SPA expands analytics lab for national security missions

Systems Planning & Analysis is expanding its Advanced Analytics Lab at its Alexandria, Virginia headquarters to support defense and national security work. The secure lab is designed to speed collaboration, improve analysis and give clients more visibility into complex mission decisions.

Why it matters: - The Advanced Analytics Lab gives Systems Planning & Analysis a secure hub for work tied to critical national security missions. - SPA says the lab is designed to improve how teams analyze complex problems, collaborate with clients and deliver faster insight on technical, operational and acquisition decisions. - The investment extends SPA’s broader push into technology, infrastructure and collaborative workspace at its Northern Virginia headquarters.

What happened: - SPA unveiled the Advanced Analytics Lab at its Alexandria headquarters on Sept. 2, 2026. - The 14,400-square-foot lab brings together SPA experts, analytical methods and technologies in one secure environment. - The lab supports teams working in mission engineering, operations analysis and strategic advisory. - SPA said analysts use the lab daily to combine complex data, models and technologies with domain expertise.

The details: - SPA’s headquarters expansion began with a September 2025 announcement covering a planned renovation of its 239,000-square-foot Alexandria facility and new investments in technology and collaborative spaces. - The lab creates a place where multiple parts of an effort can come together, giving clients real-time visibility into the work. - That setup is meant to support more collaborative evaluation of technical, operational and acquisition choices. - SPA teams are using the lab across defense and national security missions from seabed to space. - The work includes cross-domain kinetic, non-kinetic and cyber warfare assessments. - SPA also uses the lab for analysis that supports layered homeland defense and other joint mission priorities. - The lab includes a broad portfolio of industry- and government-owned analytic tools. - SPA teams can also use advanced technologies including SPA GCAM®, SPA ArcherEye™ and SPA AthenaSight™ alongside modeling, simulation and other analytical tools.

Between the lines: - The lab appears designed to make SPA’s internal expertise more visible and easier to apply across programs. - Rich Sawchak, SPA’s chief executive officer, said the expansion was meant to give employees the technology, resources and environment to support clients’ most important missions. - Mark Adams, SPA’s chief capability officer, said the lab gives experts a different environment to strengthen analysis and client insight. - The emphasis on secure collaboration suggests SPA is trying to position analytics as a more integrated part of mission support, not just a back-office function.

What's next: - SPA said it will continue investing in the Advanced Analytics Lab and expanding its capabilities. - The company expects the lab to create more opportunities to apply advanced analytics and technology across national security missions. - Further growth at the Alexandria site is likely to build on the 2025 headquarters expansion and the new lab infrastructure.

The bottom line: - SPA is turning a headquarters expansion into a more specialized analytics engine for defense and national security work.