CAPABILITIES

Aerospace & Defense

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CMMC Phase II Requirements Are Suspended: What Defense Contractors Need to Know

Vinson & Elkins Advises L3Harris on Partnership with US Department of War

Credentials at a Glance

ranked

Corporate/M&A: The Elite (Nationwide)

– Chambers USA, 2019 – 2025

endorsed

Vinson & Elkins has the cross-functional expertise to handle our company’s most complex issues.

– Chambers USA Respondent

RANKED

Government: Government Contracts: The Elite (Nationwide)

– Chambers USA, 2014 – 2026

Overview
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Capabilities

Where We Excel

A century-old industry is being rebuilt in real time. Defense budgets have crossed a trillion dollars. Private capital is pouring into autonomy, AI, propulsion, space, and the critical minerals supply chains that feed them. And for the first time, the federal government isn’t just the customer — it’s a shareholder, a lender, and a backstop. The companies that move first will define the next era of national security. The ones that misjudge the legal and regulatory terrain won’t get a second chance.

Vinson & Elkins brings the full force of the firm to the companies, founders, investors, and government stakeholders driving this transformation. We pair a top-ranked Government Contracts practice with market-leading corporate, capital markets, and projects teams — the same lawyers who have spent decades financing and structuring the most capital-intensive build-outs in the energy and industrial economy. We know how Washington buys, how it now invests, and how to turn a complex mandate into a deal that closes.

How We Help

Capital, M&A, and growth. We structure the equity raises, growth financings, venture investments, joint ventures, and acquisitions that move companies from prototype to production. Our corporate and capital markets lawyers are consistently top-ranked, and our clients range from emerging defense-tech innovators to Fortune 100 entities and the private equity and institutional investors backing them.

The government as investor. Convertible preferred stock, penny warrants, price floors, decade-long offtake commitments, and board and information rights — the federal government is taking direct stakes in companies it deems strategic, and the terms are unlike anything in a conventional financing. We help clients negotiate across the table from Washington and reconcile a sovereign shareholder with their commercial investors.

Government contracts. Our nationally recognized Government Contracts team supports clients through every stage of the procurement lifecycle — bid protests, claims and disputes, FAR/DFARS compliance, cybersecurity, teaming and subcontracting, Other Transaction Agreements and non-traditional procurement, and M&A diligence. We have the expertise to support virtually any type of litigation or transaction involving the federal government.

National security and cross-border investment. CFIUS review, FOCI mitigation, facility security clearances, and export controls (ITAR/EAR) determine whether capital can flow and deals can close. We structure foreign investment and ownership so that global capital works for our clients rather than against them.

Disputes, investigations, and crisis. When the stakes are highest, our litigators defend against bid protests, False Claims Act allegations, and government and internal investigations — and bring the cross-functional strength of the entire firm to bear.

Who We Serve

Founders and management teams building the next generation of defense and aerospace companies
Established industry leaders and manufacturers navigating consolidation and reinvention
Private equity firms, venture investors, and financiers deploying capital into the sector
Public and private entities operating at the intersection of commercial enterprise and national mission

Why Vinson & Elkins

We make it our business to know yours. Our experience financing and structuring large, regulated, capital-intensive industries — energy, infrastructure, projects — maps directly onto the build-out now underway in defense and aerospace: similar offtake structures, similar project finance discipline, similar comfort operating where private capital and public policy meet. Few firms can sit at the table for the financing, the procurement, the regulatory clearance, and the dispute like Vinson & Elkins. And we bring the highest level of energy to every matter we take on.

Experience

L3Harris in its $1 billion partnership with the US Department of War, $845 million sale of a controlling interest in its Space Propulsion and Power Systems business, $4.7 billion acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne and $33.5 billion merger with Harris Corporation
Firehawk Aerospace, a company that researches and develops rocket engines powered by 3D-printed fuel, in its issuance and sale of Series B Preferred Stock to Star Castle Ventures
Centerbridge Partners and its portfolio company, Precinmac, in the acquisition of Precision Aerospace Holdings LLC, specializing in the manufacturing of precision machined aerospace, defense, and space components
Outrunner Capital in its investment in Firefly Aerospace, a leading space defense technology company
Securonix, a Vista Equity Partners portfolio company, in its acquisition of ThreatQuotient, a threat intelligence and security operations platform
Oriole Capital Group in its acquisition of a controlling interest in GDC Technics, Ltd., a wide body luxury aircraft engineering, modification and completion business
Daseke in its merger with R&R Trucking, a specilized transporter of defense and commercial arms, ammunition and explosives cargo
SailPoint Technologies, a leader in enterprise identity governance, in its $21 million acquisition of OverWatchID, a provider of access controls security software
Prosperity7 Ventures in its investment in the $40 million Series A financing round of Elroy Air, developer of autonomous vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) aircraft designed to serve the commercial shipping, defense, and humanitarian logistics sectors
Westbrook Energy Group in its acquisition of Forged Components, Inc., a vertically integrated provider of high-quality forged, heat treated, and machined pressure control connection products for the energy, marine, aerospace, and defense markets
Terran Orbital Corporation in connection with corporate governance matters, including shareholder activism preparation and defense
Mubadala Investment Company, a minority owner of Virgin Orbit, a responsive launch space solutions company, in the $3.2 billion business combination between Virgin Orbit and NextGen Acquisition Corp. II
ForeFlight, a leading provider of innovative mobile and web-based aviation applications, in the company’s acquisition by Boeing
Successfully represented a major defense contractor in GAO protest challenging an Air Force award
Litigated a contract dispute relating to an undefinitized U.S. Air Force letter contract for Programmed Depot Maintenance on a C-130 aircraft at the Court of Federal Claims, and helped negotiate a settlement through mediation
Negotiated a favorable settlement for a contractor pursuing a protest at the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisitions
Represented a publicly traded space technology company in connection with a comprehensive compliance review and implementation of risk-based enhancements to the program
Successfully defended against a protest filed at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) challenging the award of a $250 million contract to our client by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), persuading GAO to reject the protester’s cost- and technical-related allegations
Successfully defended against a GAO bid protest of a U.S. Army contract for infrared weapon sights and enhanced night vision goggles
Defend a defense contractor in a Department of Justice (DOJ) False Claims Act investigation regarding supplies for the Department of Defense
Represent a government contractor in an investigation conducted by an agency Office of Inspector General
Defended multi-billion dollar defense contractor in related Department of Justice criminal and FCA investigations resulting in criminal declination and favorable no-admit, no-deny civil settlement
Successfully pursued breach of contract claims against a U.S. government prime contractor, a provider of integrated logistics, in an AAA-sponsored international arbitration resulting in recovery of $35 million for the client, followed by another $55 million settlement in a subsequent proceeding