According to a pre-solicitation attachment, the Defense Health Agency (DHA) identifies a recertification window for existing holders on its $10B OMNIBUS IV vehicle running February 19 through April 20 in 2027. DHA expects one contract holder to retain 8(a) representation during that period. As of the March 2025 sources sought notice, seven held 8(a). Red Team assesses replenishment of the eligible 8(a) pool as a material rationale for the on-ramp, which DHA postponed five times under the original notice before moving it in October. The solicitation moved to Notice ID HT942627RE002 in October, with an RFP expected in early November 2026. 

This article covers what the current record says, what a seat is worth on the published evidence, and what firms interested in bidding should be doing now.

What Is OMNIBUS IV?

DHA OMNIBUS IV is a 10-year, $10B multiple award contract for professional and technical solutions supporting military medical R&D programs. Its base ordering period runs from June 2022 through June 2027, with an option ordering period extending to June 2032. 

$10B is the cumulative ceiling across both. That distinction matters here. With an RFP expected in November 2026 and award to follow, a new holder would be seated close to the end of the base period, which means the remaining ordering opportunity depends materially on the option period. That decision sits ahead, not behind. DHA, the wider DoD, and the Military Health System can all place orders on it.

The work falls into four market segments:

1. Research and Development – Medical research aimed at DoD’s priority needs and capability gaps, with the goal of turning results into medical products or clinical practice. Proficiency areas include DoD research collaborations, moving programs through the funding continuum, quality, safety, security, and surety standards, and delivering research outcomes that meet FDA, HHS, and DoD rules.
2. R&D Support Services – Support for research activities, including laboratory and technical work. Proficiency areas include administrative, IT, scientific and technical, facilities, and logistics support, medical non-personal services for clinical and research protocols, supplies and equipment, and task order administrative support.
3. Regulatory Processes – Expertise in the regulations that protect the welfare and rights of humans and animals in medical research. Proficiency areas include animal use programs and vivaria, human subjects research, DoD use of investigational products, FDA Investigational New Drug applications, federal and DoD privacy, and technology transfer.
4. Translational Science Support and Services – Support for moving new technologies from the lab into clinical practice. Proficiency areas include pre-transition and transition support, developing evidence-based solutions, and strategies for dissemination, implementation, and evaluation.

In its October notice, DHA reported 61 task orders with accumulated awarded value exceeding $690M, including future unexercised options, and reported that 95% of those orders were awarded during FY2024 through FY2026. Those totals repay a closer look. Of the 61 orders, DHA reports 8 set aside for the 8(a) program, 15 awarded to an 8(a) participant based on the most recent contract-level representations, and 42 awarded to small businesses. The set-aside count has held at 8 across DHA’s January, August and October postings while the total climbed from 51 to 61. 

Those counts establish historical participation. They do not establish the competition method behind the orders that were not 8(a) set-asides, the distribution of award value, or how either would apply to a new holder. Sizing a seat takes order-level data: award values, the market segment each order ran under, and whether it was competed under fair opportunity or an exception to it. That analysis is worth completing before committing bid and proposal resources.

This on-ramp is open only to firms in SBA’s 8(a) program. The best fits are 8(a) companies with past performance in medical research, life sciences, regulatory and FDA support, or the IT and program support behind DoD research labs. A firm that wins a seat can compete for orders open to every holder in its market segment, as well as orders in that segment set aside for small businesses or 8(a) firms.

Why Is DHA Running This On-Ramp Right Now?

Of the 56 companies holding a spot on OMNIBUS IV, 7 were 8(a)-certified as of the March 2025 sources sought notice. Contract holders face a mandatory size and status recertification at the IDIQ level 60 to 120 days before the end of the fifth year, which runs February 19 to April 20 in 2027 for this group, and DHA anticipates that only one current holder will still carry 8(a) representation by then.

DHA’s position is specific. Amendment 01 states that the FAR Overhaul removes the requirement for holders on an unrestricted vehicle to recertify size and status for orders set aside for small business, and that holders may rely on their IDIQ-level representation even if they have graduated out of the 8(a) Program or grown beyond small business size. The regulatory picture sits alongside that. RFO 19.111-2(b) requires the contracting officer to apply the specific program eligibility requirements in addition to the ordering procedures for a multiple-award contract. RFO 19.208-6 provides that a contractor exiting the 8(a) program is no longer eligible for new 8(a) contracts, while one that completed its program term may still receive a competitive 8(a) award if it was eligible on the initial date specified for receipt of offers. 13 CFR 124.503(i)(2)(iv) applies that same initial-offer-date test to 8(a) orders under an unrestricted multiple-award contract. The FAR model text and the SBA rule align on the test. How DHA reconciles its published reading with them is the open question.

For a firm approaching the end of its 8(a) term, the practical step is to model each opportunity against its own graduation date and the eligibility date that applies to the order, and to assess separately what unrestricted competitions and any other set-asides the firm qualifies for would be worth. Two questions belong at the top of the list for the contracting officer: what ordering period and recertification requirements will apply to new on-ramp awards, and how DHA will apply order-level 8(a) eligibility.

DHA anticipates that one existing holder will retain 8(a) representation during the 2027 recertification window. That forecast supports Red Team’s assessment that replenishing the eligible contractor pool is a material rationale for the on-ramp. The ordering record sits alongside it: across DHA’s January, August and October postings, total task orders rose from 51 to 61 while the count set aside for the 8(a) Program held at 8 in all three. DHA anticipates multiple new awards, with the number and the selection method set by the solicitation. The 2022 competition, which seated 56 companies, is the only precedent available and is worth weighing for what it suggests about DHA’s appetite for a wide field.

What’s the Release Date for this On-Ramp?

The release of this on-ramp has slipped repeatedly. DHA originally posted this pre-solicitation notice on January 12 in 2026, projecting a release roughly 15 days out. The estimated release date has since been pushed out several times, with the government citing the need to bring the solicitation into compliance with the ongoing Revolutionary FAR Overhaul. 

On October 2, DHA closed that notice out, stating the solicitation was never posted in FY2026 and that no further amendments would issue under it. A replacement notice, HT942627RE002, went up the same day under FY2027 numbering. It puts the RFP in early November 2026 and adds that no further delays are anticipated. Anyone tracking the old Notice ID should move to the new one, since the original goes inactive on November 30.

What Happened the Last Time DHA Ran This Competition?

When DHA made the original OMNIBUS IV award in 2022, 56 companies received awards. How that competition was evaluated matters more than the size of the field. The 2022 solicitation ran a best-value source selection across four factors: Technical, Past Performance, Small Business Participation Commitment, and Price. The Technical factor used a self-scoring worksheet, and Section L.3.3 required a narrative Proficiency Demonstration for each Proficiency Area to accompany it. The solicitation stated that tables support the written narrative and do not replace it. If DHA repeats that construct, a firm assesses its competitiveness against the published evaluation criteria across all four factors, not against a worksheet alone.

Broad access to the vehicle isn’t the same as broad access to the work, though. Each task order RFP is directed at one or more of the contract’s four market segments: research and development, R&D support services, regulatory processes, and translational science support, decided by the contracting officer issuing it. That segment alignment determines which task-order competitions a contract holder is eligible to pursue. 

DHA states it anticipates making multiple new awards under this on-ramp, with the number and the selection method governed by the solicitation. Red Team’s preparation recommendation is to build the strongest case in the segments a firm can genuinely support, and to let the solicitation determine whether and how to pursue more than one.

What Should You Be Doing Right Now?

If you’re 8(a) certified, use the time before the RFP to assemble supporting evidence and map it to the market segments your past performance supports. Pull contract numbers, values, periods of performance, and customer points of contact. If the on-ramp uses self-scoring, prepare the narrative proficiency demonstrations alongside the worksheet and be ready to substantiate each claimed score. Firms that begin that work after the solicitation issues spend the response period chasing documentation.

If you’re not 8(a)-eligible, consider a joint venture with an 8(a) firm under an SBA-approved mentor-protege agreement. Under 13 CFR 124.513(b)(2) that joint venture is deemed small as long as the protege qualifies as small for NAICS 541714, so the mentor may be a large business. The 8(a) partner must be the managing venturer, hold at least 51% of a separate legal entity joint venture, and perform at least 40% of the work the venture performs. On evaluation, 124.513(f) requires the agency to consider each partner’s qualifications and any prior work of the joint venture itself. The partners collectively must demonstrate the qualifications needed to perform, while the 8(a) Participant receives the individualized treatment that provision specifies. Under 124.513(a)(4) an 8(a) Participant may be a partner on only one joint venture submitting an offer for a specific 8(a) contract, or for an 8(a) order under a multiple-award contract that is not itself an 8(a) contract. The alternative is a subcontracting position supporting a contract holder, which differs from competing as the offeror.

Either way, register in PIEE ahead of the solicitation. One more term worth knowing: under 10 U.S.C. 3406(f), GAO’s general task-order protest jurisdiction reaches orders exceeding $35M, and for orders valued at $35M or less the statute preserves only the exception for allegations that an order increases the underlying contract’s scope, period, or maximum value. The relevant NAICS code is 541714, and questions on the notice go to the contracting office at Fort Detrick, Maryland, where Jesse Nisley is listed as the point of contact.

Where This Leaves You

The record points to a shrinking 8(a) bench as the reason for the on-ramp more than a routine refresh. Companies that use this window to firm up their market segment story and their teaming relationships will be positioned to respond when the solicitation issues.

How Red Team Can Help

Red Team helps companies make critical decisions before a solicitation is released, from identifying the market segments that best align with their past performance to developing teaming strategies before the RFP drops and assessing how much weight to put on a delayed release date.

Contact Red Team to help your company assess market-segment fit and the teaming approach for the OMNIBUS IV on-ramp.