Washington, D.C., June 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Aerospace and defense company Axient Systems BV is the 2026 recipient of the Holland on the Hill Freddy Heineken Award. Mr. Jay Kovacs, President of Axient Systems, a subsidiary of Astrion, accepted the award on the company’s behalf.
The award, named in honor of Dutch entrepreneur Freddy Heineken, annually recognizes a company whose leadership exhibits three characteristics: excellence in business; an entrepreneurial spirit; and a meaningful contribution to strategic priorities of the Netherlands.
Axient Systems B.V. is a systems integrator, providing experience in space systems engineering; critical asset security; and modeling, simulation, and analysis. It is the mission integrator for the PAMI-1 mission to provide a sovereign space imaging satellite with space-based laser communications for the Netherlands Defense Space Security Center. The company’s critical asset security background enables it to deliver solutions in the areas of drone detection, integrated air and missile defense, maritime and seabed security, and others where the integration and exploitation of sensor data to detect threats and provide situational awareness for command and control and decision making are critical. The company’s modeling, simulation, and analysis capabilities support the entire mission lifecycle and decision making from capability planning to integration and test through operations and sustainment. It creates digital representations of complex systems in an integrated modeling environment, such as air and missile defense scenarios, thereby reducing development and integration risks and providing high-value information for making data-driven decisions across the mission lifecycle.
Axient Systems opened its European office in the Netherlands in 2024 building upon partnerships with Dutch companies TNO and FSO Instruments. Located in Delft in a region known as the “Aerospace Delta,” the office places Axient Systems in the epicenter of the Dutch aerospace community and provides a launching pad for European expansion. Astrion, the parent of Axient Systems, is headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama.
Upon receiving the Holland on the Hill Freddy Heineken Award, Mr. Kovacs said, “The United States and the Netherlands share a long-standing partnership going back to the original Dutch settlements in America 400 years ago, that is built on a foundation of trust, collaboration and common interests,” said Jay Kovacs, president of Axient Systems. “I’m profoundly grateful to Ambassador Tazelaar and the Netherland-America Foundation for recognizing the important work we are doing to strengthen US-Dutch cooperation in aerospace and high technology.”
Ambassador Birgitta Tazelaar of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United States presented the award and said, “The Netherlands is incredibly proud to be home to Axient Systems’ first European office. In a remarkably short time, Axient has become a key player at the intersection of academia, government, and industry within our innovation ecosystem. Jay’s visionary work and Axient’s rapid integration in Delft illustrates that the Netherlands is not just an innovative partner; we are a deeply reliable and substantial one.”
The relationship between the Netherlands and the United States is undergirded by strong economic ties. The Netherlands is the fourth-largest foreign investor in the United States and bilateral trade and investment between the two nations support more than 1 million jobs in the US. With its Dutch location, Axient Systems BV not only strengthens Dutch and US aerospace cooperation, it advances security for both nations.
Axient Systems is the 13th recipient of the Holland on the Hill Freddy Heineken Award. Previous awardees include: Fugro in 2025 (Mr. Mark Heine); KnowBe4 in 2024 (Mr. Stu Sjouwerman); Citizen M in 2023 (Mr. Klaas van Lookeren Campagne); Merck in 2022 (Mr. Richard DeLuca Jr.); Arcadis in 2021 (Mr. Peter Oosterveer); IBM in 2020 (Ms. Michelle Browdy); Aegon in 2019 (Mr. Alexander R. Wynaendts); Netflix in 2018 (Mr. David Hyman); Ahold Delhaize in 2017 (Mr. Dick Boer); Mars Inc. in 2016 (Ms. Victoria B. Mars); Unilever in 2015 (Mr. Paul Polman); and Amazon in 2014 (Mr. Werner Vogels).
Freddy Heineken came to the United States in the 1940s to expand Heineken’s market. Heineken combined his Dutch business acumen with American marketing know-how to build Heineken into the world recognized brand known today.
The Holland on the Hill Freddy Heineken Award is co-organized by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the U.S. Congressional Caucus of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the Netherland-America Foundation (NAF). The award ceremony took place as part of the Netherland-America Foundation’s Ambassadors’ Awards Dinner. Proceeds from the event support the NAF’s Washington, D.C. internship program.
- Jay Kovacs of Axient Systems BV receives the Holland on the Hill Freddy Heineken Award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.