March 08, 2026
Researchers recently received a 10-year federal contract to support development of advanced, multi-domain defenses against hypersonic, ballistic and cruise missiles.
Mizzou Engineering is pleased to announce it was awarded a contract for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract with a ceiling of $151 billion.
This contract encompasses a broad range of work areas that allows for the rapid delivery of innovative capabilities to the warfighter with increased speed and agility.
“This award is the result of the unique combined capabilities of Mizzou Engineering and the Center for Geospatial Intelligence [CGI],” Mizzou Engineering Dean Marisa Chrysochoou said. “We’re proud to contribute our expertise to America’s defense, and we look forward to working with industry partners to support Missouri’s economy.”
SHIELD is the cornerstone of the Department of Defense’s “Golden Dome” initiative, designed to integrate sensors, command-and-control systems and interceptors across land, sea, air, space and cyberspace for the defense of the United States and its allies.
Linking these disparate assets will provide a continuous shield capable of detecting, tracking and neutralizing advanced threats during all phases of flight, specifically targeting ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons, cruise missiles and hybrid aerial attacks.
“As America’s leading academic research center for geospatial intelligence, CGI has supported national security and defense agencies for more than 20 years,” CGI Director Curt Davis said. “The CGI has proven capabilities in spaceborne remote sensing, automated target detection using advanced AI algorithms, and multi-sensor data fusion that we believe can make important contributions to MDA’s SHIELD program.”
“We specialize in turning massive amounts of geospatial data into accessible information that helps answer complex multi-domain questions,” said Derek T. Anderson, CGI co-director and Naka Endowed Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. “Moreover, we have dedicated research facilities across multiple security domains with high-performance computing infrastructure that will enable us to work on national security projects with both government and defense industry partners.”
The team is exploring a variety of partnerships and teaming strategies to compete for IDIQ task orders that are expected to be released by MDA in the near future.
Discover more ways Mizzou Engineering is supporting America’s defense.