GDMS President Chris Brady Wins 6th Wash100 Award for Advancing Mission-Critical Tech Innovation & Delivery
Executive Mosaic is honored to announce the selection of Chris Brady, president of General Dynamics Mission Systems, to the 2025 class of the Wash100 Awards, an accolade conferred annually to the 100 most influential and impactful leaders in the government contracting industry.
This marks the sixth consecutive time that he has been selected to Executive Mosaic’s annual list of the top 100 leaders from the government and GovCon business, acknowledging his efforts in driving growth and advancing the development and delivery of secure communications, information systems and other mission-critical platforms to defense, intelligence and cybersecurity customers across all domains.
Vote for Brady as one of your 10 favorite government industry leaders at Wash100.com. The Popular Vote Competition of the 2025 Wash100 Award runs through April 30.
“Chris returns to the Wash100 for the sixth time, a reflection of his enduring influence and exceptional leadership at General Dynamics Mission Systems. Over more than two decades at GD, and now as president, he’s helped solidify the company as a powerhouse of secure communications, undersea warfare, space systems and cyber technologies,” said Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic and founder of the Wash100 Award.
“Brady’s thoughtful, mission-focused leadership has guided major wins in the last year—including a $808 million Navy torpedo kit contract and multiple Space Development Agency awards for ground systems—and his clear-eyed strategy continues to drive GDMS to new heights,” Garrettson added.
Commenting on his win, Brady said, “I am grateful for the recognition, and the privilege of leading a team of fast-moving, mission-focused professionals. They take on the hard stuff, making platforms and missions smarter and more secure.”
GDMS Major Contract Awards
Under Brady’s leadership, GDMS booked a number of significant contracts in the past year, including a potential $808 million contract with the U.S. Navy to provide support for the MK 54 Lightweight Torpedo Program, a $492 million contract modification for satellite ground systems support with the Space Development Agency and a pair of U.S. Air Force contracts worth $279.3 million combined for the sustainment and enhancement of the U.S. Battlefield Information Collection and Exploitation System.
In October 2024, the team of GDMS and Iridium secured a $492 million contract modification from SDA to provide ground management and integration support for the agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.
In early 2024, the company secured a Navy contract worth $93 million to provide support for the Independence-class littoral combat ship combat system.
The Navy also selected GDMS to build, modernize and maintain the Strategic Weapon System Fire Control Subsystem under a $335 million contract. The services to be provided through this contract will support the U.S. and U.K. ballistic missile submarines as well as guided missile submarine fleets.
GDMS’ commitment to hiring veterans does not go unnoticed. In October 2024, the Department of Labor recognized the company as one of the recipients of the 2024 HIRE Vets Medallion Award.
Chris Brady on High Assurance Crypto Modernization
In a video interview with Executive Mosaic, one of the top C5ISR trends in the defense sector that he discussed is high assurance crypto modernization.
“Crypto is necessary to protect any sensitive government information. But as you’d imagine, the threats keep growing and so we keep advancing that technology,” Brady said.
“What’s necessary now is to assure that we can stay ahead of the threats to those kinds of protections. There are things like quantum computing and other forms of compromise becoming possible. You can see it widely experienced in the commercial world with products of all sorts. We can’t afford that kind of error in the tactical military world or in the enterprise world,” he added.
During the interview, the former vice president of engineering noted that there are several dimensions of crypto modernization and that the company is working hard on all dimensions, including quantum resistant algorithms.
“We have to implement protections in our encryption that stay far ahead the abilities of quantum computers to try to break any of that encryption,” Brady said.
He also highlighted the importance of software reprogrammability in today’s rapidly evolving threat landscape and stressed that modularity should be prioritized across all elements of crypto modernization.
“On top of all of this, there has to be increased modularity to how we implement crypto across the enterprise. When I say modularity, that goes all the way from large data centers running hundreds and hundreds of gigabits per second, all the way down to the tactical edge where you might want a handheld small encryptor and everything in between,” the GDMS president added.
Chris Brady’s Insights on Proliferated Space
Another trend that Brady discussed in the interview is proliferated space. He noted that reduced launch costs and the increase of private capital in the space industry have driven the launch of more satellite buses, providing more opportunities to integrate key payloads into satellites.
“Now the focus has shifted from launch and from satellites to what’s inside those satellites — the payloads and the missions those satellites are performing,” the GDMS executive stated.
He cited SDA’s acquisition and deployment model for a proliferated network of satellites and how GDMS supports the agency in that effort.
Executive Mosaic congratulates Chris Brady and the GDMS team for their groundbreaking year and sixth Wash100 win.
Show your support for Chris Brady at Wash100.com!