incentivized to procure proven commercial video analytics, access control and sensor-fusion solutions without custom government specifications. Vendors that can demonstrate measurable outcomes will have a compelling case for installation commanders and facility security officers.

Biometrics and Screening

While homeland defense is a priority for DOW, the lead agency for securing the homeland is DHS, which has also seen significant increases in funding for security technology. Congress provided $271 million for DHS’ Office of Biometric Identity Management in FY 2026 appropriations. That investment is being driven in part by DHS’ rapid expansion of identity vetting through biometric screening at airports and border ports of entry, in immigration enforcement operations, and to credential airport and other critical infrastructure workers. Identity management efforts are growing in importance in advance of the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics hosted in Los Angeles, California, and at other LA28 venues across the United States.

Separately, threats to aviation persist following plots to target cargo and passenger aircraft with explosive devices. The administration’s FY 2027 budget request proposes expanding the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Screening Partnership Program (SPP), under which private contractors perform passenger and baggage screening at airports under TSA oversight. While TSA would retain authority over security standards and approved technologies, broader adoption of SPP could expand the role of private operators and introduce a more distributed set of stakeholders influencing how screening operations are developed and executed. For security technology vendors, this may create additional pathways to market separate from direct contracting with TSA.

Government Entry and Expansion for Security Technology Companies

Security technology companies with COTS solutions in one of the three areas noted above—or in similar or adjacent technology areas—should consider the present an ideal time for entering or expanding within the U.S. federal government market.

Recent reforms have reduced some of the traditional barriers to contracting with the government; however, the perennial challenges of speaking the customers’ language, understanding their pain points, demonstrating product differentiation and delivering concrete solutions that meet end user requirements have only become more challenging as the market is opening to a flood of new entrants.

To convert this policy opening into actual federal revenue, commercial security technology firms need to build three capabilities:

Assess Product Against Government Mission Requirements

Security technology products that have seen commercial success need to be framed within the unique context of the U.S. government’s policies, priorities and mission requirements to be adopted for government use. For companies without a sizable U.S. government book of business, this requires targeting the government agencies that can serve as early adopters (and eventual advocates), understanding their specific mission sets and challenges and aligning product capabilities with those needs.

Actions to Implement:

• Conduct a high-level analysis to map the universe of federal government departments and agencies with potential use for your product
• Map 3-5 relevant mission sets or use cases across those agencies (e.g., protecting military installations from drones, utilizing AI to surveil and secure, screening travelers at airports)
• Recontextualize your commercial product for these government audiences and mission sets, developing a government-specific value proposition that lays a foundation for government-specific capabilities statements and marketing materials

Build a Thought Leadership Program

As the government market becomes crowded with commercial solutions, thought leadership from vendors is increasingly important in differentiating products. According to a recent report from GovExec, expert briefings and mission-related content are fundamental in capturing the attention of senior government decision-makers. A sustained thought leadership program, led or validated by former senior government officials with credibility in the relevant mission areas, ensures that when a government buyer encounters the company, they associate it with the appropriate policy context and threat environment they operate in. This can shorten the acquisition pathway by establishing the company as a category expert before the procurement conversation begins.

Actions to Implement:

• Develop a content and engagement plan aligned to specific agencies, mission priorities and stakeholders (policy, requirements, end-user, program and budget)
• Identify former senior officials with experience in the target mission areas to serve as co-authors or validators, lending credibility that company-only content cannot establish
• Sustain the program on a consistent cadence tied to policy and budget cycles rather than producing one-off content disconnected from the government’s decision-making calendar

Identify the Right Acquisition Pathway and Build the Commercial Item Case

Acquisition reforms have expanded the entry points available to commercial vendors; however, successful entry still requires careful analysis by companies to understand the contracting options available to them and to demonstrate commercial item status. This will inform whether Commercial Solutions Openings, Other Transaction Authority, General Services Administration Multiple Award Schedule or some other pathway is ideal for the company’s product maturity, revenue model and target buyer. Meanwhile, establishing or strengthening commercial item determination status will reduce friction with buying offices.

Actions to Implement:

• Evaluate available acquisition pathways against the company’s current commercial revenue base, product maturity, target agencies and corporate resource commitment
• Develop or strengthen the commercial item case, including evidence of commercial sales, pricing and market comparables, that contracting officers will require under the reformed preference framework
• Engage proactively (in compliance with law and regulations) relevant program offices, acquisition officials and requirements owners in target agencies

This blog was originally released as a memo from Rebel Global Security. You can view and download the full memo here.

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts and/or profiles are those of the authors or sources and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Security Industry Association.