Calendar year 2016 in the government contracting sector seemed to constantly give us a changing landscape to evaluate and try to forecast the short- and long-term effects of each significant development.

Of course, 2016 also brought us the upset election victory by Donald Trump and gave all of us GovCon sector observers much to consider as we put a ribbon on this year.

His campaign pledges to increase defense spending have been a main item of discussion with respect to GovCon but the policy priorities and political appointments Trump is setting also could give some clarity on how contractors should think about and plan for this new administration.

Platform and weapons makers and their counterparts in the pure-play services arena of GovCon may have differing market strategies but all are in the same boat of figuring out what the political landscape means for their business agendas.

In terms of GovCon business developments this year, the initial January announcement of Leidos’ blockbuster merger with the former Lockheed Martin government services segment has dominated much of the discussion surrounding the market since.

Almost overnight, the “New Leidos” became the largest government services contractor by far at nearly twice the annual revenue of its nearest sector rivals.

Leidos’ GovCon competitors, industry observers and Wall Street analysts have trained their eyes on the company in light of its newfound position as the primary bellwether of the government services market’s health and landscape.

The merger leads off our list below of the stories our staff selected as the most significant of 2016, split evenly at five each between M&A deals and executive transitions at GovCon’s largest players.

Thanks to you — the readers — for your continued support and participation in our GovCon coverage of 2016 and we look forward to another active 2017.

GOVCON’s TOP 10 STORIES FOR 2016