What steps should small aerospace firms take before competing for federal defense awards in 2026?

According to SAM.gov, a firm that wants to apply for federal awards as a prime awardee needs a registration, and that registration assigns a Unique Entity ID during the process. SAM.gov also says a firm that is not applying directly for awards may only need a Unique Entity ID, such as when it is only performing certain transactions like reporting as a sub-awardee. If the business does register, SAM.gov says the registration must be renewed every 365 days and can take up to 10 business days to become active. For aerospace work that involves technical data, the DFARS 252.204-7012 clause requires safeguarding covered defense information and cyber incident reporting. That clause defines covered defense information to include unclassified controlled technical information or other controlled unclassified information that is marked in the contract or collected, developed, received, transmitted, used, or stored in support of the contract.