Aerospace Sourcing
Orlando, Florida

Supplier opportunities in Orlando's simulation and defense cluster

Orlando's defense market runs on modeling, simulation and training. The military services' simulation acquisition commands sit together in the Central Florida Research Park next to UCF, and Lockheed Martin runs missile and mission systems operations in the city. Suppliers here build hardware for trainers and simulators as well as parts for missile and sensor programs.

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Team Orlando and the Central Florida Research Park

The core of the Orlando cluster is Team Orlando, a working group of the military modeling, simulation and training organizations based in the Central Florida Research Park, beside the University of Central Florida. The senior officers of the services represented in the park serve as its executive board, and industry, academia and other federal agencies take part.

Two commands matter most to suppliers, and both are tenants of Naval Support Activity Orlando in the park:

  • Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD), the Navy's training systems center.
  • Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI), which buys and develops the Army's live, virtual, constructive and gaming training systems. Its predecessor office moved to the Research Park from the old Orlando Naval Training Center in the late 1980s.

Marine Corps and Air Force simulation organizations are also in the park, along with UCF's Institute for Simulation and Training and the National Center for Simulation, an industry association. The practical result is that the government customers, the university researchers and the prime contractors who build trainers are all close to each other.

Lockheed Martin in Orlando

Lockheed Martin has a large Orlando footprint. The company says its Orlando operations include both its Missiles and Fire Control and its Rotary and Mission Systems businesses. In February 2019 it opened a $50 million, 255,000 square foot research and development building in Orlando to house engineering, program management and business operations staff for the Missiles and Fire Control Orlando site, and it said it had added more than 1,000 Orlando jobs since 2017.

Missile and sensor programs buy very differently from trainer programs. Expect precision machining in hard alloys, tight tolerance assemblies, harnesses built to IPC/WHMA-A-620, circuit card assembly to IPC-A-610 and J-STD-001, environmental testing, and full ITAR and CMMC flow-downs.

What simulators and trainers need from suppliers

Simulation sounds like software, but every trainer is also a hardware build, and that hardware is the opening for small shops.

  • Crew stations and cockpit replicas that match a real aircraft, vehicle or ship, often built from machined parts, sheet metal and fiberglass or composite shells.
  • Consoles, racks and enclosures for instructor stations and computing equipment.
  • Cable and wire harnesses connecting real or replica controls, displays and computers.
  • Display mounts, motion platform structures and frames, where welding and fabrication quality matter.
  • Range and instrumentation hardware for live training, which can mean ruggedized enclosures and field-deployable gear.

Two points catch new suppliers off guard. First, because a trainer replicates a real weapon system, its drawings can carry export controls even when the part looks ordinary, so ask how the data is marked before you accept it. Second, production runs are short and configurations change often, which favors flexible job shops over high volume producers.

I/ITSEC: the annual place to meet buyers

Every year around the start of December, Orlando hosts I/ITSEC, the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference, at the Orange County Convention Center. It is run by the National Training and Simulation Association, an affiliate of the National Defense Industrial Association, and bills itself as the largest modeling, simulation and training conference in the world.

For a supplier, the exhibit floor is a directory of the primes and mid-tier companies that build trainers. Walk it with a short capability sheet, ask who handles supplier qualification, and follow up after the show. Registration has a cost, so check the official site for current dates and pricing.

Free help for Orlando area shops

The Florida APEX Accelerator, formerly PTAC, has an office at UCF that runs a monthly government contracting overview seminar and an SBA workshop, along with one-on-one consulting at no cost to Florida small businesses. It is the easiest first call if you need SAM.gov registration, help reading a solicitation, or advice on small business certifications. See small business subcontracting for how primes use those certifications.

UCF's Institute for Simulation and Training and the university's engineering programs are also a hiring source for shops that add engineering or test staff.

Orlando and the Space Coast work together

Many Orlando suppliers also sell to Brevard County, and the reverse. Lockheed Martin has operations in both places, the Melbourne defense electronics cluster buys many of the same harness and machining services Orlando does, and launch site ground equipment work is a short drive east. Looking at both markets roughly doubles the buyers a Central Florida shop can reach.

See the Space Coast page, the Melbourne page and the Florida page. For electronics specifics, see electronics and harness shops.

Join as an Orlando supplier

Aerospace Sourcing sources custom parts, harness and fabrication work, test capacity and small business subcontractors for aerospace and defense buyers on the Space Coast, and Orlando shops are close enough to support that work. Sign up free at /suppliers/ and tell us what you build.

We review every signup and contact you when a job fits. We do not promise RFQ volume. Every supplier signs a flow-down NDA before seeing files, and ITAR, EAR and CUI data never moves through the website.

Questions

What is Team Orlando?

Team Orlando is a collaborative group of the military modeling, simulation and training organizations located in the Central Florida Research Park in Orlando, including the Navy's NAWCTSD and the Army's PEO STRI, with Marine Corps and Air Force simulation offices as well. The senior officers of those services form its executive board, and industry, UCF and other federal organizations participate. It is not a buyer itself; its member commands award the contracts.

Can a small shop sell directly to PEO STRI or NAWCTSD?

Sometimes, but most hardware reaches those commands through prime contractors who build complete training systems. A small shop usually wins work as a subcontractor or vendor to those primes. If you hold a small business certification, primes may value you for their subcontracting goals. The Florida APEX Accelerator office at UCF can help you register in SAM.gov and find relevant solicitations and prime contractors.

Are simulator parts export controlled?

They can be. A trainer that replicates a military aircraft or weapon system may use technical data controlled under ITAR, even for parts that look like ordinary brackets or panels. Always ask how drawings are marked before accepting them. If you will manufacture defense articles, you likely need ITAR registration, and if the data is Controlled Unclassified Information, CMMC requirements apply as well.

When and where is I/ITSEC held?

I/ITSEC is held each year in Orlando at the Orange County Convention Center, usually in late November or early December. Recent editions ran during the first week of December. It is organized by the National Training and Simulation Association, an affiliate of the National Defense Industrial Association. Check the official I/ITSEC website for current dates, registration options and fees before you plan to attend.

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