I definitely see the shell company problem, eg some tiny company that only exists to check a box and pass through the contract to a big prime...but what would y

I definitely see the shell company problem, eg some tiny company that only exists to check a box and pass through the contract to a big prime...but what would you propose here? A two or three person company is going to be crushed by the DoD. Just think what it takes to get, say, FedRAMP approved or write up your STIGs or to get the magic FIPS certification. The asymmetry between DoD and a smallco is so vast that I feel the latter has no choice but to seek a big brother who can act as prime. But I agree, that is very risky for the smallco.