Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC) -Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) - RFP 26-01
Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).
Executive Summary:
The Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC) is soliciting prototype solutions to address critical domestic supply chain vulnerabilities and manufacturing capability gaps across four priority areas. These efforts are funded under the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) program using RDT&E appropriations and are tied to Congressional Interest.
Companies should move quickly if aligned—this is a targeted, single-award-per-topic opportunity with defined funding ceilings and strong Government interest in scaling domestic capacity.
How much funding would I receive?
Funding is structured as single awards per topic, each capped at the following levels:
Topic 1: Secure Processor Development — Up to $8,300,000 (RDT&E)
Topic 2: Rare Earth Magnet Manufacturing — Up to $2,500,000 (RDT&E)
Topic 3: Industrial Forge Quenching Capacity Improvement — Up to $2,500,000 (RDT&E)
Topic 4: RF Contested Environments — Up to $4,400,000 (RDT&E)
The Government intends to make one award per topic, not exceeding the stated funding limitation.
RESEARCH TOPICS:
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The Government requires a prototype project to develop, mature, and scale the domestic production of advanced secure processors for defense applications. Modern defense systems operating at the tactical edge require high-performance computing (eg, AI/ML processing, sensor fusion) while maintaining an absolute Zero-Trust hardware posture. Current commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) processors are vulnerable to supply chain interdiction, side-channel attacks, and reverse engineering.
Technical Focus: Solutions should emphasize hardware roots of trust (RoS), secure boot mechanisms, inline memory encryption, and resistance to physical and electrical side-channel attacks. Proposals may include advanced 2.5D and 3D heterogeneous integration (HI) packaging, or the integration of secure processor chiplets (such as RISC-V architectures with integrated memory guards) into larger systems on a chip (SoC).
Funding Limitation: Up to $8,300,000 (RDT&E). The Government intends to make a single award no greater than the funding limitation. Teaming arrangements are acceptable and encouraged to meet complex supply chain requirements.
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The Government requires prototype solutions to establish or enhance domestic manufacturing capabilities for high-performance rare earth permanent magnets, specifically Neodymium-Iron-Boron (NdFeB) and Samarium-Cobalt (SmCo). These magnets are critical for defense electric drive systems, radar, missile guidance fins, and advanced actuators (e.g., F-35 and submarine platforms). Currently, foreign entities of concern control over 85% of the global magnet processing and production capacity.
Technical Focus: The project must advance a verifiable, secure "mine-to-magnet" supply chain completely bypassing foreign entities of concern. The project may use virgin material sources or recycled materials. Technical approaches should highlight advanced sintered manufacturing processes, heavy rare earth (HRE) separation capabilities (specifically isolating Dysprosium and Terbium), or the use of Grain Boundary Diffusion (GBD) technology to maximize high-temperature performance while reducing overall reliance on scarce HREs.
Funding Limitation: Up to $2,500,000 (RDT&E). The Government intends to make a single award no greater than the funding limitation. Teaming arrangements are acceptable and encouraged to meet complex supply chain requirements.
Economic Participation: To ensure a resilient domestic supply chain, the Government seeks solutions demonstrating shared financial investment and long-term commercial sustainment. In alignment with the IBAS mission to establish and diversify regional centers of excellence, the Government will favorably evaluate proposals that build or utilize robust industrial infrastructure, integrate localized supply chains, and develop specialized workforces for domestic magnet manufacturing. The highest evaluation preference will be given to proposed solutions that strategically locate operations within established or rapidly emerging U.S. automotive, aerospace, or advanced manufacturing corridors to leverage existing industrial synergies."
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Heavy forging is a foundational requirement for major defense platforms, particularly within the Submarine Industrial Base (SIB), shipbuilding, and heavy armor. The Government requires a prototype project to design, upgrade, and validate improved industrial forge quenching capacity. Current domestic infrastructure is a major bottleneck, leading to extended lead times for ultra-large cast and forged components.
Technical Focus: Solutions must demonstrate the implementation of advanced quenching infrastructure (eg, large-scale water, oil, or polymer quench tanks). The technical approach should feature automated, sensor-driven temperature monitoring and controlled cooling rates to guarantee metallurgical consistency, prevent stress fractures in heavy steel/titanium alloys, and significantly increase throughput for Navy and Army platform components.
Funding Limitation: Up to $2,500,000 (RDT&E). The Government intends to make a single award no greater than the funding limitation. Teaming arrangements are acceptable and encouraged to meet complex supply chain requirements.
Economic Participation: To meet the IBAS strategic requirement for expanding geographically distinct heavy industrial infrastructure, the Government seeks proposals that drive direct economic participation and localized industrial impact. The highest evaluation preference will be given to proposed solutions that establish or expand operations within regions offering established heavy manufacturing ecosystems, high-capacity energy grids, and strategic logistical access to rapidly scale domestic infrastructure capabilities."
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The Department of War (DoW) requires domestic, trusted prototyping and low-rate initial production of advanced microelectronics capable of maintaining spectrum dominance in severely contested and congested electromagnetic environments.
Currently, the U.S. Defense Industrial Base (DIB) faces a critical gap in fielding ultra-wideband, low-latency RF signal processing components at the tactical edge. Near-peer adversaries have proliferated sophisticated Electronic Warfare (EW) systems designed to jam, spoof, or degrade DoW communications, radar, and precision-guided munitions. Existing silicon-based microelectronics lack the instantaneous bandwidth and dynamic range required to filter intentional interference and isolate signals of interest in real-time, posing a severe risk to Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) survivability.
· Technical Focus: The solution must be centered on the design, development, and prototyping of advanced microelectronic architectures capable of maintaining spectrum dominance in highly contested and congested Radio Frequency (RF) environments. To counter sophisticated near-peer Electronic Warfare (EW) and jamming capabilities, the proposed solution must deliver ultra-wideband signal processing beyond the state of the practice at the tactical edge. This requires moving beyond traditional narrowband, high-latency digital conversion by integrating analog, mixed-signal, or photonic pre-processing directly on-chip. These advanced microelectronic components must demonstrate the high dynamic range necessary to simultaneously nullify high-power, frequency-hopping interference while isolating and preserving critical, low-power signals of interest in real-time without introducing processing lag.
Furthermore, the technical focus mandates strict adherence to Size, Weight, Power, and Cost (SWaP-C) optimization to ensure the resulting prototypes are viable for integration into constrained platforms such as Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), precision-guided munitions, and mobile Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) nodes. A critical execution requirement of this effort is the active utilization and maturation of the domestic supply chain, specifically leveraging the established optics, photonics, and RF microelectronics industrial base. Performers must explicitly demonstrate how their technical approach integrates specialized manufacturing, advanced prototyping, and research capabilities to deliver military-grade, environmentally hardened sub-systems (targeting Technology Readiness Level 5 or 6) that are ready for transition into Department of War (DoW) Programs of Record.
Funding Limitation: Up to $4,400,000 (RDT&E). The Government intends to make a single award no greater than the funding limitation. Teaming arrangements are acceptable and encouraged to meet complex supply chain requirements.
Are there any additional benefits I would receive?
This program is structured around Government equity, meaning participation may include:
Government Purpose Rights (GPR) to technical data and software
Priority access or reserved production capacity
Delivery of prototypes, tooling, or LRIP units
Shared licensing or royalty-free use of developed IP
Additionally, projects are tied to Congressional Interest and may position companies for future defense production and transition opportunities.
What is the timeline to apply and when would I receive funding?
A deadline is to be released in the coming days. We’re planning to assist companies with meeting appropriate personnel and are beginning that work promptly.
Where does this funding come from?
Funding comes from:
Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriations
Managed under the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) program
Executed through the Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC)
These efforts are explicitly tied to national security priorities and Congressional Interest.
Who is eligible to apply?
Members of the Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC) may submit solution papers
Teaming arrangements are acceptable and encouraged
No additional eligibility criteria are specified in the solicitation.
What companies and projects are likely to win?
Competitive proposals will:
Directly address critical supply chain vulnerabilities
Demonstrate ability to scale domestic manufacturing capacity
Align tightly with IBAS objectives
Show regional industrial impact and infrastructure development
Include shared financial investment and long-term sustainment plans (where applicable)
Leverage or build localized supply chains and workforce development
Highest preference is given to projects that:
Strengthen regional industrial hubs
Integrate into existing U.S. automotive, aerospace, or manufacturing corridors
Reduce reliance on foreign entities of concern
All topics are evaluated independently.
Are there any restrictions I should know about?
Key requirements and constraints include:
The Government expects equity commensurate with its investment
Projects must align with IBAS statutory objectives
Solutions must support domestic supply chain resilience
Certain topics require fully domestic supply chains bypassing foreign entities of concern
Deliverables may include data rights, IP access, and production commitments
Additional topic-specific technical constraints apply (e.g., SWaP-C requirements, secure architectures, metallurgical controls).
How long will it take me to prepare an application?
Not specified in the solicitation.
How can BW&CO help?
BW&CO can support:
Opportunity qualification and topic alignment strategy
Structuring competitive Solution Papers
Positioning your project for IBAS evaluation criteria
Building teaming strategies and supply chain narratives
Translating technical concepts into clear, fundable proposals
