How to Prepare for a SHIELD & Golden Dome Win Now

By consolidating requirements into the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) contract, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has positioned SHIELD as the cornerstone of Golden Dome, America’s most ambitious missile defense initiative in decades. With an estimated value of $151B, SHIELD represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for contractors to shape the nation’s layered defense against emerging threats. This article describes the SHIELD bid and how you can prepare to win a contract now. Table 1 presents an overview of SHIELD procurement descriptors.

Table 1: SHIELD at a Glance

SHIELD’s Scope and Mission

SHIELD is a 10-year multiple award IDIQ that spans both classified and unclassified domains. Its mission scope is vast: detecting, tracking, and neutralizing ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, as well as space, cyber, and hybrid threats originating from any land, sea, air, space, or cyberspace. The consolidation brings together activities previously spread across stand-alone contracts, enabling MDA to rapidly prototype, integrate, and deploy critical defense technologies in support of the warfighter. As per the draft Section C Description/Specifications/Statement of Work, SHIELD will cover the following 19 scope areas:

• 2.1 Science and Technology (S&T)
• 2.2 Research and Development (R&D)
• 2.3 Prototyping
• 2.4 Studies, Demonstrations, Testing of Prototypes
• 2.5 Disruptive Technologies
• 2.6 Experimentation
• 2.7 Architecture Development
• 2.8 Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis
• 2.9 Systems Engineering
• 2.10 Weapon Design and Development
• 2.11 Integration and Assembly
• 2.12 Production and Fielding
• 2.13 Test and Evaluation (T&E)
• 2.14 Operation and Sustainment
• 2.15 Modernization
• 2.16 Hardware and Software Modifications
• 2.17 Data Mining/Collection/Analysis
• 2.18 Minor Facilities Engineering/Construction
• 2.19 Cybersecurity

Procurement Status

On August 28, 2025, MDA released the “Determination that Consolidation is Necessary and Justified” to explain their justification for SHIELD’s procurement path. As per MDA’s August 28th Determination Statement, SHIELD consolidation was essential for:

• Streamlined management: By rolling multiple contracts into one, MDA reduces redundancies and improves oversight.
• Cost savings: Consolidation avoids vendor lock-in and leverages collective buying power resulting from competition.
• Improved quality: Uniform terms and reduced variability across awards strengthen performance.
• Faster acquisition cycles: a multi-award IDIQ with streamlined ordering procedures avoids the protracted timelines associated with traditional Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 15 source selections when issuing orders.
• Better terms and conditions: The use of a multiple award IDIQ would eliminate the need to negotiate all the terms and conditions for separate contracts.

You can keep up with the latest on SHIELD’s status via Lohfeld Consulting’s Mega Bids blog, which is updated as changes occur.

SHIELD Small Business Participation

MDA emphasized that SHIELD is structured to maximize small business involvement:

• Awards to all qualified offerors: Any responsible bidder with a technically acceptable, reasonably priced proposal will be awarded a spot.
• Mandatory subcontracting plans: Large primes must submit subcontracting plans and include baseline goals in the solicitation.
• Task order-level goals: Each order will be reviewed for possible small business set-asides.
• On-ramping provisions: New entrants, including small firms, can join the contract throughout its life.

Section L: Proposal Organization and Instructions

Table 2 presents an overview of the proposal’s required organization, as taken from the draft solicitation dated July 25, 2025.

Table 2: Proposal Organization

To maximize the Volume II score, offerors must demonstrate recent and relevant corporate experience using the Offeror Response Template provided in Attachment L-04. To demonstrate recency, the work must be performed within five years of the date of the solicitation. To establish relevance, the offeror’s corporate experience must align with the Section C scope description’s comparable areas and in a missile defense or similarly related application.

SHIELD Attachment L-04 Offeror Response Template Description

The Offeror must demonstrate experience in a minimum of two, but no more than three, of the work areas at the prime or subcontractor level from a missile defense or similarly related defense application. The attachment must be signed in the applicable fields by the cognizant contracting officer or private sector equivalent, such as a company official who is authorized to bind their organization contractually. In lieu of a signature, the offeror can also provide a Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) record of the contract action via the FPDS eZ search.

Attachment L-04 consists of the same three templates you can use to record your experience, named Corporate Experience Number A, B, or C. In addition to providing basic contract identification information, the offeror is asked to provide an experience description that is approximately 600 characters or 8 lines of text in Times New Roman, 11-point font.

Section M Evaluation Factors for SHIELD

The government will conduct the source selection in accordance with FAR Part 15. To be eligible for an award, the Offeror must be deemed responsible in accordance with FAR Part 9 and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) Part 209 and meet all requirements of the solicitation for all CLINs.

The July 25th draft solicitation provided evaluation criteria for Factor I: Corporate Experience. The document stated that the government will evaluate the offerors’ Corporate Experience submissions (Offeror Response Templates) to determine if they demonstrate recent and relevant corporate experience as it relates explicitly to the work description scope areas set forth in the solicitation model contract—Section C, Paragraph 2. The government will limit its review to the first three submissions provided by an offeror. Submissions beyond the limitation set forth in Section L will be removed from the offeror’s proposal and will not be considered by the government’s technical evaluation team.

• Recency – Performed within five years from the date of this solicitation.
• Relevancy – The offeror’s corporate experience involves some of the scope that would be under the Section C scope description’s comparable areas and in a missile defense or similarly related application.

Action Checklist: Preparing for SHIELD

• Qualify early: Position your firm to meet all responsibility, technical, and pricing requirements to secure a SHIELD award slot.
• Build teams now: Identify partners that complement your capabilities.
• Define your small business strategy: Whether as a prime or subcontractor, align with firms that maximize competitive advantage and meet MDA goals.
• Start developing compliant/responsive Volume I documentation: This includes timely and accurate administrative information, representations and certifications, bankruptcy/adverse information, proof of financial capability and stability, proof of foreign ownership, conflicts of interest, and small business subcontracting plans.
• Develop a compliant Attachment L-04: All fields must contain timely and accurate information. The template must be signed in the applicable fields by the cognizant contracting officer or a private sector equivalent, such as a company official authorized to bind their organization contractually. In lieu of a signature, the offeror may choose to provide a FPDS record of the contract. If the appropriate fields are not signed or an FPDS print-out is not provided, then the corporate experience will not be considered acceptable.
• Develop a highly relevant Attachment L-04: In Row 6, provide a highly relevant description of the work within the confines of approximately 600 characters or 8 lines of text in Times New Roman, 11-point font. To fit within this small space goal, try to mention your customer’s name, program scope, requirements relevant to the SHIELD scope of work, and positive ratings or outcomes.
• Start building your task order factory: Once awarded, SHIELD is likely to start generating task orders rapidly, so position your team to develop winning task order proposals.

Conclusion

MDA’s consolidation decision makes clear that SHIELD is the gateway to Golden Dome. With billions at stake and homeland security on the line, this procurement will demand speed, precision, and innovation from every bidder. Success will come to those who prepare now, building the right teams, shaping strategies, and investing in proposal excellence.

At Lohfeld Consulting, we specialize in helping companies compete for—and win—the government’s largest, most complex bids. If SHIELD and Golden Dome are in your pipeline, our team can help you navigate the path from opportunity to award and support your task order factory thereafter. Contact us today.

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By Brenda Crist, Vice President at Lohfeld Consulting Group, MPA, CPP APMP Fellow

Lohfeld Consulting Group has proven results specializing in helping companies create winning captures and proposals. As the premier capture and proposal services consulting firm focused exclusively on government markets, we provide expert assistance to government contractors in Capture Planning and Strategy, Proposal Management and Writing, Capture and Proposal Process and Infrastructure, and Training. In the last 3 years, we’ve supported over 550 proposals winning more than $170B for our clients—including the Top 10 government contractors. Lohfeld Consulting Group is your “go-to” capture and proposal source! Start winning by contacting us at www.lohfeldconsulting.com and join us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube^(TM).