U.S. DEPARTMENT OF WAR
Mission Engineering and Integration Activity
MEIA
The warfighter’s next fight will be decided by who fields technology fastest.
MEIA — the Mission Engineering and Integration Activity — is the Department of War’s pipeline for turning the Joint Force’s hardest operational problems into combat-credible solutions. We connect validated mission needs to the American industrial base, evaluate solutions against real operational conditions, and move capability to contract in months, not years.
Why This Matters
The threat is accelerating.
America’s enemies are fielding Super Intelligence (SI)-enabled targeting systems, commodity drone swarms, and logistics interdiction capabilities faster than our acquisition system can respond. Kill chains are compressing from hours to seconds. Supply lines that held for decades are now contested.
The technologies that maintain American advantage exist today in labs, garages, and commercial R&D centers across this country. But the companies that built them have no clear path to the warfighter, and the warfighter has no visibility into what industry has already built.
We believe that no warfighter should ever go into harm’s way wondering if a better technology existed but never made it through the system. That is the gap MEIA was built to close.
Move capability in months, not years.
What Is MEIA
A pipeline between american innovation and the warfighter.
MEIA is the Department of War’s engineering-first pathway from urgent operational problems to combat-credible solutions. We translate the Joint Force’s hardest problems into language industry can respond to, evaluate proposed solutions against mission-realistic conditions, and move validated capabilities to contract — fast.
We assess production capacity and industrial scalability alongside technical merit, because a prototype that cannot be manufactured at speed and scale is not a solution to an urgent operational problem.
We measure ourselves by technologies on contract and capabilities in the warfighter’s hands.
Mission Decomposition
Translate Topic Areas into concrete engineering problems with measurable outcomes.
Industry Alignment
Connect promising solutions to validated mission needs and clear transition pathways.
Decision Support
Deliver evidence-based recommendations that accelerate resourcing and contracting decisions.
How We Solve
A repeatable end-to-end pathway. shared mission understanding. Evidence at every step.
Define the Need
Translate Topic Areas into precise, actionable mission threads — a Shared Mission Understanding before any engineering begins.
Mission Engineering Assessment
Apply rigorous, threat-informed mission engineering to proposed concepts and verify the underlying architectures, interoperability, and data.
Industry Engagement
Communicate validated needs to industry and solicit combat-credible solutions — not rigid technical specifications.
Evaluate Solutions
Run structured experimentation campaigns. Prototypes are tested against validated kill chains and assessed for production readiness and industrial capacity — because a solution that can not be manufactured at scale doesn’t close the gap.
Decision Support
Aggregate experimentation data and operational impact into objective intelligence for Department leadership.
Drive Transition
Deliver data-backed recommendations that secure transition funding, establish the production pathway and industrial base plan, and push validated capability to the fielded force at scale.
Guiding Principles
Built for speed, transparency, and repeatability.
Speed
Agile teams, direct collaboration, and fast evidence loops reduce time-to-decision. Feedback to industry quickly upon submission. Decision packages to the Agreements Officer rapidly.
Transparency
Industry and operators get direct access to simulation, analysis, and structured feedback on what matters most. Every submission gets a named point of contact and a clear answer.
Repeatability
A standardized process means industry, operators, and acquirers can move with confidence — every time.
Where We Need You Now
Upcoming events
Research center & Academia Exchange (RC&AE)
MEIA Summit
NDIA Systems & Mission Engineering Conference
What Success Looks Like
Technology in the warfighter’s hands
When MEIA works, warfighters deploy with today’s solutions.
Technologies that prove out at the prototype stage must scale, because MEIA evaluates the production pathway and industrial capacity plan before the transition decision.
And the Arsenal of Freedom delivers at the speed of relevance.
OUSW(R&E)
The Pentagon
Office of the Under Secretary of War,
Research and Engineering (OUSW(R&E))
3030 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-3030