ERDC Broad Agency Announcement (W912HZ26S0001): The Complete Guide for Startups and Small Businesses

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Broad Agency Announcement, solicitation number W912HZ26S0001, is a continuously open funding pathway that lets startups, small businesses, universities, and nonprofits propose basic and applied research across seven ERDC laboratories. It covers a wide range of technical areas including AI and machine learning, cybersecurity, high performance computing, advanced manufacturing, sensing and instrumentation, autonomous systems, materials and structures, infrastructure, environmental technologies, and geospatial technologies. There is no fixed submission deadline and no set per-award dollar ceiling. You start with a short five-page pre-proposal, and ERDC responds within 60 days on whether to invite a full proposal. Awards can take the form of a procurement contract, a grant, or a cooperative agreement.

What is the ERDC Broad Agency Announcement?

The ERDC Broad Agency Announcement is a standing solicitation issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center under the authority of FAR 35.016. A Broad Agency Announcement, or BAA, is a mechanism the government uses to solicit proposals for basic and applied research, and for that part of development not tied to a specific system or hardware procurement. In plain terms, ERDC is inviting outside organizations to bring forward research ideas that advance the state of the art or increase scientific and technical knowledge in the areas ERDC cares about.

To be eligible for award, your proposed work needs to fall into one of these categories: basic research, applied research, advanced technology development not tied to a specific system or hardware, or demonstration and validation. Work aimed at building a specific product or piece of hardware for direct government use generally does not fit the BAA and would belong on a different acquisition pathway.

This is a science and research vehicle, not a services or product procurement, and understanding that distinction is the single most important thing to get right before you invest time in a submission.

Who is the ERDC BAA for?

ERDC explicitly encourages small business participation. The solicitation specifically invites small business concerns, women-owned small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, HUBZone small businesses, firms in the SBA 8(a) program, and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses to submit research proposals. It also encourages proposals from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Institutions.

In practice the applicant pool skews roughly half universities and half small businesses. Some research areas lean toward earlier-stage work that naturally draws academic teams, but there is substantial room for commercial small businesses, especially those with genuine research and development depth and a technology that maps cleanly to an ERDC mission area.

Federal facilities and organizations cannot compete. Federally Funded Research and Development Centers and other government entities face direct competition limitations and must clear a high bar to be eligible, with the burden of proving eligibility resting entirely on them.

If your company is doing real R&D in a field ERDC works in, you are very likely in the intended audience.

What research areas does the ERDC BAA cover?

ERDC organizes its research interests across seven laboratories, each with its own set of numbered topic areas. When you submit, you reference the specific topic number, for example CHL-1, CRREL-10, or CERL-15.

Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL) covers coastal and inland hydraulics, hydrodynamics, sediment transport, dredging, navigation channels, groundwater, hydrology, coastal structures, nature-based coastal resilience, and marine transportation technologies.

Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory (GSL) covers soil and rock mechanics, pavements, vehicle mobility, earthquake engineering, geophysics, protective and survivable structures, concrete and construction materials, projectile penetration, bridge and railroad technology, computational structural mechanics, and advanced maneuver technologies.

Environmental Laboratory (EL) covers environmental sensing, hazardous waste characterization and treatment, water quality and contaminant modeling, emerging contaminants, dredged material management, wetlands and ecological restoration, invasive and endangered species management, systems biology and bioinformatics, ecological modeling, and decision analysis.

Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) covers computational science and engineering, software engineering and informatics, high performance computing, cybersecurity, high performance data analytics, additive manufacturing enabled by HPC, artificial intelligence and machine learning for materials discovery, and edge computing.

Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) covers additive construction, critical infrastructure protection, innovative construction materials, energy efficiency and energy security, water resilience, autonomous robotic solutions for engineer operations, geopolymers, fiber reinforced polymers, structural health monitoring, and installation infrastructure management.

Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) covers signature physics, terrestrial and cryospheric science, biogeochemical processes, environmental fate and transport, force projection and sustainment, cold regions infrastructure, geospatial water resources applications, and hydrology and hydraulics.

Geospatial Research Laboratory (GRL) covers photon-counting LIDAR, photogrammetry, intelligent spatiotemporal analytics, assured position, navigation and timing in GPS-denied environments, advanced terrain analytics, and cyber geospatial science.

Across all seven labs there are well over one hundred specific topic areas, so the practical first step is identifying which single topic your technology best fits.

How much funding can you get through the ERDC BAA?

The ERDC BAA does not publish a fixed per-award dollar ceiling. This is a meaningful difference from SBIR and STTR, which cap awards at set phase amounts. Under the BAA, the size of an award is scoped to the proposed effort and is constrained by the funding ERDC has available for that research area at the time.

There are two dollar thresholds worth knowing. First, for proposed awards exceeding $900,000, large businesses and nonprofits (including educational institutions) must submit a formal small business subcontracting plan. Small businesses are exempt from that requirement. Second, when the proposed value exceeds $100,000, an SF-LLL disclosure of lobbying activities is required.

The type of award affects fee. Procurement contracts can include a proposed fee or profit. Grants and cooperative agreements do not allow any fee or profit. Cost realism and the availability of funds are part of how proposals are evaluated, so your budget needs to be detailed, defensible, and proportionate to the work.

What is the ERDC BAA timeline and deadline?

There is no single deadline. This BAA is open on a rolling basis and remains in effect until it is superseded by a newer edition. The current edition is dated April 2026 and supersedes all previous editions. You can submit a pre-proposal at any time.

After you submit a pre-proposal, ERDC will respond within 60 days of receipt. The response either encourages you to submit a full proposal or advises you that the pre-proposal did not receive a favorable review. Pre-proposals that lack sufficient scientific merit, that are not relevant to Army needs, or that fall in areas where funds are not expected to be available may be declined.

If you are proposing support for a conference or symposium rather than research, that proposal should be submitted at least six months before the event.

The rolling nature is an advantage. You are not racing a fixed clock, and you can time your submission around your own readiness and around informal conversations with ERDC about fit.

How do you apply to the ERDC BAA?

The process has two stages: a pre-proposal first, then a full proposal by invitation only.

Before you submit anything, your organization must be registered and active in the System for Award Management at sam.gov. This is a prerequisite, and it can take time, so start it early if you are not already registered.

Stage one is the pre-proposal, which ERDC treats as a white paper. Every initial submission under this BAA is considered a pre-proposal. You submit it electronically through the ERDCWERX portal at erdcwerx.org. ERDC reviews it and, if the concept is promising, invites a full proposal.

Stage two is the full proposal, which you only prepare after receiving an invitation directly from the ERDC Contracting Office. Full proposals are submitted by email to the specific laboratory your topic falls under, using the contact and address provided in your invitation. Proposals should never be sent directly to technical or lab personnel.

What goes in an ERDC BAA pre-proposal?

The pre-proposal has a firm five-page limit, and it may only be submitted under one specific topic area. It must reference the topic number for that research area. The pre-proposal should include a descriptive title, the submitting organization's name and address including email, the principal investigator's name and phone number, the project duration, a statement of objectives or the working hypothesis, one or more paragraphs on the technical approach, one or more paragraphs on the potential military or civil payoffs to the Corps of Engineers, and a one-page curriculum vitae for the principal investigator.

Separately, you include a one-page executive summary that describes the background, scope of work, deliverables, and total proposed price. No cost breakdown is required in this summary, and the summary must not contain any sensitive or proprietary data. Importantly, this one-page executive summary does not count against the five-page limit.

If you intend to seek a grant or cooperative agreement rather than a contract, you also describe how the research supports or stimulates a public purpose.

What goes in an ERDC BAA full proposal?

A full proposal has a technical portion and a cost portion.

The technical portion covers the background and objectives, the technical approach, the proposed level of effort, and the anticipated results and deliverables. It includes a recommended Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan, biographical information and recent publications for key personnel, the names of any other agencies you have submitted the same proposal to, a description of your organization, and past performance information for at least three customers you have performed similar work for in the last three years. You also include a revised one-page executive summary. If you are pursuing a grant or cooperative agreement, you add a data management plan.

The cost portion is a detailed cost estimate broken out by element of cost and by task. It covers direct labor by discipline, fringe benefits, itemized equipment, expendable supplies, travel, subcontracts, other direct costs, and indirect cost rates and bases. Proposals should also address expected use of DoD High Performance Computing Center systems where relevant.

How are ERDC BAA proposals evaluated?

Pre-proposals get an initial technical review against three factors: the overall scientific and technical merit, the potential contribution to the ERDC mission, and available funding.

Full proposals go through scientific peer review against a broader set of criteria. Scientific and technical merit is the most important factor. The remaining factors are of equal importance to one another and, when combined, are significantly more important than cost. Those factors are the contribution to the ERDC and DoD mission, the offeror's capabilities and facilities, the qualifications of the principal investigator and key personnel, the reasonableness and realism of proposed costs along with the availability of funds, past performance, and a subcontracting plan where one is required.

A useful takeaway: this is a merit-driven, science-first evaluation, not a lowest-price competition. A strong technical concept from a credible team carries the most weight.

What types of awards can result from the ERDC BAA?

The BAA lets you propose one of three instruments, though the final instrument can change through negotiation based on the nature of the work.

A procurement contract is used when the principal purpose is to acquire research services for the direct benefit of the government. Contracts can be cost-reimbursable, which suits research where direction may shift as results come in, or fixed-price, which suits well-defined efforts with predictable costs. Contracts can include a fee.

A grant is used when the principal purpose is to transfer value to support or stimulate a public purpose, with no substantial government involvement expected and no fee or profit allowed.

A cooperative agreement is similar to a grant but anticipates substantial involvement between the government and the recipient, and it also allows no fee or profit.

How is the ERDC BAA different from SBIR and STTR?

If you have looked at SBIR or STTR, the ERDC BAA will feel both familiar and different. Both are non-dilutive federal funding, but the BAA is continuously open rather than tied to solicitation cycles, it has no phase-based dollar caps, and it is evaluated as basic and applied research rather than as a commercialization-staged program. It rewards genuine research depth and a clear tie to an ERDC mission area. For many deep-tech companies, the two pathways are complementary, and the right move is to map your technology against both.

How BW&CO helps you pursue the ERDC BAA

BW&CO works with deep-tech, defense, and dual-use founders to identify the right non-dilutive funding pathways and to build competitive submissions. For the ERDC BAA that means pinpointing the single best-fit topic area across the seven laboratories, pressure-testing whether your work reads as fundable research rather than product development, shaping the pre-proposal and executive summary, and preparing you for the full proposal stage if you are invited. If the ERDC BAA looks like a potential fit for your technology, contact BW&CO to talk through it.

FAQ SECTION WITH SCHEMA

Is the ERDC BAA open to small businesses and startups?
Yes. ERDC explicitly encourages small businesses, women-owned small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, HUBZone firms, 8(a) participants, and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses to submit research proposals. The applicant pool is roughly half small businesses and half universities.

Is there a deadline for the ERDC BAA?
No. The BAA is continuously open and remains in effect until superseded. The current edition is dated April 2026. You can submit a pre-proposal at any time, and ERDC responds within 60 days.

How much money can you receive through the ERDC BAA?
There is no published per-award dollar ceiling. Award size is scoped to the proposed research effort and depends on available funding. Awards above $900,000 require a subcontracting plan from large businesses and nonprofits, while small businesses are exempt.

What is the ERDC BAA solicitation number?
The solicitation number is W912HZ26S0001.

How do you apply to the ERDC BAA?
You must be registered and active in SAM at sam.gov, then submit a five-page pre-proposal electronically through erdcwerx.org under one specific topic area. If ERDC invites you, you submit a full proposal to the relevant laboratory by email.

How long can an ERDC BAA pre-proposal be?
The pre-proposal is limited to five pages under a single topic area, plus a separate one-page executive summary that does not count against the five-page limit.

What types of awards can the ERDC BAA result in?
A procurement contract, a grant, or a cooperative agreement. Grants and cooperative agreements do not allow fee or profit, while procurement contracts can include a fee.

How are ERDC BAA proposals scored?
Scientific and technical merit is the most important factor, followed by mission contribution, offeror capabilities, personnel qualifications, cost realism and fund availability, and past performance. All non-cost factors combined outweigh cost.

ERDC BOTAA 25-01: The Army's Continuously Open Prototype Funding Path for Deep-Tech Startups

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

ERDC BOTAA 25-01 is a Broad Other Transaction Authority Announcement issued in October 2024 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC). It uses Other Transaction (OT) authority under 10 U.S.C. 4022 to fund prototype projects in two broad domains: Military Engineering and Engineered Resilient Systems. It is continuously open, meaning there is no fixed deadline. Companies submit a short white paper (three pages or less) against any focus area through ERDCWERX, and the government typically responds with a selection decision within 60 to 90 days. Selected companies may be invited to pitch, demonstrate, or submit a full proposal through a Request for Prototype Proposal. There is no published dollar ceiling, and successful prototypes can lead directly to a noncompetitive follow-on production award. This mechanism is especially attractive to nontraditional defense contractors and small businesses, because it sits outside the Federal Acquisition Regulation and moves faster than a traditional contract.

What Is ERDC BOTAA 25-01?

ERDC BOTAA 25-01 is the current Broad Other Transaction Authority Announcement from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineer Research and Development Center. ERDC is the Army's premier engineering and environmental sciences research organization and is an integral component of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. The BOTAA is the standing vehicle ERDC uses to solicit prototype concept white papers from industry and academia, review them, and fund the ones that address a real government capability gap.

Unlike a traditional grant or contract solicitation with a hard due date, this announcement is open on a rolling basis. A company can submit whenever it has a concept that fits, and the government evaluates each white paper on its own merit against the criteria in the announcement, not against other submissions. All white papers are submitted electronically through ERDCWERX, the innovation hub that administers the announcement, at the ERDC BOTAA page on erdcwerx.org.

What Is a BOTAA and Why Does It Matter for Startups?

A BOTAA is a Broad Other Transaction Authority Announcement. It relies on Other Transaction authority, a flexible acquisition tool Congress gave the Department of Defense under 10 U.S.C. 4022 specifically to fund prototype projects. The key thing for a startup to understand is that Other Transactions are generally not subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) or its supplements. That means the terms are negotiated between the company and the government rather than dictated by the full weight of federal procurement law, which usually translates into a faster and more collaborative path than a standard contract.

Other Transactions were designed to bring in companies that do not normally work with the Department of Defense. The technology can be a proof of concept, a model or process, a novel application of commercial technology for defense purposes, an agile development effort, or a demonstration of operational utility. If your company is building something with a plausible defense application in engineering, computing, sensing, materials, or infrastructure, a BOTAA is often the lowest-friction way to get in front of a government customer.

What Is ERDC Looking For? The Two Focus Areas in Detail

ERDC BOTAA 25-01 solicits prototype concepts across two business areas. Each contains several focus areas, and a company may submit against any of them.

Military Engineering (ME)

The Military Engineering business area is about giving the warfighter technologies and capabilities that enable force protection and maneuver. It contains ten focus areas:

Protective Structures and Systems. Technologies, materials, and processes that reduce manpower, logistics, or equipment hours while improving the survivability of individuals, small units, fighting positions, semi-fixed assets, outposts, and contingency bases. This includes planning tools and tactics that speed up force protection setup, reuse, and retrograde, as well as capabilities for overwatch, perimeter, port, and border security, surveillance, and warning.

Protection and Survivability. Unit-level and system-level technologies that detect, disable, survive, or defeat enemy weapon systems and characterize the threat they pose. This covers infrastructure hardening and retrofit, camouflage, reducing detectability and vulnerability, recoverability, and protection of personnel, critical assets, and facilities against conventional, unconventional, and advanced threats.

Geophysical Sensors and Data Fusion. Sensors, sensor systems, and unmanned systems that detect, assess, and persistently monitor threats and critical infrastructure across urban, subterranean, and complex terrain. The goal is automated fusion that builds an in-depth Common Operating Picture for surface and subsurface movement, maneuver, and force protection planning.

Vulnerability Assessment, Detection, and Analytics. Technology and processes that support strategic, operational, and tactical analysis of anti-terrorism and force protection posture, and of population and infrastructure disruption from combat, humanitarian, and disaster situations. Prototypes support assessment of mission assurance, population vulnerability, and resilience.

Geoscience, Environmental, Geospatial, and Material Modeling and Simulation. Computational methods and materials-by-design capabilities that predict system performance, environmental impact on sensors, structural response to weapons effects, and level of protection. This includes simulating detection of above-ground, below-ground, and maritime avenues of approach.

Enhance and Assess Mobility of Manned and Unmanned Systems. Technologies that accelerate platform development, integrate autonomous systems, and improve mobility across complex terrain. This covers obstacle and gap crossing, vehicle and soil interaction, mobility hazard detection, and modeling and simulation tools that predict ground vehicle and watercraft performance in varied weather and terrain.

Engineering and Engineering Enabling Technologies. A broad category covering combat engineering, mobility and counter-mobility, explosive effects, breaching, materials, manufacturing and process technologies, modeling and simulation, virtual prototyping, operational energy, autonomous systems, prime power, and engineer-related environmental technologies.

Global Access Engineering. Technologies, materials, and planning tools for technical reconnaissance, construction, maintenance, repair, and upgrade of infrastructure critical to force projection and theater access. This includes remote sensing and field methods for assessing soils, ice and snow, pavements, matting, terrain, bathymetry, river currents, port depths, airfields, roads, rail, and bridges.

Infrastructure Maintenance, Repair, and Reconstruction Technologies. Materials and equipment that rapidly assess, repair, and reconstruct pavements, bridges, railways, ports, and airfields. Prototypes include physics-based tools for measuring layer thickness and strength, rail and pier capacity, and bridge structural capacity, plus new repair equipment and field kits.

Engineering Analysis Tools and Decision Aid Prototype Software. Software that integrates advanced engineering algorithms for evaluating, designing, repairing, and operating critical infrastructure in support of force projection and maneuver planning.

Engineered Resilient Systems (ERS)

The Engineered Resilient Systems business area combines advanced engineering with high-performance computing to amplify the design options examined early in the acquisition process. It contains seven focus areas:

Cybersecurity. Techniques, software, hardware, and tools that protect critical infrastructure and advanced manufacturing control systems, including industrial control systems, SCADA systems, programmable logic controllers, and networks, against adaptive cyber adversaries. ERDC is interested in networked, host-based, and behavior-based approaches that deliver holistic defense and cyber situational awareness.

High Performance Computing Enabled Advanced Manufacturing. Tools and systems that support advanced manufacturing, including 3-D printing, and that bring HPC resources to the point of manufacture. Areas of interest include multi-physics and multi-scale approaches, optimization, trade-space analytics, uncertainty quantification, data-driven and machine learning methods, virtual testing, AI-enabled certification, and the ability to design, fabricate, and test large-scale components more than a meter in length for uses such as armor, aerospace and marine substructures, blast and ballistic protection, and rotorcraft components.

High Performance Data Analytics. Techniques and tools that examine data sets too large or complex for traditional processing to uncover hidden patterns, correlations, and multidimensional trends, using HPC, heterogeneous computing, and next-generation algorithms.

System Engineering Techniques. Advanced system engineering methods that address acquisition and readiness challenges through design trade-space development, analysis of many candidate designs, and condition-based maintenance driven by sensor and maintenance data, often using artificial intelligence and machine learning at massive data volume.

HPC Enabled Development of Surrogate Models and Data Analytics. Computationally efficient and accurate surrogate models for full-order systems, with application areas including blast effects, flight envelope simulation, turbulent rotor dynamics, fluid-structure-thermal interaction, and physics-informed machine learning.

Leveraging HPC Capabilities for On-the-Edge Computing. Tools that deliver high-performance computing at the point of need to improve soldier situational awareness, including electro-optical, thermal, radar, and acoustic sensor data processing, terrain characterization and mapping, sensor fusion, anomaly detection, and local maneuver planning.

Computational Material Testing and Validation. Computational processes for testing and validating components produced through advanced manufacturing, connecting standard manufacturing procedures to engineering mechanics simulation and reducing uncertainty in additively manufactured parts.

Who Is Eligible to Apply?

ERDC awards Other Transactions to nontraditional defense contractors, traditional defense contractors, and nonprofit research institutions. To actually receive an award, at least one of the following conditions must be met:

There is at least one nontraditional defense contractor or nonprofit research institution participating to a significant extent in the prototype project, or

All significant participants in the transaction other than the federal government are small businesses or nontraditional defense contractors, or

At least one-third of the total cost of the prototype project is paid out of funds provided by parties other than the federal government.

A nontraditional defense contractor is an entity that has not performed, for at least the one-year period preceding the announcement, any DoD contract or subcontract subject to full coverage under the Cost Accounting Standards. Most commercial technology companies and venture-backed startups qualify as nontraditional, which is exactly why this vehicle fits them so well. A nontraditional partner can sit at the prime level, as a team member, as a subcontractor, or as a lower-tier vendor, as long as it is a key participant supplying a meaningful technology, doing a significant share of the work, or materially improving cost, schedule, or performance.

Prospective awardees must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) before award, so companies that are not yet registered should start that process early. Work under any resulting agreement is subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and each offeror is responsible for compliance.

How Much Funding Is Available?

This is one of the most important differences between a BOTAA and a program like SBIR. There is no published dollar ceiling for ERDC BOTAA 25-01. Funding is scoped to the prototype concept itself.

At the white paper stage, a company provides a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) price, which is an estimate of what the prototype would cost, along with any anticipated cost share. The government evaluates whether that ROM is commensurate with the proposed solution. If the concept advances to a full proposal, pricing is submitted on a firm fixed price basis and structured as a milestone payment schedule, where each milestone has a description, a price, and a target completion date. Payments are tied to completed events rather than reimbursed as incurred costs.

Cost share is directly connected to eligibility. If your project qualifies through significant nontraditional or small business participation, cost share is generally not required. If you instead rely on the third eligibility path, at least one-third of total project cost must come from non-federal sources. Cost share can be cash or in-kind, where in-kind means non-financial resources such as wear and tear on capital equipment, the prorated value of facility space, or the fair market value of materials used on the project.

The government does not reimburse the cost of preparing white papers or proposals, and no costs incurred before the effective date of an agreement are recoverable.

What Is the Timeline and How Does the Process Work?

Because the announcement is continuously open, the timeline is driven by review cycles rather than a due date. The process runs as follows:

First, the company submits a white paper against any focus area through ERDCWERX. The white paper is the technical concept and rough pricing, limited to three pages plus a cover page.

Second, the government reviews the white paper against the evaluation criteria in the announcement. White papers judged advantageous are selected for further consideration.

Third, the company is notified of selection or non-selection, typically within 60 to 90 days of submission.

Fourth, if a white paper is selected and funding is available, the government may request a solution pitch or technical demonstration and may issue a Request for Prototype Proposal (RFPP). If a white paper is selected but funding is not currently available, the government may keep it in an electronic library for consideration and possible funding for up to three years after submission.

Fifth, once an RFPP is issued, the company collaborates with the government to develop the Statement of Work, then submits a full proposal within the time stated in the RFPP.

Sixth, the government evaluates the proposal, negotiates as needed, and makes an award once terms and conditions are agreed upon.

A significant advantage sits at the end of this path. Under 10 U.S.C. 4022(f), a company that successfully completes a prototype Other Transaction can receive a follow-on production award on a noncompetitive basis. In other words, a well-executed prototype can open the door to production work without having to re-compete.

What Does the White Paper Require?

The white paper is short and focused. It runs no more than three pages, not counting the cover page, and includes the following.

A cover page, generated from the submission form, capturing the point of contact, the submitting business and its Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code, business status (nontraditional, traditional, or nonprofit research institution), the focus areas addressed, a project title, a prototype description, the DoD purpose, and the ROM price.

Technical requirements, covering the background and benefits of the proposed solution, the technical approach with a clearly defined prototype, and anticipated data rights assertions if applicable.

A Rough Order of Magnitude price, including anticipated cost share if applicable and any supporting documentation.

Formatting requirements are specific. Pages are 8.5 by 11 inches, numbered X of Y. Margins are at least one inch on all sides. The font is 12 point Times New Roman, single spaced. All acronyms are spelled out on first use. The language is English. The file must be a PDF compatible with Adobe Acrobat Reader 11.0 and under 20 MB. Classified information must not be included, and generic capability brochures are not accepted in place of a white paper.

How Are White Papers Evaluated?

White papers are assessed on an integrated basis against four considerations: the degree to which the solution meets a government problem, need, or capability gap within an identified focus area; whether the ROM price is commensurate with the proposed solution; government funding availability; and whether the submission sufficiently demonstrates one of the eligibility conditions, meaning significant nontraditional participation, significant nonprofit research institution participation, an all small business or nontraditional participant pool, or at least one-third non-federal cost share.

If the project advances to a full proposal, evaluation broadens to scientific and technical merit, the qualifications of the program manager and key personnel, the significance of any nontraditional or nonprofit participation, and whether the budget is realistic, reasonable, and fully justified.

Why This Opportunity Deserves Attention

The BOTAA is one of the most accessible defense funding mechanisms available to a company that is not already embedded in the defense industrial base, and it is not widely tracked by commercially focused firms. Recent activity suggests the odds are reasonable for a well-targeted concept. Based on figures reflecting the current fiscal year, an estimated 20 to 25 of roughly 200 submissions advanced to the proposal stage or received funding, which points to an advancement rate above 10 percent. That is broadly comparable to what strong applicants see in competitive SBIR programs, and it is achieved with a much shorter initial submission.

The breadth of the focus areas is the other reason to pay attention. Companies working in cybersecurity, high-performance computing and data analytics, advanced and additive manufacturing, edge computing, modeling and simulation, autonomous systems, sensors, advanced materials, and infrastructure technologies all have a natural home under Military Engineering or Engineered Resilient Systems. If your technology has any of those characteristics and a plausible defense application, the three-page white paper is a low-cost way to test government interest.

How BW&CO Helps

BW&CO Consulting helps deep-tech, biotech, medtech, and defense-adjacent founders win non-dilutive federal funding, including Other Transaction opportunities like ERDC BOTAA 25-01. We help you determine whether your technology fits a Military Engineering or Engineered Resilient Systems focus area, position the concept against a specific government capability gap, structure eligibility and any cost share, and build a white paper that survives evaluation. If you want to know whether this vehicle is a fit for your company, reach out and we will assess it with you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is ERDC BOTAA 25-01?

ERDC BOTAA 25-01 is a Broad Other Transaction Authority Announcement issued in October 2024 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center. It uses Other Transaction authority under 10 U.S.C. 4022 to fund prototype projects in Military Engineering and Engineered Resilient Systems, and it is continuously open with no fixed deadline.

Who can apply to the ERDC BOTAA?

Nontraditional defense contractors, traditional defense contractors, and nonprofit research institutions can apply. To receive an award, the project must include significant nontraditional or nonprofit participation, consist of only small business and nontraditional participants, or include at least one-third non-federal cost share.

What is the deadline for the ERDC BOTAA?

There is no deadline. The announcement is continuously open, so white papers can be submitted at any time and are evaluated as they arrive.

How much funding can I receive through the BOTAA?

There is no published dollar ceiling. Funding is scoped to the prototype concept. Companies provide a Rough Order of Magnitude price at the white paper stage, and full proposals are priced on a firm fixed price basis with milestone payments.

Is cost share required?

Cost share is not automatically required. If your project qualifies through significant nontraditional or small business participation, you generally do not need cost share. If you qualify through the third eligibility path, at least one-third of total project cost must come from non-federal sources, and that share can be cash or in-kind.

What are the focus areas of ERDC BOTAA 25-01?

There are two business areas. Military Engineering covers protective structures, protection and survivability, geophysical sensors and data fusion, vulnerability analytics, geoscience and material modeling, mobility of manned and unmanned systems, engineering enabling technologies, global access engineering, infrastructure repair, and decision-aid software. Engineered Resilient Systems covers cybersecurity, HPC-enabled advanced manufacturing, high performance data analytics, system engineering techniques, surrogate model development, edge computing, and computational material testing.

What is a nontraditional defense contractor?

A nontraditional defense contractor is an entity that has not performed a DoD contract or subcontract subject to full Cost Accounting Standards coverage for at least the one-year period preceding the announcement. Most commercial and venture-backed technology companies qualify.

What is an Other Transaction?

An Other Transaction is a flexible award instrument authorized under 10 U.S.C. 4022 for prototype projects. Other Transactions are generally not subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulation, which allows terms to be negotiated and typically enables a faster, more collaborative process than a traditional contract.

How long is the white paper?

The white paper is three pages or fewer, not counting the cover page. It must be a PDF under 20 MB, formatted in 12 point Times New Roman, single spaced, with one-inch margins and numbered pages.

How long does the review take?

Companies are typically notified of selection or non-selection within 60 to 90 days of submitting a white paper.

Can a prototype lead to a production contract?

Yes. Under 10 U.S.C. 4022(f), a company that successfully completes a prototype Other Transaction can receive a follow-on production award on a noncompetitive basis.

How do I submit a white paper?

White papers are submitted electronically through ERDCWERX at the Broad Other Transaction Authority Announcement page on erdcwerx.org. Do not include classified information, and do not submit generic capability brochures in place of a white paper.

How is a BOTAA different from SBIR?

A BOTAA has no fixed deadline, no published funding ceiling, and a much shorter initial submission (a three-page white paper rather than a full proposal). It uses Other Transaction authority outside the Federal Acquisition Regulation and can lead directly to noncompetitive production, whereas SBIR follows fixed phases, set award amounts, and periodic solicitation windows.

2026 SBA Critical Suppliers Prize Competition

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

The 2026 Critical Suppliers Prize Competition is a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) prize challenge offering up to $20 million in non-dilutive funding, with an expected 4 to 6 winners each receiving up to $6 million. It is designed to help profitable, execution-ready U.S. small manufacturers rapidly scale existing production in three priority areas: advanced metals manufacturing, advanced materials manufacturing, and energy systems, energetics, and components. Submissions are due by August 28, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET, sent by email to investinnovate@sba.gov. There is no application fee and no equity is taken. Winners are announced on or about September 10, 2026.

Key Facts at a Glance

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Funding agency: U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Legal authority: America COMPETES Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 3719. Funding type: non-dilutive prize funding, not a grant, contract, or equity investment. Total prize pool: up to $20 million. Award size: up to $6 million per winner. Expected number of winners: 4 to 6. Deadline: August 28, 2026, 11:59 p.m. ET. Winners announced: on or about September 10, 2026. Application cost: free. Submission method: email to investinnovate@sba.gov. Estimated time to complete a submission: about 3 hours.

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Program Overview

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The SBA created this competition to strengthen U.S. industrial supply chains by putting capital directly into small manufacturers that are already operating and already generating revenue. The central idea is reshoring with innovation rather than reshoring for its own sake. A large share of U.S. manufacturing was offshored over the past several decades, and the program aims to bring that capacity back in a form that competes on efficiency and scale, not just on location.

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The most important distinction to understand up front is that this is scale-up money, not research and development money. The funds are meant to refine, accelerate, and scale solutions that already exist. Companies that are still in the research phase, still proving a concept, or still building a first product are not the target for this competition. The SBA is explicitly looking for established suppliers that can turn capital into measurable increases in production or measurable improvements in production efficiency within six months of receiving an award.

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Awards are structured as prize payments tied to projected and completed operational milestones. In practice, that means the money is released against defined, near-term deliverables rather than handed over as a lump sum with no strings. Winners must be able to point to a specific milestone, show how the prize money moves them toward it, and demonstrate that the milestone produces a tangible output on a short timeline.

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Who This Is For

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This competition is a strong fit for a company that is a U.S.-based small business, is currently profitable and creditworthy, is already manufacturing at some scale, and has a clear, fundable plan to expand output or improve production efficiency in the next one to six months. It is a poor fit for a pre-revenue startup, an early-stage R&D company, or any firm whose primary need is to fund research, hire staff, cover overhead, or extend runway. If the honest answer to "could we deploy this money into production within six months and show a measurable result" is no, this is not the right opportunity.

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The Three Award Focus Areas

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Every eligible submission must provide tangible deliverables in at least one of three Award Focus Areas. These represent the supply chain gaps and chokepoints the SBA is prioritizing.

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The first focus area is Advanced Metals Manufacturing. This includes rapid tooling, precision casting and forging, heat treated components, strategic and critical minerals, and rare earth element recovery and magnet production. Companies working on domestic critical mineral processing, magnet supply, or high-precision metal component production fit squarely here.

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The second focus area is Advanced Materials Manufacturing. This includes large format additive manufacturing and materials transformation. Firms scaling industrial-scale additive manufacturing or novel materials processing are the target.

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The third focus area is Energy Systems, Energetics and Components. This includes nuclear energy, battery energy storage systems, and standardization efforts. Companies producing energy storage hardware, nuclear-related components, or working on standardization across energy systems fit this area.

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A company only needs to align with one of these areas, but the alignment must be genuine and demonstrable. The judges evaluate mission alignment as a scored criterion, so a stretched or tangential connection to a focus area is a weak position.

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Funding Allowance: What the Money Can and Cannot Be Used For

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This is one of the most restrictive parts of the competition, and it is where many otherwise strong companies will disqualify themselves if they are not careful. The core principle is that award money must go toward operational milestones that scale production or improve production efficiency, and it must not go toward general overhead.

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The solicitation lists eight prohibited uses. The prize money cannot be used for repayment of indebtedness. It cannot be used for hiring new staff or any other employee compensation. It cannot be used for additional research and development. It cannot be used for distributions to shareholders or investors. It cannot be used for advertising or marketing. It cannot be used for rent, lease expenses, or utilities. It cannot be used for business travel. It cannot be used for office supplies.

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The solicitation does not publish a matching list of approved cost categories. What it does require is proof that the funds go toward a defined near-term production milestone and not toward overhead. Reading the prohibited list together with the milestone requirement, the eligible uses point toward direct capital deployment that expands or improves production, for example tooling, production equipment, capacity expansion, and materials and process improvements that generate measurable output within six months. Applicants should describe their intended use in exactly those terms and should explicitly demonstrate that no portion of the award covers general overhead.

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A practical tip: the pitch deck outline asks applicants to describe other sources of capital that will be deployed alongside the prize money. This is deliberate. The SBA wants to see that the award slots into a real capital stack and funds a specific production milestone, not that it becomes the company's operating budget.

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Eligibility Requirements

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Only eligible contestants may enter, and only one entry per business will be considered. An individual cannot belong to more than one entry.

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At the company level, a contestant must be a U.S.-based small business under SBA size standards. It must be organized in and maintain its primary place of business in the United States or its territories. It must be profitable and able to demonstrate creditworthiness. It must be in good standing in the jurisdiction of its state of organization. It must be current and in good standing on all federal obligations. Any business, or any business owned or controlled by a person, that previously defaulted on a federal loan or federally guaranteed financing and caused the government a loss is ineligible. For this purpose, a compromise agreement described at 31 C.F.R. 3711 is also treated as a loss.

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At the individual level, everyone submitting a response, including individuals from partner organizations, must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident who is at least eighteen years old at the time of submission. All members of the contestant's senior management team must also be U.S. citizens or permanent residents over the age of eighteen.

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Certain parties are barred entirely. SBA employees and SBA contractors, federal entities, and federal employees acting within the scope of their employment cannot participate. Any individual or organization currently suspended or debarred by the federal government cannot participate.

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Finally, every eligible contestant must agree to assume the risks of participation, waive claims against the federal government, and accept the liability and insurance requirements set out in the competition rules.

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The Six-Month Test

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Eligibility and scoring both hinge on speed. A contestant must demonstrate the ability to deploy funds rapidly, defined as within six months. A contestant must also demonstrate that with the award it will achieve a measurable increase in production or implement a solution that supports production efficiency, also within six months of the award. The program describes itself as prioritizing execution-ready firms with clear pathways to near-term supply chain impact. If a company cannot credibly show measurable results inside a six-month window, it will struggle against the judging criteria even if it is technically eligible.

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Timeline and Key Dates

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The submission window opened on July 28, 2026, and closes on August 28, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. The screening, vetting, and judging period runs from July 28, 2026, through September 10, 2026. Winners are announced on or about September 10, 2026. The full cycle from open to award is compressed into roughly six weeks, which reinforces the program's emphasis on companies that are ready to move immediately.

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Given the short window, any interested company should treat the pitch deck and its supporting financials as something to prepare now rather than something to build in the final days before the deadline.

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How to Apply

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There is no fee to enter and no formal application portal. Submissions are emailed directly to investinnovate@sba.gov and must arrive by the August 28, 2026, 11:59 p.m. deadline. SBA estimates that completing a submission takes about three hours on average.

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A pitch deck is suggested but not strictly required. If you choose to submit one, the SBA provides an example outline organized around telling your company's story, explaining how you would use the prize money, and showing how you would fulfill the competition goals. The suggested structure has four parts.

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The Introduction covers a brief description of the business with a website link, plus a condensed summary of how the business addresses the competition goals.

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The Operating History and Current Capital Needs section covers a snapshot of financial performance from the most recent reporting period, a brief company history including founding date and milestones achieved, and a snapshot of current capital needs including current investors, debt providers, cashflow from operations, and any other federal funding received.

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The Potential Impact section covers the near-term milestone to be achieved with the award, a description of how the proceeds will be used within one to six months, a description of other capital deployed alongside the award, proof that the award will not be used for general overhead, and a business plan snapshot with a revenue forecast that assumes achieving the milestone compared to projections without the award.

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The References section provides names and contact information for customers, suppliers, board members, the accounting firm, outside counsel, and other character references for the senior management team. Because reference calls feed directly into the character and integrity scoring, these references should be chosen carefully and given a heads-up.

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On visuals and media, images, diagrams, and other graphics are allowed with brief captions at a minimum resolution of 200 dpi. Two hard rules apply: the submission must not use the SBA logo or official seal, and it must not claim SBA endorsement.

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How Winners Are Selected

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Before any judging happens, every submission goes through a vetting and screening process for eligibility and completeness. Vetting can look at the general business reputation of the owners and management, risks posed by the organization, compliance with executive orders and applicable laws, and any conflicts of interest with the agency. SBA can request clarifying information at any point and can revisit eligibility at any time. Contestants that do not pass vetting cannot advance.

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A judging panel of impartial SBA personnel then rates the submissions against four criteria. The first is Character, Integrity and Cohesion of Management Team, which looks for clear evidence that the senior team is qualified to execute, that the team has high character and integrity based on materials and reference calls, and that the team is likely to keep working together toward the goal. The second is Business Model Evaluation, which checks that the proposed use of funds aligns with the competition goals and that the award will not be spent on overhead. The third is Execution Certainty, which looks at the likelihood of future success and whether the company has other sources of capital that round out the capital stack needed to execute. The fourth is Mission Alignment and Impact, which confirms the business aligns with the competition goals and that the proposed use of funds sits within a one-to-six-month window with projections showing measurable impact.

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The panel may also consider vetting information and the geographic location and dispersal of contestants when selecting winners. During judging, SBA may ask for clarification of technical and cost aspects, though this is not a commitment to fund.

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Intellectual Property and Legal Notes

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Intellectual property from the competition stays with the contestant. All entries remain the sole intellectual property of the individuals or organizations that developed them, and accepting an award does not transfer IP rights to the federal government. By entering, a contestant warrants that it is the sole author and copyright owner of the submission or has sufficient rights to use it.

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A few other terms are worth noting. By entering, contestants consent to SBA using their name, likeness, and related information for promotional purposes. All submissions become SBA records, cannot be returned, and are retained under National Archives guidelines, so contestants should mark any confidential commercial information at the time of submission. SBA reserves the right to modify or cancel the competition at any time before awards, and publication of the rules is not an obligation of funds.

Frequently Asked Questions

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What is the 2026 SBA Critical Suppliers Prize Competition?

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It is a prize competition run by the U.S. Small Business Administration under the America COMPETES Act that awards up to $20 million total in non-dilutive funding to U.S. small manufacturers, helping them rapidly scale existing production in critical supply chain areas. An expected 4 to 6 winners each receive up to $6 million.

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How much money can my company win?

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Each winner can receive up to $6 million. The SBA expects to name 4 to 6 winners, drawing from a total prize pool of up to $20 million.

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Is this funding non-dilutive?

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Yes. The award is non-dilutive prize funding. The SBA does not take equity, and the money is not a loan that must be repaid.

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Who is eligible to apply?

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A profitable, creditworthy U.S.-based small business that meets SBA size standards, is in good standing on its federal and state obligations, and has all senior management as U.S. citizens or permanent residents over eighteen. The company must be able to deploy funds and show measurable production impact within six months.

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What are the three award focus areas?

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Advanced Metals Manufacturing, Advanced Materials Manufacturing, and Energy Systems, Energetics and Components. A submission must provide tangible deliverables in at least one of these areas.

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Can a startup that is still doing R&D apply?

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No. This program funds scaling and refining of solutions that already exist, not research and development. Companies still in the research or concept phase are not the intended audience, and additional R&D is a prohibited use of the funds.

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What can the prize money be used for?

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The money must fund a defined near-term operational milestone that increases production or improves production efficiency within six months, and it must not touch general overhead. In practice that points toward capital deployment such as tooling, production equipment, capacity expansion, and materials or process improvements that produce measurable output.

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What can the prize money not be used for?

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It cannot be used for debt repayment, hiring or employee compensation, additional research and development, distributions to shareholders or investors, advertising or marketing, rent or lease expenses or utilities, business travel, or office supplies.

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Does my company have to be profitable?

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Yes. Contestants must be currently profitable and able to demonstrate creditworthiness. This is both an eligibility requirement and part of the scoring.

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How fast do I need to deploy the funds?

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Within six months. You must show both the ability to deploy the capital rapidly and the ability to achieve a measurable production increase or efficiency improvement inside that same six-month window.

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When is the deadline?

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August 28, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET. The submission window opened on July 28, 2026.

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How do I submit my entry?

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By email to investinnovate@sba.gov. There is no application portal and no fee.

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Do I have to submit a pitch deck?

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No. A pitch deck is suggested and the SBA provides an example outline, but it is optional. If you submit one, it should cover your company introduction, operating history and capital needs, potential impact and milestone plan, and references.

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Will the SBA take my intellectual property?

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No. All entries remain the sole intellectual property of the company that developed them, and accepting an award does not transfer any IP rights to the federal government.

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How are winners chosen?

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Submissions are first vetted for eligibility, completeness, business reputation, and conflicts of interest. A panel of SBA personnel then scores each surviving submission on four criteria: management team character and cohesion, business model, execution certainty, and mission alignment and impact. Geographic dispersal may also be considered.

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How many companies will win?

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The SBA intends to name 4 to 6 winners on or about September 10, 2026.

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Is there a cost to enter?

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No. Entry is free.

DARPA PINPOINT (HR001126S0016): What Your Startup Needs to Know

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

PINPOINT (Precision Inertial Navigation and Positioning On an Integrated Tesseract) is a DARPA Defense Sciences Office Broad Agency Announcement, number HR001126S0016, seeking revolutionary inertial measurement unit (IMU) technology for navigation in GPS-denied environments. DARPA wants novel micro-scale inertial sensors that break past the decade-long performance plateau of MEMS IMUs by using nonlinear physics such as electromagnetically levitated proof masses, high-velocity resonators, and non-linear mechanical structures, all co-designed with real-time adaptive control systems. This is a two-phase program, but only Phase I (24 months) is being solicited now. A conforming abstract is required by August 27, 2026, before any full proposal can be submitted, and full proposals are due September 25, 2026. Multiple awards are anticipated. Award instruments can be procurement contracts, cooperative agreements, or Other Transaction Agreements for Prototype.

Program Snapshot

Program name: Precision Inertial Navigation and Positioning On an Integrated Tesseract (PINPOINT). Funding opportunity number: HR001126S0016. Agency: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Defense Sciences Office (DSO). Announcement type: Initial Announcement (Broad Agency Announcement). Assistance Listing number: 12.910 Research and Technology Development. NAICS code: 541715. Posting date: August 6, 2026. Anticipated awards: multiple. Point of contact: PINPOINT@darpa.mil.

What Is PINPOINT?

PINPOINT is a DARPA program that challenges the research community to reinvent inertial navigation from the physics up. The goal is a proof-of-concept six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) IMU that delivers navigation and pointing performance approaching that of large, expensive navigation-grade systems, but in the small size, low weight, low power, and low cost (SWaP-C) footprint of modern tactical and unmanned platforms.

The program pairs two things that DARPA considers inseparable. The first is a new class of inertial sensor that operates in a highly nonlinear regime rather than the linear, small-motion regime that today's MEMS devices rely on. The second is an advanced, real-time adaptive control system designed to stabilize and actually harness those complex nonlinear dynamics. DARPA is explicit that these two elements must be co-designed together, not developed separately and bolted together later.

The Problem DARPA Is Trying to Solve

U.S. military operations depend heavily on GPS for positioning, navigation, and timing. That dependency becomes a liability in contested environments where GPS can be jammed, spoofed, or degraded by terrain and weather. When GPS goes down, warfighters fall back on Inertial Navigation Systems (INS), but current inertial technology forces a hard tradeoff.

At the high-performance end, strategic-grade systems such as ring-laser gyroscopes are precise but too large, too power-hungry, and too expensive for most tactical and unmanned platforms. At the compact end, MEMS IMUs are small and cheap, but their performance has been flat for roughly a decade. They suffer from noise and drift severe enough that they become unreliable within seconds. Alternatives such as visual navigation still rely on a baseline IMU, carry their own SWaP burden, and fail in fog, during rapid motion, or over featureless terrain like open water, clouds, and deserts.

PINPOINT is designed to close the gap between the large and costly high-performers and the SWaP-C-constrained tactical systems, delivering navigation-grade behavior in GPS-contested settings. DARPA points to its earlier Highly Accelerated Learning of Vibratory Systems (HALOVS) portfolio as a foundation, noting that resonators operating near the fundamental material fracture limit can offer more than two orders of magnitude improvement over today's devices, and that levitated structures can isolate the sensing mass from its substrate to eliminate anchor losses and environmental coupling.

What DARPA Is Looking For

DARPA wants revolutionary approaches, and it is blunt about what that means. The technical area is the physics and nonlinear control of inertial measurement units for tactical and unmanned missions. Proposers should investigate approaches that enable revolutionary advances in science, devices, or systems.

Approaches DARPA specifically invites you to consider include electromagnetically levitated proof masses, non-linear resonators, high-velocity tethered microsystems, and non-linear mechanical structures. Prior participation in a DARPA program is not required, but proposers are encouraged to build on the public science documented in the HALOVS portfolio. The solicitation stays open to alternative approaches, provided you can show compelling evidence that your solution can hit the program metrics within the program timeline.

DARPA also wants more than hardware. Every performer will be required to deliver a comprehensive Design Guide and a Prototype Design Kit (PDK). The PDK must specify the simulated, usable design space and projected performance of the chosen technology platform, so that the delivered sensors can be redesigned as mission needs evolve over time. This is a core deliverable, not an afterthought.

What Is Explicitly Excluded

Research that primarily results in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice is specifically excluded. If your concept is a better version of a current MEMS device rather than a genuinely different physical approach, it will not align with this BAA. During conformity review, a proposal can be deemed non-conforming and removed from consideration if it does not investigate an innovative approach that enables revolutionary advances.

Target Applications and Performance Metrics

Each proposal must focus on a single target application and clearly state its system-level performance objectives, for example a circular error probable (CEP) for a given mission duration. You may submit multiple proposals, but each one must strictly address only one use case. DARPA offers two illustrative use cases with example metrics, and it also welcomes alternative defense-relevant use cases as long as the metrics you propose are at least as challenging.

Use Case One: Precision Strike Munitions

This application prioritizes high dynamic range plus robust shock and vibration immunity. The example Phase I targets are an accelerometer range of plus or minus 1,000 g, a gyroscope range of plus or minus 5,000 degrees per second, vibration survivability of 20 gRMS, shock survivability of 1,000 g, accelerometer noise (velocity random walk) of 10 millimeters per second per root hour, and gyroscope noise (angle random walk) of 1e-4 degrees per root hour.

The example Phase II targets, which are rough order-of-magnitude estimates only, scale up sharply: accelerometer range of plus or minus 10,000 g, gyroscope range of plus or minus 10,000 degrees per second, vibration survivability of 50 gRMS, shock survivability of 10,000 g, accelerometer noise below 1 millimeter per second per root hour, and gyroscope noise of 1e-5 degrees per root hour. SWaP is to be reported in the Design Guide.

Use Case Two: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems

This application prioritizes long-term stability so an INS can support dead reckoning in GPS-denied environments. The example Phase I targets are vibration survivability of 10 gRMS, accelerometer bias instability of 1 microgram measured as Allan Deviation at a 1,000-second integration time, and gyroscope bias instability of 1e-3 degrees per hour measured as Allan Deviation at a 1,000-second integration time.

The example Phase II targets, again rough estimates only, are vibration survivability of 20 gRMS, accelerometer bias instability of 0.1 microgram at the same 1,000-second point, and gyroscope bias instability of 2.5e-5 degrees per hour. SWaP is again reported in the Design Guide.

Alternative Use Cases

DARPA will consider other defense-relevant inertial-sensor use cases. Named examples include space operations, radiation-hard environments, navigation missions with intermediate time-scales, ten-year lifetime operation for ultra-low-power sensor networks, and hypersonic trajectories. If you propose an alternate use case, you must supply performance metrics that are at least as challenging as the examples above, and you must back your target with solid technical validation through modeling, simulation, and any available experimental data. You also need quantitative, measurable end-of-phase milestones, an estimated SWaP, and a clear plan including a description of the fabrication process.

Program Structure and Timeline

This BAA solicits Phase I only. Phase II is described for planning purposes and is not guaranteed.

Phase I (24 months)

Phase I asks performers to first prove out the mathematics and simulation of their nonlinear system and dynamic state estimator, then move to bench-top laboratory testing, and finally validate final designs through operational field-testing at designated Department of War (DoW) ranges. The concrete milestones and deliverables are as follows. At month 1, a program kick-off with presentation materials as a deliverable. At month 3, demonstrate and report preliminary mathematical models and simulation results of the control system and dynamic state estimator. At month 6, a Principal Investigator meeting with presentation materials as a deliverable. At month 12, a live laboratory demonstration and report covering all individual sensing components, meaning three acceleration and three rotation sensors, including angular rate, acceleration response, and Allan Deviation measurements out to at least 1,000 seconds for each sensing axis. At month 21, demonstrate sensors meeting Phase I metrics and deliver a minimum of three functional, packaged prototypes for independent verification and validation (IV&V) at a Government laboratory. At month 24, deliver the final hardware IMU samples for a total of five, plus the PDK and the final report.

Phase I performers must enter into an Associate Contractor Agreement (ACA). The ACA mandates sharing of critical, program-generated data among performer teams to accelerate cross-pollination, while setting up strict firewalls to prevent commercial misappropriation of proprietary intellectual property. This is a meaningful condition to understand before you commit, because it requires you to share certain program-generated data with other funded teams during Phase I. DARPA notes this broad data-sharing requirement will be relaxed in Phase II so industry-led teams can protect proprietary IP around their specific hardware and manufacturing processes.

Phase II (24 months, planning only)

Phase II is included for informational and planning purposes only. DARPA anticipates releasing Phase II proposal instructions to all Phase I performers by around month 20 of Phase I, through a separate solicitation. DARPA is not obligated to solicit Phase II, and the decision to continue will depend on Phase I results and available funds. The objective of Phase II is to improve sensor performance and demonstrate a packaging and ruggedization design that meets specific mission specifications, ending with transition-partner IV&V field testing and delivery of five packaged and tested IMU sensors.

Because of the phased approach, your current submission needs a fully definitized Phase I proposal with enough data for award negotiation, plus only a draft Statement of Work and a Rough Order of Magnitude cost for Phase II for Government planning purposes.

IV&V and Exit Criteria

DARPA describes illustrative test gauntlets. For precision strike munitions, the end of Phase I involves a repeated tri-axial 10,000 g shock survival test (referred to as the Hopkinson Bar Gauntlet), and the end of Phase II involves a live-fire launch from the Army SCAT gun in a surrogate munition, with an operate-through pass criterion requiring continuous accurate angular rate data through the launch event. For persistent autonomy, the end of Phase I involves a 24-hour thermal soak requiring a drift rate under 1.0e-3 degrees per hour at 1,000 seconds, and the end of Phase II involves a multi-hour flight on a Group 2 or Group 3 UAV with a pass criterion of CEP under 0.1 nautical miles per hour against truth data. Performer-defined use cases get a custom lab demonstration in Phase I and a custom field exam in Phase II, with pass criteria set during contract negotiation.

Meetings and Travel to Budget For

All proposals must build the following into schedule and cost. A two-day Principal Investigator meeting roughly every six months, and for costing you should assume these alternate between the U.S. east and west coasts. Regular quarterly teleconferences with the Government team for progress reporting and video demonstrations. At least one site visit per phase by the DARPA Program Manager.

Funding

DARPA does not publish a total program budget or a per-award dollar ceiling for the base Phase I effort in this BAA. That is normal for a DARPA BAA of this type, where award value is negotiated based on the technical and management approach in your proposal. Multiple awards are anticipated. Cost and schedule realism is an explicit and weighted evaluation criterion, so your budget needs to be defensible against your Statement of Work, with labor hours, materials, equipment, fabrication, and travel all substantiated.

For Other Transaction Agreements for Prototype, funding is structured as fixed payable milestones, meaning payment is rendered on successful completion of technically relevant, tangible events on the critical path, documented in the Schedule of Milestones and Payments. Some award instrument types carry specific cost-sharing requirements, so review the instrument-specific instructions linked in the solicitation.

Industry Immersion Program Option

The one concrete dollar figure in this solicitation applies to an optional add-on. Industry proposers that include university teams as subcontractors may propose an optional DSO Industry Immersion Program (IIP) task. It funds one U.S. citizen graduate student or postdoctoral researcher from each university partner to embed within a corporate partner's facility for a nine to twelve month period, with Government funding covering labor, travel, and per diem up to $160,000 per student. Each option is limited to a single student, and the decision to fund an IIP option is made independently of the decision to fund the base proposal.

Who Can Apply

All responsible sources capable of meeting the Government's needs may propose, including both U.S. and non-U.S. sources. Non-U.S. organizations and individuals may participate to the extent they comply with any required nondisclosure agreements, security regulations, and export control laws. Historically Black Colleges and Universities, small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, and minority institutions are encouraged to propose, though no portion of the announcement is set aside for these organizations.

There are important restrictions for certain institution types. University-Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs), Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), Government entities, and National Laboratories face limits. DARPA will not establish new contractual agreements for these entities under this solicitation, so a proposal submitted by one of them as prime may be deemed non-conforming. They may participate as subcontractors only under specific conditions, including a clearly defined role with a point of contact and a rough order of magnitude cost placed in the technical proposal only, since the cost proposal must exclude their funding. UARC subawards additionally require an organizational conflict of interest mitigation plan. If funded, these organizations must share their work with other performers on the same program.

Compliance Considerations

Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) applies to awards that take the form of procurement contracts. DARPA anticipates that procurement contracts under this BAA will require CMMC Level 1 or Level 2. The Government designates the required level in each resulting contract based on whether the work involves Federal Contract Information (FCI) or Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). CMMC Level 1 applies when only FCI is handled and requires implementing the 17 basic safeguarding requirements in FAR 52.204-21, with a current self-assessment recorded in the Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS). CMMC Level 2 may apply when CUI is handled on non-Federal systems and requires implementing the 110 security requirements in NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2, again with a current self-assessment in SPRS. A valid, current certification at the required level is a condition of award, and the requirement flows down to subcontractors handling FCI or CUI. If you do not hold the required certification at award, you are ineligible for that award, so this is worth starting early. DARPA points to Project Spectrum and the APEX Accelerators program as free resources for compliance and registration support.

Two more considerations matter. Fundamental versus non-fundamental research: proposers should indicate whether their scope is fundamental research, though the Government has sole discretion to decide, and non-fundamental awards can carry publication restrictions requiring DARPA permission before publishing. And DARPA's Fundamental Research Risk-Based Security Review process will produce risk assessments of proposed senior and key personnel on fundamental research awards, adjudicated before final award and run separately from the scientific review.

How Proposals Are Evaluated

Proposals are evaluated on four criteria, listed here in descending order of importance. First, Overall Scientific and Technical Merit, meaning the approach is innovative, feasible, achievable, and complete, with detailed technical rationale, logically sequenced tasks, clearly defined deliverables, and identified technical risks with feasible mitigations. Second, Potential Contribution and Relevance to the DARPA Mission, meaning the effort supports the national security technology base and DARPA's mission to make pivotal early investments, with any intellectual property restrictions not significantly impeding Government transition. Third, Cost and Schedule Realism, meaning costs and schedule are realistic, substantiated, and aggressive but achievable. Fourth, Proposer's Capabilities or Related Experience, meaning demonstrated ability to manage complex efforts and deliver on performance, budget, and schedule.

How to Apply

There is a mandatory abstract phase. You must submit a conforming abstract before you can submit a full proposal. If your abstract is deemed non-conforming, any subsequent full proposal for that abstract will also be deemed non-conforming and removed from consideration. If DARPA does not recommend you submit a full proposal, you may still submit one as long as your abstract was conforming, but a favorable abstract response is not a guarantee of selection. Proposers who do not submit an abstract, or who submit a non-conforming abstract, cannot submit a full proposal.

Key dates, all in Eastern Time. Proposal abstract due date is August 27, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. The question submittal window closes September 15, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. Full proposals are due September 25, 2026, at 4:00 p.m.

Submission channels depend on instrument. Proposers requesting procurement contracts or Other Transaction Agreements submit through the Broad Agency Announcement Tool (BAAT). Proposers requesting cooperative agreements submit through Grants.gov and must also complete the SF424 (R&R) Budget form. Required attachments include the Abstract Summary Slide Template (Attachment A), Abstract Instructions and Template (Attachment B), Proposal Summary Slides (Attachment C), the Volume I Technical and Management template (Attachment D), the Volume II Cost template and DARPA Cost Proposal Spreadsheet (Attachments E and F), and, for Other Transactions, the Model OT for Prototype and the Schedule of Milestones and Payments (Attachments G and I). All technical, contractual, and administrative questions must go to PINPOINT@darpa.mil rather than to the Program Manager directly.

Is PINPOINT a Fit for Your Startup?

This is a strong fit if you are a deep-tech or hard-science company working in MEMS, precision sensors, photonics and levitated systems, nonlinear dynamics and control, or advanced microfabrication, and you have a genuinely novel physical approach to inertial sensing rather than an incremental MEMS improvement. It is also a fit if you can partner with a university group that brings the underlying physics, since the IIP option and the ACA structure both anticipate industry and academic teaming. It is a poor fit if your concept is evolutionary, if the core research is already complete and you are really seeking manufacturing funds, or if you have already received a positive funding decision for the same concept from DARPA or another agency, since all three of those conditions can make a submission non-conforming.

The timeline is compressed. With the abstract due August 27, 2026, the practical window to shape a competitive concept, line up any university partner, and produce a conforming abstract is short, so it is worth moving quickly.

Frequently Asked Questions

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What is the DARPA PINPOINT program?

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PINPOINT is a DARPA Defense Sciences Office Broad Agency Announcement (HR001126S0016) seeking revolutionary inertial measurement unit technology for navigation in GPS-denied environments. It funds novel micro-scale inertial sensors that use nonlinear physics, co-designed with adaptive control systems, to deliver near navigation-grade performance in a low size, weight, power, and cost package.

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When are PINPOINT proposals due?

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A conforming abstract is due August 27, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and it is mandatory. The question submittal window closes September 15, 2026. Full proposals are due September 25, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. You cannot submit a full proposal without first submitting a conforming abstract.

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How much funding does PINPOINT provide?

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DARPA does not publish a total program budget or a per-award ceiling for the base Phase I effort in this BAA. Multiple awards are anticipated, and award value is negotiated based on your proposed technical approach, cost, and schedule. The only fixed figure stated is for the optional Industry Immersion Program, which provides up to $160,000 per embedded student.

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How long is the PINPOINT program?

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Phase I is 24 months. A 24-month Phase II is anticipated but is not being solicited now and is not guaranteed. Only Phase I is open under this announcement.

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What kind of technology is DARPA looking for?

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DARPA wants revolutionary inertial sensors operating in highly nonlinear regimes, using approaches such as electromagnetically levitated proof masses, non-linear resonators, high-velocity tethered microsystems, and non-linear mechanical structures, tightly co-designed with real-time adaptive control. Evolutionary improvements to existing MEMS devices are specifically excluded.

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Can startups and small businesses apply to PINPOINT?

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Yes. All responsible sources may propose, and small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, HBCUs, and minority institutions are encouraged, though there is no set-aside. Both U.S. and non-U.S. sources may participate subject to export control and security requirements.

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What award instruments are available under PINPOINT?

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DARPA may award procurement contracts, cooperative agreements, or Other Transaction Agreements for Prototype. The instrument affects your submission channel, your cost-sharing obligations, and whether CMMC applies.

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Does PINPOINT require CMMC certification?

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CMMC applies to awards that take the form of procurement contracts, and DARPA anticipates requiring CMMC Level 1 or Level 2 depending on whether the work involves Federal Contract Information or Controlled Unclassified Information. A valid, current certification at the required level is a condition of award, so it is worth starting the SPRS self-assessment process early.

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What are the evaluation criteria for PINPOINT?

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In descending order of importance: Overall Scientific and Technical Merit, Potential Contribution and Relevance to the DARPA Mission, Cost and Schedule Realism, and the Proposer's Capabilities or Related Experience.

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What is the Associate Contractor Agreement requirement?

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Phase I performers must enter an Associate Contractor Agreement that mandates sharing certain program-generated data with other funded teams, with firewalls to protect proprietary intellectual property. This broad data-sharing requirement is expected to relax in Phase II so teams can protect proprietary hardware and manufacturing IP.

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How do I ask DARPA questions about PINPOINT?

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Email all technical, contractual, and administrative questions to PINPOINT@darpa.mil. Do not email the Program Manager directly, as that may delay or prevent a response. The question submittal window closes September 15, 2026.

Army xTech|Search 10 Competition: SBIR Topic ARM26BX05-NP011

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

xTech|Search 10 is an open-topic Army prize competition that identifies groundbreaking, commercially traded technologies with the potential to deliver game-changing capabilities to the Army. Companies enter by submitting a white paper to the xTech|Search 10 competition, with a pending deadline. The Army will competitively down-select up to 16 finalists, and only those finalists become eligible to submit a Phase I Army SBIR proposal under topic ARM26BX05-NP011 for a potential follow-on award of up to $300,000 over a 6-month period of performance. Proposals submitted to this topic by non-finalists or non-participants will not be evaluated.

What is the xTech|Search 10 Competition?

xTech|Search 10 is an open-topic competition run by the Army SBIR/STTR Program and the Army xTech Program. Its purpose is to surface technologies that already have strong commercial traction and that could also provide a disruptive advantage to the Army. Rather than defining a single narrow problem, it invites companies across many technology domains to demonstrate why their solution is best in class and how it maps to Army modernization priorities.

The competition functions as a front door to the Army SBIR program. It is structured as a prize competition first and a funding pathway second. Companies compete on the strength of a white paper, the Army selects up to 16 finalists, and only those finalists are permitted to submit a Phase I SBIR proposal under this topic. This structure means the competition itself is the gate, and the SBIR award is the prize on the other side of it.

Because it is open-topic, xTech|Search 10 is one of the most accessible entry points into Army non-dilutive funding for deep-tech startups that may not have a background in defense work but can clearly articulate a technical and commercial advantage.

How much funding is available?

Finalists who are selected from the xTech|Search 10 competition become eligible to submit a Phase I Army SBIR proposal under topic ARM26BX05-NP011. The Phase I award carries a cost limit of $300,000 with a 6-month period of performance.

The full xTech|Search 10 competition also awards cash prizes to finalists across the stages of the competition. The complete prize structure, including finalist cash awards and the number of participants advanced at each stage, is detailed in the official xTech|Search 10 competition RFI. Companies should review that RFI directly for the exact prize amounts, since those figures are set at the competition level rather than in the SBIR topic itself. The link is provided in the timeline section below.

The headline number to plan around is the up to $300,000 Phase I SBIR follow-on, which is the funding that flows to finalists who successfully submit and win a Phase I proposal.

What technologies is the Army looking for?

xTech|Search 10 is deliberately broad. The Army has aligned four portfolios of priority interest for this competition, each tied to critical Army needs, but the program explicitly welcomes proposals in any other technology domain that could provide a disruptive advantage. If your technology does not fit neatly into one of the four portfolios but you can show it delivers a game-changing capability, you are still encouraged to apply.

The competition maps to the following Army modernization priorities: Advanced Computing and Software, Advanced Materials, Human-Machine Interfaces, Integrated Network Systems-of-Systems, Integrated Sensing and Cyber, Microelectronics, Quantum Science, and Trusted AI and Autonomy. The projected security requirement for this topic is CMMC Level 1, which is the entry-level cybersecurity maturity tier.

What are the four priority portfolios?

The Army has identified four portfolios of priority interest for xTech|Search 10, each with core technology components:

Sensors. Electronic devices used to measure physical parameters, often enabling enhanced automation through the Internet of Things.

Immersive and Wearables. Integration or extension of the real world through digital or simulated reality, including augmented, virtual, and mixed reality. The wearables component focuses on smart electronic devices worn by or attached to the user to gather data or provide insight during mission operations.

AI/ML. Technology that incorporates human intelligence into machines, along with machine learning approaches that allow systems to learn from data without explicit programming.

Contested Logistics and Sustainment. Strategic and operational technologies for planning and executing the movement and maintenance of forces and materials under adversarial conditions.

Who is eligible to apply?

To be eligible for the Phase I Army SBIR award that follows this competition, a company must meet standard SBIR eligibility criteria:

It must be a for-profit company.

It must be more than 50 percent owned and controlled by U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens, or by other for-profit small businesses that are themselves U.S.-owned and controlled.

It must have 500 or fewer employees, including all affiliates.

Companies should also review the full xTech|Search 10 competition RFI for any competition-specific eligibility requirements, including rules about prior xTech participation and the ability to obtain a CAGE code.

What is the timeline and key deadline?

The single most important date for any company interested in this topic is the white paper deadline for the xTech|Search 10 competition.

Deadline is still TBD as of 8/17. White paper submission deadline for the xTech|Search 10 competition, submitted through the official competition portal.

The competition RFI and application link are available here: https://www.xtech.army.mil/competitions/

After the white paper stage, the Army competitively down-selects to up to 16 finalists. Only those finalists are invited to submit a Phase I Army SBIR proposal under topic ARM26BX05-NP011. Companies that did not participate in the competition, or that participated but were not named finalists, are not permitted to submit and will not have proposals evaluated.

Because the competition is the gate, the white paper deadline closes off the entire pathway to this topic. Companies interested in the up to $300,000 Phase I award should treat the white paper as the true application and build their timeline backward from that date.

What happens in each SBIR phase?

Phase I. Accepting submissions from xTech|Search 10 finalists only, with a cost limit of $300,000 and a 6-month period of performance. In Phase I, the company completes a feasibility study that demonstrates its competitive technical advantage relative to other commercial products, and develops concept plans for applying the technology to Army modernization priorities. The study should identify the technology at both the component and system levels, provide supporting literature for technical feasibility, highlight existing performance data, show application opportunities to a broad base of customers outside defense, present a commercial market strategy, explain how the technology addresses the Army modernization area, and include a technology development roadmap. At the end of Phase I, the company provides a concept demonstration showing a high probability that continued development will yield a mature Phase II product.

Phase II. The company produces prototype solutions that a Soldier can easily operate. These prototypes are provided to select Army units for evaluation by Soldiers. The company also delivers a technology transition and commercialization plan covering both DoD and commercial markets.

Phase III Dual Use. The company matures the technology developed in Phase II to TRL 6/7 and produces prototypes to support further development and commercialization. The Army evaluates each product in a realistic field environment, and based on Soldier feedback the company updates the prototypes toward a final design configuration. Phase III work is funded through non-SBIR sources.

How do you actually enter and win?

The path is sequential and unforgiving of missed steps. First, submit a competitive white paper to the xTech|Search 10 competition by TBD. Second, get selected as one of up to 16 finalists in the Army down-select. Third, submit a Phase I Army SBIR proposal under ARM26BX05-NP011 as an invited finalist. There is no way to skip the competition and go straight to the SBIR proposal.

The plain guidance for self-assessment is straightforward. If you can achieve the competition objective better than any other company on the market, you have a strong likelihood of advancing and you should apply. Open-topic competitions reward companies that can crisply demonstrate a defensible technical edge and real commercial traction.

What does a competitive white paper need to show?

Winning white papers for open-topic competitions tend to do four things well. They demonstrate genuine commercial traction, such as revenue, customers, partnerships, or independent validation, rather than a concept alone. They articulate a clear and defensible technical advantage over existing commercial products. They draw a direct line from the technology to a specific Army modernization priority or operational need. And they show a credible path to maturation and transition, so the Army can see how the capability reaches Soldiers.

Because the topic is open, judges are comparing very different technologies against one another. Clarity, evidence, and a sharp articulation of why your solution is game-changing carry more weight than technical density.

Why this topic matters for deep-tech startups

xTech|Search 10 is one of the lowest-friction ways for a commercially oriented startup to enter the Army SBIR ecosystem. It does not require a prior defense relationship, it rewards existing commercial traction, and it offers a structured pathway from a single white paper to a $300,000 non-dilutive Phase I award, with cash prizes along the way and direct engagement with Army stakeholders. For a seed to Series A company with a strong product and no in-house grants team, the competition format lets you compete on the strength of your technology and your traction rather than on your familiarity with federal proposal mechanics.

How can BW&CO help?

BW&CO provides end-to-end support for the xTech|Search 10 pathway, including competition strategy, white paper development, and full Phase I SBIR proposal writing for finalists, along with administrative and compliance support. We help you position your commercial traction and technical advantage for the open-topic judging criteria, map your technology to the right Army modernization priority, and build the timeline backward from the TBD deadline so nothing slips.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Army SBIR topic ARM26BX05-NP011?
It is the Phase I SBIR topic tied to the xTech|Search 10 prize competition. Only finalists selected from the xTech|Search 10 competition are eligible to submit a Phase I proposal under this topic. Proposals from non-finalists or non-participants will not be evaluated.

How do I apply to xTech|Search 10?
You apply by submitting a white paper to the xTech|Search 10 competition through the official Army xTech portal at https://www.xtech.army.mil/competitions/ by the TBD deadline. You do not apply to the SBIR topic directly.

When is the deadline?
The white paper submission deadline for the xTech|Search 10 competition is TBD.

How much funding can I receive?
Finalists are eligible to submit a Phase I Army SBIR proposal for up to $300,000 over a 6-month period of performance. The competition also awards cash prizes to finalists, with the full prize structure detailed in the competition RFI.

How many finalists will be selected?
The Army will competitively down-select up to 16 finalists, and those finalists are the only firms eligible to submit a Phase I SBIR proposal under this topic.

Does my technology have to fit one of the four portfolios?
No. The four portfolios of Sensors, Immersive and Wearables, AI/ML, and Contested Logistics and Sustainment are priority areas, but the competition is open-topic and welcomes any technology domain that could provide a disruptive advantage to the Army.

Who is eligible to apply?
Eligibility for the Phase I SBIR follows standard SBIR rules: a for-profit company, more than 50 percent U.S.-owned and controlled, with 500 or fewer employees including affiliates. Review the competition RFI for any competition-specific eligibility requirements.

What security or compliance level is required?
The projected requirement for this topic is CMMC Level 1, the entry-level cybersecurity maturity tier.

Can I submit a Phase I proposal without entering the competition?
No. Only xTech|Search 10 finalists may submit a Phase I proposal under this topic. There is no direct submission path.

Who is the point of contact?
The technical point of contact is the Army xTech Mailbox at usarmy.xtech@army.mil.

OSW26TZ05-NV003: High Throughput Wafer Scale Manufacturing of Custom Achromatic Infrared Meta Optics

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

OSW26TZ05-NV003 is a 2026 OSW-Reliance 21 STTR topic under the DoW STTR Program funding a cost-effective, high-throughput, wafer-scale manufacturing process for custom achromatic meta-optic components operating in the mid wave and long wave infrared bands. Because this is an STTR topic, the small business must formally partner with a U.S. nonprofit research institution or university, performing at least 40 percent of the work while the research partner performs at least 30 percent. Phase I offers a base award of up to $300,000 over 12 months with a 10-page technical volume limit. This topic is ITAR/EAR restricted. Proposals are due September 23, 2026 and must be submitted through DSIP.

Overview

Meta-optics replace bulky, multi-element, three-dimensional curved lenses with flat surfaces built from subwavelength-scale meta-units, dramatically cutting the size, weight, and complexity of infrared systems. That makes them attractive for portable IR vision systems, UAV surveillance platforms, and wearable electronics. A single meta-optic element can also be engineered to extract or encode information like polarization, wavelength, and wavefront shape directly from an incoming IR signal, enabling sensing and beam-shaping capabilities that conventional refractive optics cannot match.

The problem holding this technology back is chromatic aberration, along with a manufacturing bottleneck. Existing fabrication approaches, including electron beam lithography, UV immersion lithography, nanoimprint lithography, grayscale lithography, and deep UV projection lithography, are slow, require complex alignment, use expensive tooling, and have limited material compatibility. Most demonstrated achromatic metalenses to date also operate in the visible or near-infrared range rather than the MWIR (3 to 5 microns) or LWIR (8 to 14 microns) bands that matter for military infrared systems.

This topic wants a wafer-scale manufacturing process, compatible with standard semiconductor fabrication infrastructure, that can produce achromatic meta-optic components in high-index, IR-transparent materials across both MWIR and LWIR bands. Phase I focuses on proving the manufacturing process works for the MWIR band specifically, building meta-unit libraries across multiple IR materials, and quantifying performance metrics like phase control resolution, surface flatness for component integration, and the breadth of the meta-atom library. Phase II experimentally validates those Phase I performance targets, expands the meta-atom library into the LWIR band, and focuses on scaling the process to high-volume wafer-scale production without requiring the proposer to own a physical foundry.

Because this is an STTR topic, proposers must have a signed Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with their partnering nonprofit research institution or university, along with an intellectual property and data rights allocation statement between both parties, uploaded as supporting documentation. This topic is also ITAR/EAR restricted, so any proposed use of foreign nationals must be disclosed in detail, including country of origin, visa type, and specific tasks.

Worth noting: the solicitation's evaluation criteria section references weighting toward a "foundation-model-based collaborative AiTR approach," which appears to be boilerplate carried over from a different topic and does not match the meta-optics manufacturing description above. Companies should confirm evaluation criteria directly with the Technical Point of Contact before finalizing a proposal strategy.

Funding and Timeline

Phase I base award: up to $300,000 Phase I period of performance: 12 months Phase I technical volume limit: 10 pages Small business minimum work share: 40 percent of total cost Research institution/university minimum work share: 30 percent of total cost Proposal deadline: September 23, 2026 Submission portal: DSIP only, no other submission method is accepted Additional funding available: TABA funding, up to $6,500 for Phase I awardees and up to $50,000 per Phase II project Critical Technology Area: Scaled Hypersonics CMMC level requirement: Level 1 Export control status: ITAR/EAR restricted

Who Should Apply

This topic fits small businesses with nanofabrication, photonics, or optical metasurface expertise, particularly those who already have or can quickly establish a research partnership with a university or nonprofit lab active in meta-optics, semiconductor processing, or advanced materials. Because STTR requires a documented Cooperative Research and Development Agreement and an IP allocation statement before submission, companies should start that conversation with a research partner early rather than after the topic is already open.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadline for OSW26TZ05-NV003? The proposal deadline is September 23, 2026. Proposals must be submitted through DSIP before the topic closes.

How much funding is available for Phase I? Phase I offers a base award of up to $300,000 for a 12 month period of performance.

Why does this topic require a university partner? This is an STTR topic, not an SBIR topic. STTR requires the small business to formally partner with a U.S. nonprofit research institution or university, with the small business performing at least 40 percent of the work and the research partner performing at least 30 percent, measured by cost.

What documents does the university partnership require? A signed STTR Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between the small business and the research institution, along with an Allocation of Intellectual Property and Data Rights statement between both parties, both uploaded as supporting documents.

Is this topic export controlled? Yes. This topic is restricted under ITAR and EAR. Any proposed use of foreign nationals must be disclosed, including country of origin, visa or work permit type, and specific tasks assigned, and participation may be restricted.

What infrared bands does this topic target? Mid wave infrared, 3 to 5 microns, is the primary Phase I focus, with long wave infrared, 8 to 14 microns, added during Phase II.

Does the manufacturing process need to run in a proposer-owned foundry? No. Phase II specifically aims to scale the process to high-volume wafer-scale production without requiring the proposer to own a physical foundry.

Is TABA funding available for this topic? Yes. Phase I awardees may request up to $6,500 in TABA funding, and Phase II awardees may request up to $50,000 per Phase II project.

OSW26BZ05-DV014: In-Situ Metrology for Mesa-Wall Integrity in Large Format Small-Pixel Infrared Detector Array Fabrication

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

OSW26BZ05-DV014 is a 2026 OSW-Reliance 21 SBIR topic under the DoW SBIR Program seeking a non-destructive, quick-turn metrology tool that can screen full wafers for surface damage during small-pixel infrared detector array fabrication. Phase I offers a base award of $314,363 over 9 months with a 20-page technical volume limit. A Direct to Phase II track is available at $2,095,748 over 18 months. Proposals are due September 23, 2026 and must be submitted through DSIP.

Overview

The Department of War needs large-format, small-pixel focal plane arrays (FPAs) to support sensor platforms across ground, air, maritime, and space domains. As detector manufacturers push pixel sizes smaller to meet this demand, the fabrication process becomes more fragile. During pixel isolation, mesa-wall surface damage and unwanted surface currents introduce noise that degrades FPA performance and can compromise mission effectiveness.

This topic calls for a prototype instrument that can non-destructively assess mesa-wall integrity across full wafers up to 150mm in diameter, as well as piece parts, at cryogenic temperatures. The tool needs to work across both major detector material systems used in this space: Antimony-based III-V Type-II Superlattice (T2SL) and Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT), covering short wave through long wave infrared bands. The government is prioritizing in-situ measurement approaches that let fabricators catch and correct defects during processing rather than after the fact.

Companies with backgrounds in semiconductor metrology, surface current mapping, non-destructive testing, or infrared detector characterization are well positioned here. The solicitation explicitly encourages proposers to partner with prime contractors or commercial T2SL and MCT growth and processing houses, since access to real fabrication environments will matter for a credible Phase II and Phase III transition.

Phase I is about proving the underlying physics and measurement concept, using representative test structures or coupons rather than full production wafers. Phase II scales that concept into a working full-wafer prototype validated against traditional baseline testing at an actual DoW laboratory or FPA fabrication house. Phase III targets integration into IRFPA production lines, with clear relevance to sensors for air, space, maritime, and missile platforms.

Companies pursuing the Direct to Phase II track must already have completed proof-of-concept work independent of any prior federally funded SBIR or STTR Phase I effort, and must document that work thoroughly: technical reports, test data, prototype designs, and performance results.

Funding and Timeline

Phase I base award: $314,363 Phase I period of performance: 9 months Phase I technical volume limit: 20 pages Direct to Phase II award: $2,095,748 Direct to Phase II period of performance: 18 months Direct to Phase II technical volume limit: 20 pages Proposal deadline: September 23, 2026 Submission portal: DSIP only, no other submission method is accepted Additional funding available: Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) funding, up to $6,500 for Phase I awardees and up to $50,000 per Phase II project Critical Technology Area: Quantum and Battlefield Information Dominance CMMC level requirement: Level 1

Who Should Apply

This topic fits small businesses with proven capability in semiconductor surface characterization, cryogenic test instrumentation, or infrared detector fabrication diagnostics. Companies without direct access to T2SL or MCT wafer fabrication should plan to line up a partnership with a growth or processing house before proposing, since the solicitation specifically calls this out as encouraged.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadline for OSW26BZ05-DV014? The proposal deadline is September 23, 2026. Proposals must be submitted through DSIP before the topic closes on that date.

How much funding is available for Phase I? Phase I offers a base award of up to $314,363 for a 9 month period of performance.

Can a company skip Phase I and apply directly for Phase II? Yes. This topic accepts Direct to Phase II proposals, but only from companies that can document completed proof-of-concept work meeting the Phase I objectives, performed independently of any prior SBIR or STTR federal funding.

What materials does the metrology tool need to work with? The tool must be able to assess both Antimony-based III-V Semiconductor Type-II Superlattice (T2SL) and Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT) detector materials, across short wave to long wave infrared bands.

Does this topic require a security clearance? Phase I work is expected to be performed at the Unclassified//CUI level, and classified proposals are not accepted. A Phase II contract may require facility and personnel clearances if the work becomes classified.

What size wafers does the system need to measure? The system should accommodate wafers up to 150mm in diameter as well as piece parts.

Who evaluates these proposals? Government technical evaluators may come from Army DEVCOM C5ISR Center, Army DEVCOM Army Research Lab, the Naval Research Laboratory, and the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Is TABA funding available for this topic? Yes. Phase I awardees may request up to $6,500 in TABA funding, and Phase II awardees may request up to $50,000 per Phase II project, using the SBIR/STTR TABA Request Form.

OSW26BZ05-NP016: Desktop Instrument for Measuring Boresight Error as a Function of Incident Angle

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

OSW26BZ05-NP016 is a 2026 OSW-Reliance 21 SBIR topic under the DoW SBIR Program funding a benchtop instrument that measures boresight error and boresight error slope in infrared window materials as a function of temperature, temperature gradient, and angle of incidence. Phase I offers a base award of $300,000 over 12 months with a 10-page technical volume limit. This topic does not have a Direct to Phase II track. Proposals are due September 23, 2026 and must be submitted through DSIP.

Overview

Interceptor vehicles use infrared tracking systems to determine an object's position along the line of sight between the vehicle and the target. That line of sight passes through a protective window or dome. In supersonic and hypersonic flight, aerodynamic heating creates a temperature gradient across that window, which distorts the measured line of sight relative to the actual line of sight. That distortion is called boresight error, or BSE. As the vehicle's angle changes, BSE changes too, in a pattern known as boresight error slope, or BSES. Negative BSES is especially problematic because it prevents the guidance system from compensating accurately.

Right now, characterizing BSE and BSES relies on wind tunnel and flight testing, which are accurate but expensive and hard to schedule. This topic seeks a desktop testing apparatus that reproduces the relevant thermal and angular conditions without high-speed air flow, so companies developing novel IR window materials, including ceramics intended to reduce BSE and BSES, can iterate faster and de-risk expensive flight testing.

The instrument needs to measure unmounted or mounted IR window materials between 25mm and 100mm wide, across an incidence angle range of 0 to 75 degrees, temperatures from room temperature up to 1200 degrees Celsius, and at three wavelengths: 633 nanometers, 4 microns, and 10 microns. It needs an integrated computer and a usable graphical interface, plus the ability to create and measure a controlled temperature gradient between the top and bottom surfaces of the sample.

This is a strong fit for companies with backgrounds in optical instrumentation, laser and detector system integration, thermal testing, or materials characterization equipment. Phase I is a design and simulation exercise, with mockups of the data collection software as the deliverable. Phase II builds and delivers a working instrument to the Army Research Laboratory, including installation, training, and documentation.

Funding and Timeline

Phase I base award: $300,000 Phase I period of performance: 12 months Phase I technical volume limit: 10 pages Direct to Phase II: not available for this topic Proposal deadline: September 23, 2026 Submission portal: DSIP only, no other submission method is accepted Additional funding available: TABA funding, up to $6,500 for Phase I awardees and up to $50,000 per Phase II project Critical Technology Area: Scaled Hypersonics CMMC level requirement: Level 1

Who Should Apply

Companies building optical test and measurement equipment, especially those with experience in laser-based sensing, cryogenic or high-temperature test rigs, or hypersonic materials testing, should take a close look at this topic. Prior experience delivering instrumentation to a government laboratory is a plus given the Phase II delivery and training requirement.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadline for OSW26BZ05-NP016? The proposal deadline is September 23, 2026. Proposals must be submitted through DSIP before the topic closes.

How much funding is available for Phase I? Phase I offers a base award of up to $300,000 for a 12 month period of performance.

Is Direct to Phase II available for this topic? No. This topic is only open to standard Phase I proposals.

What temperature and angle range does the instrument need to cover? The instrument must operate from room temperature to 1200 degrees Celsius and across incidence angles from 0 to 75 degrees, at three wavelengths: 633nm, 4 microns, and 10 microns.

What is delivered at the end of Phase II? A working instrument delivered to the Army Research Laboratory, along with documentation on safe operation and standard operating procedures, ideally with troubleshooting guides and training manuals, plus on-site installation and training.

Does this topic require flight testing experience? No. The entire point of the topic is to build a benchtop alternative to wind tunnel and flight testing, so simulation and bench-level instrumentation expertise is what matters most.

Who evaluates these proposals? Government technical evaluators may come from Army DEVCOM C5ISR Center, Army DEVCOM Army Research Lab, the Naval Research Laboratory, and the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Is TABA funding available for this topic? Yes. Phase I awardees may request up to $6,500 in TABA funding, and Phase II awardees may request up to $50,000 per Phase II project.

OSW26BZ05-NP017: Sensing Algorithms for Bandwidth Efficient Edge Radars (SABER)

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

OSW26BZ05-NP017, known as SABER, is a 2026 OSW-Reliance 21 SBIR topic under the DoW SBIR Program funding decentralized radar sensing algorithms that let three or more radar nodes cooperate on target detection and identification while minimizing the communications bandwidth needed between them. Phase I offers a base award of $306,500 over 6 months with a 10-page technical volume limit. This topic does not have a Direct to Phase II track and is ITAR/EAR restricted. Proposals are due September 23, 2026 and must be submitted through DSIP.

Overview

The Navy's Distributed Maritime Operations concept and related tactical imaging efforts depend on networking physically separated radar nodes into a single cooperative sensing mesh. Done well, this overcomes the limits of any single platform, including single points of failure and limited angular coverage, especially in contested and cluttered environments. The catch is that this shifts the performance bottleneck from individual sensors to the communications network connecting them. Streaming raw radar data gives the best imaging fidelity but overwhelms available bandwidth, while sharing only processed features or images saves bandwidth but degrades collaborative imaging quality.

SABER is looking for architectures and algorithms that jointly optimize communications and target inference across a decentralized radar network, processing data locally at each node and transmitting only the actionable intelligence or compressed imaging features needed for the network to fuse. Proposals need to specify their level of data fusion, whether decentralized signal-level, feature-level, or decision-level, along with the expected bandwidth requirements at each level.

Phase I is modeling and simulation heavy. The government wants proposers to demonstrate architecture feasibility, identify bandwidth bottlenecks as the key technical barrier, establish quantitative baselines for both network capacity and inference accuracy, and deliver a working proof-of-concept software implementation alongside a Phase II development plan aimed at hardware-in-the-loop testing.

This is a strong fit for companies with backgrounds in radar signal processing, distributed sensor networks, communications-constrained algorithm design, or information fusion. Because this topic is ITAR/EAR restricted, any proposed use of foreign nationals must be disclosed in detail, including country of origin, visa type, and specific statement of work tasks, and foreign national participation may be restricted under U.S. export control law.

Funding and Timeline

Phase I base award: $306,500 Phase I period of performance: 6 months Phase I technical volume limit: 10 pages Direct to Phase II: not available for this topic Proposal deadline: September 23, 2026 Submission portal: DSIP only, no other submission method is accepted Additional funding available: TABA funding, up to $6,500 for Phase I awardees and up to $50,000 per Phase II project Critical Technology Area: Applied Artificial Intelligence CMMC level requirement: Level 1 Export control status: ITAR/EAR restricted

Who Should Apply

Companies working on radar signal processing, distributed sensing, communications-efficient AI, or multi-node information fusion for maritime or ground surveillance are the target audience here. Given the short 6 month Phase I period and 10 page limit, proposers should already have a strong technical foundation to build on rather than starting from a blank page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadline for OSW26BZ05-NP017? The proposal deadline is September 23, 2026. Proposals must be submitted through DSIP before the topic closes.

How much funding is available for Phase I? Phase I offers a base award of up to $306,500 for a 6 month period of performance.

Is Direct to Phase II available for this topic? No. This topic is only open to standard Phase I proposals.

Is this topic export controlled? Yes. SABER is restricted under ITAR and EAR. Any proposed use of foreign nationals must be disclosed, including country of origin, visa or work permit type, and the specific tasks assigned, and participation may be restricted.

How many radar nodes does the architecture need to support? The topic calls for cooperative inference across tactical networks with three or more nodes, scaling to more than two nodes for Phase II demonstration purposes.

What kind of data fusion should proposers plan for? Proposals should clearly state their fusion approach, whether decentralized signal-level, feature-level, or decision-level fusion, along with the anticipated bandwidth requirements for that approach.

What is the Phase I deliverable? A functional proof-of-concept software or algorithmic implementation, a technical feasibility assessment based on modeling and simulation results, and a Phase II development plan.

Is TABA funding available for this topic? Yes. Phase I awardees may request up to $6,500 in TABA funding, and Phase II awardees may request up to $50,000 per Phase II project.

OSW26BZ05-DV018: Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML)-Based Radar Data Compression

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

OSW26BZ05-DV018 is a 2026 OSW-Reliance 21 SBIR topic under the DoW SBIR Program funding deep learning approaches, such as autoencoders or transformer models, that compress raw radar data into low-bit representations for efficient storage and transmission without losing radar utility. Phase I offers a base award of $314,363 over 12 months with a 20-page technical volume limit. A Direct to Phase II track is available at $2,095,748 over 24 months. This topic is ITAR/EAR restricted. Proposals are due September 23, 2026 and must be submitted through DSIP.

Overview

Next-generation radars, particularly synthetic aperture radar (SAR), generate enormous data rates that traditional image compression methods were never designed to handle. This topic is looking for neural compression approaches built specifically for the complex SAR data domain, using complex-valued neural network encoders and decoders that learn to compress raw pulses or range-Doppler maps into a compact latent representation with minimal distortion, while preserving the features that matter for detection and analysis.

Phase I is about designing and training autoencoder networks for radar data, benchmarking rate-distortion performance against classical compression methods on recorded datasets, and measuring the impact on target detection performance. Phase II moves the best-performing model onto embedded hardware for real-time compression, which likely involves quantization-aware training to reduce bit depth, and tests it against live radar feeds to evaluate image and track fidelity after decompression. Phase III integrates the technology into fielded radars or data links.

The dual-use angle here is broad. Any high-rate sensor stream benefits from this kind of compression, from unmanned aerial vehicle radar feeds to high-resolution weather radar data, which gives commercially minded proposers a real path to Phase III beyond DoW customers.

This is a strong fit for companies with deep learning expertise applied to signal processing, particularly teams with experience in autoencoders, transformer architectures, or complex-valued neural networks, combined with radar or SAR domain knowledge. Because this topic touches sensitive radar signal processing, it is ITAR/EAR restricted, and any proposed use of foreign nationals must be disclosed in detail.

Companies pursuing Direct to Phase II need documented proof-of-concept work that meets the Phase I objectives, independent of prior federally funded SBIR or STTR Phase I work, along with a clear commercialization discussion.

Funding and Timeline

Phase I base award: $314,363 Phase I period of performance: 12 months Phase I technical volume limit: 20 pages Direct to Phase II award: $2,095,748 Direct to Phase II period of performance: 24 months Direct to Phase II technical volume limit: 20 pages Proposal deadline: September 23, 2026 Submission portal: DSIP only, no other submission method is accepted Additional funding available: TABA funding, up to $6,500 for Phase I awardees and up to $50,000 per Phase II project Critical Technology Areas: Applied Artificial Intelligence and Quantum and Battlefield Information Dominance CMMC level requirement: Level 2 (Self) Export control status: ITAR/EAR restricted

Who Should Apply

Companies with strong applied machine learning teams, particularly those who have worked on compression, autoencoders, or generative models for scientific or sensor data, are a natural fit. Radar or SAR domain experience is a meaningful differentiator given the specificity of the technical objectives.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadline for OSW26BZ05-DV018? The proposal deadline is September 23, 2026. Proposals must be submitted through DSIP before the topic closes.

How much funding is available for Phase I? Phase I offers a base award of up to $314,363 for a 12 month period of performance.

Can a company skip Phase I and apply directly for Phase II? Yes. This topic accepts Direct to Phase II proposals, but only from companies that can document completed proof-of-concept work meeting the Phase I objectives, performed independently of any prior SBIR or STTR federal funding.

What kind of AI approach is the government looking for? Deep learning based compression, specifically autoencoder or transformer architectures, ideally using complex-valued neural networks suited to SAR and radar data.

Is this topic export controlled? Yes. This topic is restricted under ITAR and EAR. Any proposed use of foreign nationals must be disclosed, including country of origin, visa or work permit type, and specific tasks assigned, and participation may be restricted.

What is the required CMMC level? CMMC Level 2 (Self) is the projected requirement for this topic.

What civilian applications does this technology have? Weather radar data networks and medical imaging streams are both cited as dual-use applications with commercial potential.

Is TABA funding available for this topic? Yes. Phase I awardees may request up to $6,500 in TABA funding, and Phase II awardees may request up to $50,000 per Phase II project.

OSW26BZ05-DV019: Collaborative Distributed Swarm Radar

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

OSW26BZ05-DV019 is a 2026 OSW-Reliance 21 SBIR topic under the DoW SBIR Program funding signal processing methods that combine information from multiple small radar sensors, such as those carried on unmanned aerial systems, to improve collaborative target detection and identification. Phase I offers a base award of $314,363 over 12 months with a 20-page technical volume limit. A Direct to Phase II track is available at $2,095,748 over 24 months. This topic is ITAR/EAR restricted. Proposals are due September 23, 2026 and must be submitted through DSIP.

Overview

A network of radar-equipped UAS or dispersed sensors can act as a collaborative distributed radar team, pooling information to improve detection, tracking, and identification of ground or maritime targets beyond what any single radar in the network could achieve alone. This topic is looking for the sensor swarm geometries, data fusion schemes, and signal processing algorithms that make that teaming approach actually work.

Phase I is modeling and simulation focused. Proposers need to design candidate swarm geometries and fusion schemes, develop the signal processing algorithms, and use M&S to quantify the expected performance improvement of a radar team compared to a single radar operating alone. Deliverables include a feasibility study, system design, algorithm details, and the software implementation, along with any synthetic data generated during the study.

Phase II moves from simulation to hardware, building a prototype swarm of three or more sensors to validate the Phase I signal processing approach against real collected data, and quantifying performance gains for target detection, tracking, and identification relative to a single radar system. Phase II also requires a commercialization analysis based on what is learned during the hardware phase.

The dual-use potential is significant. Distributed radar swarms have clear civilian applications in environmental monitoring, such as fleets of gliders mapping terrain, as well as broader surveillance and emergency response use cases.

This is a strong fit for companies with experience in radar signal processing, sensor fusion, swarm robotics or UAS platforms, and distributed systems architecture. Because this topic touches sensitive radar and networked sensing technology, it is ITAR/EAR restricted, and any proposed use of foreign nationals must be disclosed in detail.

Funding and Timeline

Phase I base award: $314,363 Phase I period of performance: 12 months Phase I technical volume limit: 20 pages Direct to Phase II award: $2,095,748 Direct to Phase II period of performance: 24 months Direct to Phase II technical volume limit: 20 pages Proposal deadline: September 23, 2026 Submission portal: DSIP only, no other submission method is accepted Additional funding available: TABA funding, up to $6,500 for Phase I awardees and up to $50,000 per Phase II project Critical Technology Area: Quantum and Battlefield Information Dominance CMMC level requirement: Level 2 (Self) Export control status: ITAR/EAR restricted

Who Should Apply

Companies with radar signal processing expertise, particularly those who have worked on multi-sensor fusion, swarm coordination, or UAS-mounted sensing payloads, are well positioned for this topic. A credible plan for building a three-plus node hardware testbed by Phase II will strengthen any proposal.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadline for OSW26BZ05-DV019? The proposal deadline is September 23, 2026. Proposals must be submitted through DSIP before the topic closes.

How much funding is available for Phase I? Phase I offers a base award of up to $314,363 for a 12 month period of performance.

Can a company skip Phase I and apply directly for Phase II? Yes. This topic accepts Direct to Phase II proposals, but only from companies that can document completed proof-of-concept work meeting the Phase I objectives, performed independently of any prior SBIR or STTR federal funding.

How many sensors are needed for the Phase II prototype? Phase II requires a prototype swarm of three or more sensors to test the collaborative signal processing approach in hardware.

Is this topic export controlled? Yes. This topic is restricted under ITAR and EAR. Any proposed use of foreign nationals must be disclosed, including country of origin, visa or work permit type, and specific tasks assigned, and participation may be restricted.

What civilian applications does this technology have? Environmental monitoring, such as glider swarms mapping terrain, along with broader surveillance and emergency response applications.

What does Phase II require besides the hardware demonstration? A commercialization analysis based on what the company learns during Phase II hardware testing, in addition to the signal processing software and collected data.

Is TABA funding available for this topic? Yes. Phase I awardees may request up to $6,500 in TABA funding, and Phase II awardees may request up to $50,000 per Phase II project.

OSW26BZ05-DV020: Joint Radar & Communication Waveforms

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

OSW26BZ05-DV020 is a 2026 OSW-Reliance 21 SBIR topic under the DoW SBIR Program funding dual-functional radar communication techniques that embed information directly into radar waveforms, reducing or removing the need for a separate communications datalink. Phase I offers a base award of $314,363 over 12 months with a 20-page technical volume limit. A Direct to Phase II track is available at $2,095,748 over 24 months. This topic is ITAR/EAR restricted. Proposals are due September 23, 2026 and must be submitted through DSIP.

Overview

Radar sensing and communications conventionally require separate hardware on surveillance platforms, which adds complexity, weight, and latency. This topic is looking for waveform diversity or modulated pulse techniques, sometimes called Dual-functional Radar Communication (DFRC), that encode arbitrary communication data directly into the radar pulse itself rather than sending it over a dedicated communications link.

Phase I calls for developing chirp or phase-modulated encoding schemes that embed additional information into a radar pulse, then validating through simulation or lab testbeds that a receiver can decode that embedded data while still correctly processing the radar return itself, with minimal degradation to radar signal processing performance. Phase II moves this into hardware, implementing the encoding and decoding scheme on a prototype radar and running real hardware tests to evaluate bit error rate against radar performance and study real-time operation requirements.

The commercial angle is meaningful here. Similar techniques could support civilian networks, such as embedding vehicle ID or geolocation into automotive radar pulses, or adding redundancy to automatic dependent surveillance broadcast systems used by the FAA.

This is a strong fit for companies with expertise in radar waveform design, RF communications, signal processing, or dual-function sensing systems. Because this topic touches sensitive radar and communications technology, it is ITAR/EAR restricted, and any proposed use of foreign nationals must be disclosed in detail, including country of origin, visa type, and specific tasks.

Companies pursuing Direct to Phase II must document completed proof-of-concept work meeting the Phase I objectives, performed independently of any prior federally funded SBIR or STTR Phase I effort.

Funding and Timeline

Phase I base award: $314,363 Phase I period of performance: 12 months Phase I technical volume limit: 20 pages Direct to Phase II award: $2,095,748 Direct to Phase II period of performance: 24 months Direct to Phase II technical volume limit: 20 pages Proposal deadline: September 23, 2026 Submission portal: DSIP only, no other submission method is accepted Additional funding available: TABA funding, up to $6,500 for Phase I awardees and up to $50,000 per Phase II project Critical Technology Area: Quantum and Battlefield Information Dominance CMMC level requirement: Level 2 (Self) Export control status: ITAR/EAR restricted

Who Should Apply

Companies with radar waveform design experience, RF and communications engineering backgrounds, or prior work on dual-function radar communication systems should take a close look here. A credible plan for hardware validation by Phase II strengthens the proposal significantly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadline for OSW26BZ05-DV020? The proposal deadline is September 23, 2026. Proposals must be submitted through DSIP before the topic closes.

How much funding is available for Phase I? Phase I offers a base award of up to $314,363 for a 12 month period of performance.

Can a company skip Phase I and apply directly for Phase II? Yes. This topic accepts Direct to Phase II proposals, but only from companies that can document completed proof-of-concept work meeting the Phase I objectives, performed independently of any prior SBIR or STTR federal funding.

What is Dual-functional Radar Communication? It is an approach where communication data is encoded directly into a radar's transmitted waveform, such as through chirp or phase modulation, rather than sent over a separate communications link.

Is this topic export controlled? Yes. This topic is restricted under ITAR and EAR. Any proposed use of foreign nationals must be disclosed, including country of origin, visa or work permit type, and specific tasks assigned, and participation may be restricted.

What civilian applications does this technology have? Embedding vehicle ID or geolocation data into automotive radar pulses, and adding redundancy to automatic dependent surveillance broadcast systems used in aviation.

What does Phase I need to demonstrate? That embedded communication data can be recovered from a radar pulse with minimal impact on the radar's own signal processing performance, validated through simulation or lab testbeds.

Is TABA funding available for this topic? Yes. Phase I awardees may request up to $6,500 in TABA funding, and Phase II awardees may request up to $50,000 per Phase II project.

OSW26BZ05-NV021: Co-packaging Digital Readout Integrated Circuits and Photonics for Advanced Infrared Imaging

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

OSW26BZ05-NV021 is a 2026 OSW-Reliance 21 SBIR topic under the DoW SBIR Program funding the design and fabrication of a readout integrated circuit with a photonic digital output for infrared sensors operating in cryogenic environments. Phase I offers a base award of $314,363 over 9 months with a 20-page technical volume limit. This topic does not have a Direct to Phase II track. Proposals are due September 23, 2026 and must be submitted through DSIP.

Overview

Modern infrared digital focal plane arrays can generate over 20 gigabits per second of data at standard video framerates in large formats. Getting that bitstream off the sensor in a cryogenic environment is genuinely hard, because it requires balancing electrical, mechanical, and thermal constraints simultaneously. Today's state of practice tops out around 3 gigabits per second per channel at 10 picojoules per bit, and the power that electrical output drivers consume becomes significant enough to shorten cryocooler lifetimes in large-format arrays.

Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) offer a potential 10x or greater improvement in bandwidth, latency, and energy consumption compared to standard electrical input/output approaches. The problem is that every demonstration to date has bolted an off-the-shelf readout integrated circuit (ROIC) to a PIC chiplet on an interposer, which reduces thermal load from wiring but does little to actually reduce overall power consumption. This topic wants a genuinely monolithic solution: either full integration of electronics and photonics on a single silicon wafer, or foundry-level integration of a photonic and electronic layer before detector hybridization, using one of the CMOS/PIC-capable foundries now offering 45 to 180 nanometer processes.

Phase I is about exploring foundry fabrication options for co-packaging or vertically integrating a digital ROIC with photonic chiplets, evaluating feasibility factors like bonding, metallization, planarity, and impurities, and producing an initial PIC design suited to cryogenic operation, along with any needed modifications to existing ROIC designs. Phase II carries this through to full design, tape-out, and fabrication, with cryogenic testing to demonstrate optical output performance, and ideally radiation testing and thermal cycling as well.

This is a strong fit for companies with expertise in photonic integrated circuit design, cryogenic electronics, mixed-signal ROIC design, or foundry-level chip integration. Radiation hardening for space applications is called out as a plus but not a requirement.

Funding and Timeline

Phase I base award: $314,363 Phase I period of performance: 9 months Phase I technical volume limit: 20 pages Direct to Phase II: not available for this topic Proposal deadline: September 23, 2026 Submission portal: DSIP only, no other submission method is accepted Additional funding available: TABA funding, up to $6,500 for Phase I awardees and up to $50,000 per Phase II project Critical Technology Area: Quantum and Battlefield Information Dominance CMMC level requirement: Level 1

Who Should Apply

Companies with photonics design capability, cryogenic mixed-signal electronics experience, or access to CMOS/PIC foundry relationships are the right audience here. This topic rewards proposers who can speak credibly to real foundry integration constraints rather than purely theoretical PIC design.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadline for OSW26BZ05-NV021? The proposal deadline is September 23, 2026. Proposals must be submitted through DSIP before the topic closes.

How much funding is available for Phase I? Phase I offers a base award of up to $314,363 for a 9 month period of performance.

Is Direct to Phase II available for this topic? No. This topic is only open to standard Phase I proposals.

Why does this topic call for monolithic integration instead of chiplet-on-interposer designs? Because chiplet-on-interposer approaches reduce thermal load from wiring but do very little to reduce overall power consumption, which is the actual problem the government is trying to solve for large-format arrays in cryogenic environments.

What data rates is this technology trying to support? State of the art digital infrared focal plane arrays can generate more than 20 gigabits per second, well beyond what current electrical output drivers can handle efficiently in a cryogenic environment.

Is radiation hardening required? No. Design hardening for space and high-radiation environments is called out as advantageous but remains optional for this topic.

What foundry capabilities does this topic assume are available? The topic references several foundries now offering 45 to 180 nanometer CMOS/PIC integration capability as a starting point for proposers.

What is the Phase I deliverable? A comprehensive final report detailing the PIC design, planned ROIC fabrication modifications, and a system integration plan.

Is TABA funding available for this topic? Yes. Phase I awardees may request up to $6,500 in TABA funding, and Phase II awardees may request up to $50,000 per Phase II project.

DTRA SBIR DTR26BZ05-NP001: Novel Technologies for CWMD and Related Threats

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

DTR26BZ05-NP001 is a Defense Threat Reduction Agency SBIR open topic seeking ways to detect radiological or nuclear threats using signals from ordinary military hardware and commercial devices, rather than building new, purpose-built sensors. Phase I awards go up to 250,000 dollars over 7 months. Phase II awards go up to 1,500,000 dollars over 24 months and are only open to Phase I awardees. Proposals are due September 23. The topic is ITAR and EAR restricted.

What This Topic Is Looking For

DTRA exists to help the Department of War detect, deter, and defeat weapons of mass destruction. The agency's problem is that purpose-built radiological and nuclear detection hardware is slow and expensive to develop, test, and field, and the commercial market for that kind of specialized equipment is thin.

This topic flips the approach. Instead of asking for a new sensor, it asks for a way to detect the storage, transfer, or use of WMD and related materials using signals that already exist. That could mean microphones, cameras, motion detectors, passive infrared, or other common sensors already sitting on military platforms or in commercial devices that have nothing to do with radiological detection on their own. The goal is to find a novel use case where ordinary, non-specialized signals or data can serve as an indication and warning capability for WMD threats.

This is structured as an open topic rather than a conventional one, which means DTRA is not specifying a particular technical objective or output up front. Proposers have room to define the use case themselves, provided it fits the broader mission of detecting WMD threats without bespoke sensors. Because it is an open topic, a company may submit only one proposal to it. If more than one proposal is submitted, only the most recently certified one will be evaluated, and all earlier submissions will be marked non-responsive.

Phase I, II, and III Expectations

Phase I is a feasibility study. The deliverable is proof of at least one feasible use case where a non-WMD-specific sensor, signal, or data source can detect a WMD threat or event, including characterization of the use case's applicability, customizability, and effectiveness, plus a proposed course of action for building a model or prototype in Phase II. The final Phase I deliverable is a report documenting the study and that course of action.

Phase II is only open to companies that received a Phase I award on this topic. It focuses on actually building the model or prototype identified in Phase I and testing it against relevant scenarios and data. The deliverable is the model or prototype itself, along with a final report containing an objective assessment of the technology and all test data and outcomes. Phase II proposals need to generally follow the same outline as the Phase I proposal, incorporating lessons learned, and should be ready to submit within 30 days after the Phase I period of performance ends.

Phase III is about refining the technology for broader mission use, improving effectiveness, usability, and sustainability, and delivering both a proven capability and a study of dual use applications spanning defense, government, and commercial use cases.

Funding and Timeline

Phase I award: up to 250,000 dollars for a 7 month period of performance, structured as 6 months of research plus a final month for the report. Phase I awards are issued as fixed-price purchase orders.

Phase II award: up to 1,500,000 dollars for a 24 month period of performance, issued as a definitive cost contract. Only Phase I awardees on this topic may submit a Phase II proposal.

TABA: up to 6,500 dollars for the Phase I project, and up to 50,000 dollars for the Phase II project, which can be split into two 25,000 dollar increments across sequential Phase II usage if needed.

Proposal deadline: September 23. All proposals must be submitted through DSIP, and proposals submitted through any other channel will be disregarded.

Award timeline: selection or non-selection notifications go out within 90 days of the BAA closing date. Selected offers then move through a DTRA acquisition package for contracting officer approval, which typically takes 120 to 180 days to reach contract execution.

Required Proposal Volumes

Every submission needs seven volumes: the Proposal Cover Sheet, the Technical Volume capped at 20 pages for Phase I and 40 pages for Phase II, the Cost Volume using DTRA's required Excel spreadsheet template, the Company Commercialization Report, Supporting Documents, Fraud Waste and Abuse Training, and the Disclosures of Foreign Affiliations webform.

DTRA has one mandatory Supporting Documents requirement beyond the standard package: the Contractor Certification Regarding Provision of Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment. If a company has concerns about meeting this certification, it needs to submit a mitigation plan addressing those concerns rather than skip the requirement.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadline for DTR26BZ05-NP001? September 23. Submission is only accepted through DSIP.

Can a company submit more than one proposal to this topic? No. This is an open topic, so a company may submit only one proposal. If multiple proposals are submitted, only the most recently certified one is evaluated, and earlier submissions are marked non-responsive.

What makes this an open topic instead of a conventional one? DTRA has not specified a particular technical objective or output. Proposers get to define the specific use case themselves, as long as it fits the mission of detecting WMD threats using non-specialized sensors, signals, or data sources rather than purpose-built detection hardware.

Can a company propose directly to Phase II? No. Phase II proposals may only come from companies that already hold a Phase I award on this specific topic.

What kind of company or team fits this topic best? Teams with signal processing, sensor fusion, or data science expertise who can identify a genuinely novel way to repurpose existing military or commercial hardware for detection, rather than teams focused on building new radiological or nuclear sensor hardware from scratch.

Is this topic export controlled? Yes. It is restricted under ITAR and may also fall under EAR. Any planned use of foreign nationals must be disclosed, including country of origin, visa status, and specific tasks.

How competitive is this program? DTRA receives roughly 250 proposals a year across its SBIR program and makes 17 to 20 awards annually, so the overall program is competitive, though award rates vary by topic and year.

What does DTRA expect as the final Phase I deliverable? A report proving out at least one feasible use case, along with a proposed course of action for building a model or prototype in Phase II. Phase I is a feasibility study, not a working prototype.

DARPA STTR DPA26TZ05-DV003: SPEED DIAL (Scalable Platform for Enterprise Engineering and Deployment towards Mathematics for the Discovery of Algorithms and Architectures)

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

DPA26TZ05-DV003, known as SPEED DIAL, is a DARPA Direct to Phase II STTR topic seeking a platform that brings AI-driven algorithm discovery out of the research lab and into everyday engineering workflows. The award is worth up to 750,000 dollars over a 12 month base period, with an optional 1,250,000 dollar, 12 month extension, for a total period of performance up to 24 months. Proposals are due September 23. Because this is an STTR topic, a formal research institution partnership is required.

What This Topic Is Looking For

DARPA's DIAL program already proved that AI can autonomously discover novel, high-performance algorithms, for example rediscovering the Kalman Filter using Transformers, rediscovering wavelets using genetic programming, and generating optimal meta-solvers for physics simulations. The problem is that these discovery engines are stuck in research environments. Engineers and scientists cannot yet pull a bespoke, AI-discovered algorithm into their actual workflow before running their standard process.

SPEED DIAL asks for a framework that closes that gap, built through a partnership between a university with deep algorithmic discovery expertise and a company representing the US industrial base. The Phase II work breaks into five tasks: building a unified discovery and deployment platform where engineers can define a problem space, boundary conditions, and hardware constraints to kick off discovery; embedding pervasive discovery engines, such as Transformer-based or genetic programming approaches, directly into the platform so industrial partners can discover bespoke algorithms for their own proprietary data; curating a version-controlled library of discovered algorithms organized by problem class with performance benchmarks; building in-context integration tools that pair a problem description with its algorithmic solution so retrieval is context-aware, and that deploy the algorithm into existing environments like MATLAB, Simulink, COMSOL, or custom C++ without manual code rewriting; and demonstrating the whole framework on at least two distinct defense-relevant problems such as hypersonic vehicle design, submarine acoustic signature analysis, or digital twin modeling.

A key requirement running through the whole topic is interpretability. Discovered algorithms cannot be black boxes. They need to be composed of transparent building blocks that a domain expert can actually understand, verify, and eventually certify.

DP2 Feasibility and Phase II Structure

This topic accepts Direct to Phase II proposals only, so no separate Phase I award will be made. Feasibility documentation needs to show three things already accomplished outside the STTR program: a track record of using methods like Transformers, genetic programming, or reinforcement learning to discover novel algorithms that beat state-of-the-art approaches in domains like time-series analysis, data compression, or partial differential equations; quantitative performance gains, with DARPA citing prior results like a 1000x improvement from AI-discovered wavelets and a 6.35x reduction in iterations for acoustic and sonar solvers as reference points; and evidence that the discovered algorithms are interpretable rather than opaque.

Phase II runs through a set of fixed milestones: a Month 4 system architecture document with an initial library of at least 5 foundational algorithms, a Month 8 prototype of the ambient discovery engine running in the background without interrupting the primary engineering workflow, a Month 12 demonstration of in-context deployment into a standard commercial environment without manual code rewriting, a Month 14 interim demonstration on a defense-relevant problem showing more than 10 percent improvement in computational efficiency, a Month 18 beta release of the full closed-loop platform, and a Month 24 final demonstration on a second major defense application along with the final software release and Phase III transition plan.

Phase III Outlook

On the defense side, DARPA points to faster and more accurate hypersonic vehicle design through better CFD simulation, improved sonar and radar signal processing for target detection, optimization of logistics networks in contested environments, and faster development of digital twins for military systems. Commercially, the same discovery framework applies to advanced manufacturing process optimization, financial modeling for risk analysis and trading, accelerated molecular dynamics simulation for drug discovery, and semiconductor chip layout optimization.

Funding and Timeline

Base award amount: up to 750,000 dollars for a 12 month period of performance.

Option amount: up to 1,250,000 dollars for an additional 12 months, bringing the total period of performance to 24 months.

TABA: DARPA offers up to 6,500 dollars per Phase I project and up to 25,000 dollars for the initial Phase II award.

Proposal deadline: September 23. Technical questions must be submitted by September 16, since DARPA does not answer questions submitted within 7 calendar days of the closing date.

STTR Requirements

Because this is an STTR topic, the proposing small business must partner with a qualifying research institution, and the topic itself is explicitly framed around a university-company partnership: a university bringing deep expertise in algorithmic discovery, paired with a company representing the US industrial base that can embed the tools into a real engineering workflow.

Proposal Format

This topic uses the standard Technical Volume format rather than the white paper and slide deck format. The Technical Volume splits into Part One, Feasibility Documentation, capped at 10 pages, and Part Two, the Technical Proposal, capped at 20 pages. A separate Phase II commercialization strategy section is required and capped at 5 pages, placed as the last section of the Technical Volume and not counted against the main page limit.

All proposals go through DSIP and require the standard seven volumes: cover sheet, technical volume, cost volume, Company Commercialization Report, supporting documents, Fraud Waste and Abuse training, and the Disclosures of Foreign Affiliations webform, which must be completed as a webform and will not be accepted as a PDF upload.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadline for DPA26TZ05-DV003? September 23. Technical questions must be submitted by September 16.

Is this a Phase I or Phase II award? Phase II only. This topic accepts Direct to Phase II proposals exclusively, so proposers must document feasibility already achieved outside the STTR program rather than receiving a separate Phase I award.

Why does this topic require a research institution partner? This is an STTR topic, and the underlying concept is explicitly built around a university and industry partnership, pairing algorithmic discovery expertise from academia with a company able to deploy that work into real engineering practice.

What does interpretability mean for this topic specifically? Discovered algorithms cannot function as black boxes. They need to be built from transparent components that a domain expert who is not an algorithms specialist can understand and eventually verify or certify, which DARPA treats as essential for real-world adoption.

What page limits apply to the proposal? 10 pages for feasibility documentation, 20 pages for the technical proposal, and a separate 5 page commercialization strategy that does not count against those limits.

Is cost sharing required? No. Cost sharing is permitted under this BAA but is not required and will not be used as an evaluation factor.

What kind of team fits this topic best? A university partner with strength in algorithm discovery methods such as genetic programming, reinforcement learning, or Transformer-based approaches, paired with a small business that has real engineering workflow experience and a credible path to embedding the tool into commercial or defense engineering software.

DARPA SBIR DPA26BZ05-DV022: Commercialization of Ultra-High Payload-to-Weight UAS Subsystems

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

DPA26BZ05-DV022 is a DARPA Direct to Phase II SBIR topic seeking to commercialize UAS subsystems that break the 4 to 1 payload-to-weight ratio, building directly on results from the DARPA Lift Challenge. The award is worth up to 1,250,000 dollars over an 18 month base period, with an optional 250,000 dollar, 6 month extension, for a total period of performance up to 24 months. Proposals are due September 23. The topic is ITAR and EAR restricted and carries a CMMC Level 1 requirement.

What This Topic Is Looking For

Most multirotor UAS today max out around a 1 to 1 payload-to-weight ratio. The DARPA Lift Challenge proved that a 4 to 1 ratio is achievable through aggressive weight minimization, advanced materials, and novel propulsion. This topic exists to take that proof of concept and turn it into a manufacturable, certifiable, commercially viable product.

Proposers choose one of two tracks and may only submit one proposal per track.

Track A, Revolutionary Aerodynamic Design, focuses on ultra-lightweight structures and novel airframe or rotor configurations, plus the commercialization subcomponents needed for a real product: communications, autonomy, safety systems, and transportability, along with starting the certification process.

Track B, Revolutionary Powertrain Design, focuses on transitioning a high-efficiency, high-power-density propulsion system away from hand-built prototypes and into a mass-produced, certified module that any UAS integrator could drop into their platform.

Both tracks are structured around the same demonstration philosophy: prove the design works, then prove it can be manufactured repeatably at scale, then prove it survives real operational stress, and finally deliver a complete technical data package with an active certification roadmap.

DP2 Feasibility and Phase II Structure

This is a Direct to Phase II topic only, so proposers need a working proof of concept already in hand. That means empirical data, flight logs, or prototype test results proving the baseline concept meets or exceeds the 4 to 1 payload-to-weight threshold, along with first order analysis that complements the empirical data. DARPA specifically calls out participation in the DARPA Lift Challenge as an ideal way to satisfy this requirement, though similar rigorous testing environments are also acceptable.

Phase II runs up to 24 months with Readiness Tests at Month 9 and Month 18, followed by an Ultimate Program Demonstration at Month 24. Each track escalates in difficulty at each checkpoint.

For Track A, the Month 9 test requires producing three identical structural components using scalable manufacturing and proving less than 10 percent variance in failure load across them at a 4 to 1 ratio. The Month 18 test requires integrating the airframe into a full UAS weighing no more than 1,320 pounds, complete with communications, autonomy, and safety systems, then flying an untethered hover demonstration at a 4 to 1 payload ratio for at least 5 continuous minutes. The Month 24 demonstration requires a complete technical data package and formal initiation of certification under standards like AS9100 for manufacturing and FAA airworthiness or military flight release for operational use.

For Track B, the Month 9 test requires producing three identical, mass-production-ready powertrain units and proving less than 5 percent performance variance across them on a dynamometer. The Month 18 test requires an accelerated life-cycle and environmental stress test following MIL-STD-810 procedures, plus a continuous operation test simulating a real heavy-lift mission profile without thermal failure or degradation. The Month 24 demonstration requires a final analysis package and a technical data package tailored for mass production, mapped against FAA airworthiness standards and relevant MIL-STDs.

Phase III Outlook

Phase III is oriented toward transition within the military and further commercialization. Military applications include tactical resupply, autonomous ammunition or ration delivery in contested logistics environments, and rapid casualty evacuation. Commercial applications include delivery of heavy construction materials to high-rise sites, automated disaster response logistics, heavy-duty agricultural spraying, and commercial cargo transport.

Funding and Timeline

Base award amount: up to 1,250,000 dollars for an 18 month period of performance.

Option amount: up to 250,000 dollars for an additional 6 months, bringing the total period of performance to 24 months.

TABA: up to 25,000 dollars per Phase II project, reviewed at time of award.

Proposal deadline: September 23. Technical questions must be submitted by September 16, since DARPA does not answer questions submitted within 7 calendar days of the closing date.

Proposal Format

This topic uses the white paper and slide deck Technical Volume format. The white paper cannot exceed 20 pages and needs to cover goals and impact, proof of concept feasibility documentation, a technical plan with milestones no more than a month apart, management and capabilities, and a transition and commercialization plan. The slide deck cannot exceed 15 slides and covers the same ground in pitch format, including cost, schedule, and DARPA's required quad chart templates.

All proposals go through DSIP and require the standard seven volumes: cover sheet, technical volume, cost volume, Company Commercialization Report, supporting documents, Fraud Waste and Abuse training, and the Disclosures of Foreign Affiliations webform, which must be completed as a webform and will not be accepted as a PDF upload.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadline for DPA26BZ05-DV022? September 23. Technical questions must be submitted by September 16.

Is this a Phase I or Phase II award? Phase II only. Proposers must already have proof-of-concept data proving a 4 to 1 payload-to-weight ratio, since this topic accepts Direct to Phase II proposals exclusively.

Do I have to have competed in the DARPA Lift Challenge to qualify? No, but DARPA specifically calls Lift Challenge data ideal for meeting the proof-of-concept requirement. Data from other similarly rigorous testing environments is also acceptable.

Can a company propose to both Track A and Track B? A proposing team may submit one proposal per track, so a company could pursue both an aerodynamic design proposal and a separate powertrain proposal, but not more than one proposal per track, and no firm can be selected for more than one Phase II award on this topic overall.

What is the weight limit for the integrated UAS in Track A? No more than 1,320 pounds, which anticipates FAA Part 108 requirements for larger drone operations.

Is this topic export controlled? Yes. It is restricted under ITAR and may also fall under EAR. Any planned use of foreign nationals must be disclosed, including country of origin, visa status, and specific tasks.

Can venture capital or private equity backed companies apply? Yes. DARPA topics under this BAA explicitly accept proposals from companies more than 50 percent owned by venture capital operating companies, hedge funds, or private equity firms, provided the company registers with the SBA Company Registry Database and submits the required VC certification.

DARPA SBIR DPA26BZ05-DV021: Open Architecture Platform for Underwater Vehicles for Rapid Adaptation, Collaborative Sensing, Navigation, and Autonomy

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

DPA26BZ05-DV021 is a DARPA Direct to Phase II SBIR topic seeking a modular, open-architecture autonomous underwater vehicle platform that supports rapid payload swaps, fleet-scale deployment, and multi-vehicle collaboration. The award is worth up to 1,800,000 dollars over a 24 month period of performance, with no option period. Proposals are due September 23. This topic carries a CMMC Level 1 requirement.

What This Topic Is Looking For

DARPA wants to move away from proprietary, single-purpose underwater vehicles and toward an open ecosystem where hardware and software can be reconfigured without specialized tooling. Open architecture here means both physical modularity for hardware reconfiguration and adherence to open software standards so sensors, communications, navigation, and autonomy stacks can plug in interchangeably.

The platform needs to be two-person portable and support operations for up to 24 hours, while maintaining strict control across the water column, including fixed-depth stationkeeping, since vehicle stability directly determines whether the data collected is usable. DARPA describes an end-to-end mission lifecycle approach built around several capability areas: a modular, flooded-hull architecture that allows upgrades or repairs in hours or days without specialized tooling, software hooks that support task allocation across heterogeneous vehicles without burdening the end user, a seamless multimodal mesh communications network linking acoustic, RF, cellular, and satellite channels, an integrated software ecosystem connecting mission planning, command and control, and centralized data analytics, scalable hardware integration with software-optimized, customizable propulsion tailored to specific hydrodynamic profiles, and signature management to minimize acoustic and hydrodynamic wake.

DP2 Feasibility and Phase II Structure

This is a Direct to Phase II topic, so no Phase I award will be made. To qualify, proposers need to demonstrate feasibility across three domains: vehicle dynamics and hydrodynamic modeling data covering propulsion performance and signature characteristics, acoustic characterization and localization data covering individual platforms or multi-vehicle formations, and analytical or algorithmic proof supporting stable formation control under degraded communications or platform performance.

Phase II runs 24 months and is aimed at developing and demonstrating a functional, in-water prototype. Performers validate rapid reconfiguration by swapping payload housings and integrating new sensor packages within a target timeframe and without specialized tools, conduct at-sea testing of the multimodal communications mesh, and demonstrate dynamic, multi-vehicle collaborative sensing and autonomous navigation in a simulated operational environment.

Fixed milestones run from a Month 2 delivery of hardware and software interface standards through a Month 22 demonstration of a heterogeneous AUV fleet performing dynamic retasking, deconfliction, collaborative sensing, and automated data offloading, and a Month 24 finalized Phase III transition plan.

Phase III Outlook

Phase III is oriented toward scaling the platform for fleet-wide deployment and integration into broader defense and commercial enterprise architectures. The goal is to transition the system into a commercially viable product capable of rapid payload integration for advanced undersea systems programs, accelerating both experimentation and operational transition for end users across defense, commercial, and scientific maritime missions.

Funding and Timeline

Award amount: up to 1,800,000 dollars for the base period of performance.

Period of performance: 24 months, with no option period.

TABA: up to 25,000 dollars per Phase II project, reviewed at time of award.

Proposal deadline: September 23. Technical questions must be submitted by September 16, since DARPA does not answer questions submitted within 7 calendar days of the closing date.

Proposal Format

This topic uses the white paper and slide deck Technical Volume format. The white paper cannot exceed 20 pages and needs to cover goals and impact, Phase I equivalent feasibility across the three required domains, a technical plan with milestones no more than a month apart, management and capabilities, and a transition and commercialization plan. The slide deck cannot exceed 15 slides and covers the same ground in pitch format, including cost, schedule, and DARPA's required quad chart templates.

All proposals go through DSIP and require the standard seven volumes: cover sheet, technical volume, cost volume, Company Commercialization Report, supporting documents, Fraud Waste and Abuse training, and the Disclosures of Foreign Affiliations webform, which must be completed as a webform and will not be accepted as a PDF upload.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadline for DPA26BZ05-DV021? September 23. Technical questions must be submitted by September 16.

Is this a Phase I or Phase II award? Phase II only. This topic is soliciting Direct to Phase II proposals exclusively. Proposers must document feasibility across vehicle dynamics, acoustic characterization, and formation stability through prior work.

What does two-person portable mean for this topic? The platform needs to be light and compact enough that two people can carry and deploy it without additional lifting equipment, while still supporting up to 24 hours of continuous operation.

How is fleet collaboration demonstrated in Phase II? Through at-sea testing of a multimodal mesh communications network and a simulated operational demonstration of dynamic retasking, deconfliction, and collaborative sensing across a heterogeneous fleet of vehicles.

Is this topic export controlled? The topic sheet does not include an ITAR or EAR restriction paragraph the way several other Release 5 DARPA topics do, and it carries a CMMC Level 1 requirement, but companies should still confirm export control status for their specific technical approach before proposing.

Can venture capital or private equity backed companies apply? Yes. DARPA topics under this BAA explicitly accept proposals from companies more than 50 percent owned by venture capital operating companies, hedge funds, or private equity firms, provided the company registers with the SBA Company Registry Database and submits the required VC certification.

What kind of company fits this topic best? Teams with underwater vehicle engineering experience, particularly in hydrodynamics, acoustic signature management, multi-vehicle autonomy, and mesh communications, who can show prior modeling or testing data rather than starting from a blank sheet.

DARPA SBIR DPA26BZ05-DV020: Universal Cell Culture Platform for Rapid Establishment of Species-Agnostic Cell Lines and Autonomous Culture Operations

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

DPA26BZ05-DV020 is a DARPA Direct to Phase II SBIR topic seeking a universal cell culture platform that can rapidly establish viable cell lines from non-model species and automate the culture optimization process that normally takes years. The award is worth up to 2,000,000 dollars over an 18 month period of performance, with no option period. Proposals are due September 23. This topic carries a lower CMMC Level 1 requirement and no ITAR restriction is listed.

What This Topic Is Looking For

Cell culture protocols today exist almost exclusively for well-characterized model organisms like human, mouse, and rat. For most other species, especially ones of interest for defense, biosecurity, agriculture, and public health, there is no established culture baseline, and building one from scratch normally takes years of manual, trial-and-error optimization that does not transfer well between labs. DARPA wants a platform that breaks this bottleneck, in part because it currently blocks gene-drive research in non-model invasive species.

Proposers must address two required components and are encouraged to address a third optional one.

Component 1 asks for species-agnostic biological methods, meaning universal or rapidly tunable media and substrate formulations, generalizable approaches to primary cell isolation, immortalization, or induced pluripotent stem cell reprogramming, and a structured, design-of-experiments framework for converging on viable culture conditions for a species that has never been cultured before.

Component 2 asks for autonomous, closed-loop culture automation, meaning independent environmental control per vessel or well so many optimization experiments can run in parallel, automated feeding, passaging, imaging, and sampling, and a closed-loop system where automated imaging and analysis feed directly into the next round of experimental conditions.

Component 3, which is optional but favorably reviewed, asks for the cellular substrate and workflows needed to characterize gene-drive and genetic biocontrol technologies in non-model species, strictly limited to in vitro and cellular work. No environmental release and no creation of a gene-drive-competent whole organism is permitted under this effort, and proposers addressing this component must explicitly address biosafety, biosecurity, and institutional oversight.

A proposer may only submit one proposal to this topic.

DP2 Feasibility and Phase II Structure

This is a Direct to Phase II topic, so no Phase I award will be made. Feasibility must already be demonstrated through prior work. For Component 1, that means showing established or maintained cell lines, or successful iPSC derivation, from at least two non-model species, ideally spanning more than one taxonomic class. For Component 2, that means showing prior operation of automated or closed-loop culture functionality with supporting performance data. For Component 3, if addressed, that means showing prior genome editing or construct delivery in a non-model cell line with documented biosafety practices.

Phase II is an 18 month effort aimed at advancing the platform from TRL 3 to 4 up to TRL 6 by program end. Performers stand up and validate the integrated platform against a reference species, then launch optimization campaigns on at least four new, non-model species not used in the feasibility demonstration, at least one of which must be vertebrate.

DARPA has set specific program metrics performers are expected to meet or exceed: less than 90 days to a validated cell line for a previously uncharacterized species, greater than 85 percent cross-run reproducibility with demonstrated cross-operator success, coverage of more than 4 species spanning more than 2 taxonomic classes, and genomic stability across more than 20 passages, equivalent to at least 5 generations. If Component 3 is addressed, performers also need to demonstrate in vitro construct delivery and gene-drive characterization with a functioning safeguard or containment mechanism.

Fixed milestones run from a Month 2 requirements analysis and biosafety baseline through a Month 17 capability demonstration across the required species set and a Month 18 final report.

Phase III Outlook

On the defense side, DARPA points to biosecurity and genetic biocontrol countermeasures, protecting force health from disease vectors, defending against invasive or pest species threatening installations and agriculture, and resilient, expeditionary biomanufacturing. Commercially, the platform applies to public health vector control, agricultural pest management, cellular agriculture and cultivated foods, biopharmaceutical and vaccine host line development, regenerative medicine, species conservation and biobanking, veterinary biotechnology, and contract research bioprocess development.

Funding and Timeline

Award amount: up to 2,000,000 dollars for the base period of performance.

Period of performance: 18 months, with no option period.

TABA: up to 25,000 dollars per Phase II project, reviewed at time of award.

Proposal deadline: September 23. Technical questions must be submitted by September 16, since DARPA does not answer questions submitted within 7 calendar days of the closing date.

Proposal Format

This topic uses the white paper and slide deck Technical Volume format. The white paper cannot exceed 20 pages and needs to cover goals and impact, Phase I equivalent feasibility, a technical plan with milestones no more than a month apart, management and capabilities including any biosafety and IBC oversight arrangements, and a transition and commercialization plan. The slide deck cannot exceed 15 slides and covers the same ground in pitch format, including cost, schedule, and DARPA's required quad chart templates.

All proposals go through DSIP and require the standard seven volumes: cover sheet, technical volume, cost volume, Company Commercialization Report, supporting documents, Fraud Waste and Abuse training, and the Disclosures of Foreign Affiliations webform, which must be completed as a webform and will not be accepted as a PDF upload.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadline for DPA26BZ05-DV020? September 23. Technical questions must be submitted by September 16.

Is this a Phase I or Phase II award? Phase II only. No Phase I award will be made under this topic. Proposers must document feasibility equivalent to Phase I through prior work.

Are both required components mandatory? Yes. Component 1, species-agnostic culture methods, and Component 2, closed-loop automation, must both be addressed. Component 3, gene-drive enablement, is optional but favorably reviewed if included.

Does this topic allow whole-organism gene-drive work? No. Any Component 3 work is strictly limited to in vitro and cellular research. No environmental release and no creation of a gene-drive-competent whole organism is contemplated or permitted under this effort.

How many species does Phase II need to demonstrate? At least four new, non-model species not used in the original feasibility demonstration, with at least one of them vertebrate, and preference given to proposals covering a greater number of vertebrate or long-life-cycle species.

Can only one proposal be submitted per company? Yes. A proposer may submit only one proposal to this topic.

Is this topic export controlled? The topic sheet does not list ITAR or EAR restrictions the way several other Release 5 DARPA topics do, and it carries a lower CMMC Level 1 requirement, but companies should still confirm export control status for their specific technical approach before proposing.

Can venture capital or private equity backed companies apply? Yes. DARPA topics under this BAA explicitly accept proposals from companies more than 50 percent owned by venture capital operating companies, hedge funds, or private equity firms, provided the company registers with the SBA Company Registry Database and submits the required VC certification.

DARPA SBIR DPA26BZ05-DV019: Semantically-Aware ISR

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

DPA26BZ05-DV019 is a DARPA Direct to Phase II SBIR topic seeking a mission-aware semantic communications system that can shrink the amount of ISR video data transmitted from small drones by roughly 90 to 99 percent while still preserving the information an operator actually needs. The award is worth up to 1,500,000 dollars over an 18 month base period, with an optional 500,000 dollar, 6 month extension. Proposals are due September 23. The topic is ITAR and EAR restricted, and no Phase I award will be made under this topic.

What This Topic Is Looking For

Small unmanned aircraft carrying electro-optical and infrared sensors generate far more video data than tactical communications links can carry, especially once those links are jammed, degraded, or squeezed down to single-digit kilobits per second. DARPA wants a system that solves this by reasoning about what actually matters in a scene rather than just compressing video harder.

The core requirement is an onboard, real-time, low-power processing layer that understands what the operator is actually looking for, even when that request is vague or context-dependent, tracks behavior and change across multiple frames rather than relying on fixed object categories, and transmits only compact semantic packets containing the regions, events, and context the operator needs to act.

Specific Phase II capabilities include mission-intent grounding that turns natural language operator requests into executable mission logic without retraining mid-flight, open-world spatiotemporal reasoning that can flag mission-relevant behavior even when the objects involved are unknown or camouflaged, multimodal fusion that combines EO video with at least one other sensor or metadata stream, and a traceability requirement so an operator can audit why any given piece of information was transmitted or suppressed. On the hardware side, the system needs to run at 5 watts of incremental power during interim testing with a final target of 2 watts, on embedded hardware such as NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano, Hailo-8L, Coral Edge TPU, AMD Kintex FPGAs, or ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers.

DARPA is explicit about what it does not want: conventional video compression without mission reasoning, fixed-taxonomy object detection or tracking, large vision-language models that cannot run onboard, anything requiring cloud processing or constant high-bandwidth reachback, and anything requiring replacement of existing flight controllers, radios, or ground stations. The topic also explicitly excludes weapon-release, lethal engagement, and named-person identification capabilities.

DP2 Feasibility and Phase II Structure

This topic accepts Direct to Phase II proposals only. There is no Phase I award, and proposers need to show Phase I equivalent feasibility was already achieved outside the SBIR program, with a technical readiness level of 4 or above at the start of Phase II for the perception, reasoning, and semantic encoding subsystems.

To document that feasibility, proposers need a prior prototype that ingests EO video and produces measurable data reduction against full-frame video, including at least one case where the reasoning depended on behavior or context rather than a single frame's object class. They also need preliminary measurements showing a credible path to at least 90 percent data reduction, documented edge deployment of at least one critical processing block with measured power and latency, a comparison against baselines like H.264, H.265, or AV1 compression and standard object detection pipelines, and a path-to-platform analysis naming at least two specific Group 1 or Group 2 small UAS targets or surrogates.

Phase II runs 18 months with a possible 6 month option to extend into multi-UAS semantic coordination, satellite or high-altitude downlink emulation, ruggedized packaging, and government-supported field demonstration. Performers integrate with two representative platform classes, Group 1 short-range systems like the RQ-11B Raven or RQ-20 Puma, and Group 2 longer-endurance systems like ScanEagle, though government-furnished platforms are not required and surrogates or recorded video are acceptable.

Fixed milestones run from a Month 1 system requirements review through a Month 18 capstone demonstration achieving at least 90 percent data reduction across both platform classes, with option period milestones at Month 21 for multi-UAS coordination and Month 24 for an operationally realistic capstone and productization package.

Phase III Outlook

DARPA expects Phase III funding to come from private industry or non-SBIR government sources, with the product taking the form of a small hardware-software module, embedded SDK, or sensor pipeline plugin. Defense applications include small UAS ISR, route reconnaissance, perimeter security, convoy overwatch, maritime surveillance, and sensor-to-shooter support under degraded or contested communications. Commercial applications include wildfire monitoring, search and rescue, law enforcement overwatch, infrastructure inspection, border and port security, offshore energy monitoring, precision agriculture, wildlife monitoring, and disaster assessment, along with a satellite or high-altitude platform variant for remote sensing downlink reduction.

Funding and Timeline

Base award amount: up to 1,500,000 dollars for an 18 month period of performance.

Option amount: up to 500,000 dollars for an additional 6 months.

TABA: up to 25,000 dollars per Phase II project, reviewed at time of award.

Proposal deadline: September 23. Technical questions must be submitted by September 16, since DARPA does not answer questions submitted within 7 calendar days of the closing date.

Proposal Format

This topic uses the white paper and slide deck Technical Volume format. The white paper cannot exceed 20 pages and needs to cover goals and impact, Phase I equivalent feasibility, a technical plan with milestones no more than a month apart, management and capabilities, and a transition and commercialization plan. The slide deck cannot exceed 15 slides and needs to cover the same ground in a more visual, pitch-style format, including cost, schedule, and quad chart summaries using DARPA's templates.

All proposals go through DSIP and require the standard seven volumes: cover sheet, technical volume, cost volume, Company Commercialization Report, supporting documents, Fraud Waste and Abuse training, and the Disclosures of Foreign Affiliations webform, which must be completed as a webform and will not be accepted as a PDF upload.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadline for DPA26BZ05-DV019? September 23. Technical questions must be submitted by September 16.

Is this a Phase I or Phase II award? Phase II only. This topic explicitly states Phase I proposals will not be accepted or reviewed. Proposers must document Phase I equivalent feasibility achieved outside the SBIR program.

What data reduction target does this topic actually require? A threshold of 90 percent, or 10x, reduction versus full-frame video baselines by the end of Phase II, with an objective of 95 to 99 percent reduction in mission-suitable scenes.

Does this topic allow lethal or targeting applications? No. Weapon-release, lethal engagement, and named-person identification are explicitly excluded from this topic's scope.

What kind of company fits this topic best? Teams with strength in embedded AI, computer vision, and signal processing who can show a working prototype already deployed on low-power edge hardware, ideally with prior UAS or ISR sensor integration experience.

Is this topic export controlled? Yes. It is restricted under ITAR and may also fall under EAR. Any planned use of foreign nationals must be disclosed, including country of origin, visa status, and specific tasks.

Can venture capital or private equity backed companies apply? Yes. DARPA topics under this BAA explicitly accept proposals from companies more than 50 percent owned by venture capital operating companies, hedge funds, or private equity firms, provided the company registers with the SBA Company Registry Database and submits the required VC certification.

DARPA SBIR DPA26BZ05-DV018: Hoboken - SBIR XL

Below is a brief summary. Please check the full solicitation before applying (link in resources section).

Quick Answer

DPA26BZ05-DV018, known as Hoboken, is a DARPA Direct to Phase II SBIR topic seeking critical subsystems for an underwater 3D concrete printing system that uses local seafloor sediment and seawater instead of traditional imported materials. The award is worth up to 3,000,000 dollars over an 18 month period of performance, with no option period. Proposals are due September 23. The topic is ITAR and EAR restricted, and this is a Direct to Phase II topic only, meaning no separate Phase I award will be made.

What This Topic Is Looking For

DARPA wants to move underwater concrete construction away from slow, expensive, cast-in-place methods and toward rapid, flexible 3D printing that harvests sediment straight from the seafloor. Building on the DARPA Trenton program, which already proved that low-binder concrete mixes using native sediment and seawater can achieve self-supporting strength, Hoboken funds the next layer of hardware and software needed to make that idea field-ready.

The topic is structured around four tracks, and performers can propose to one or more:

Track 1 asks for a fully submersible 3D concrete printer that can operate at shallow to medium depths near shore and print a self-supporting structure such as an arch, wall, slab, or pile, with basic remote deployment and retrieval.

Track 2 asks for a modular transportation system that can pump wet sediment, dry sediment, and low-binder concrete mixes through the harvest-to-print pipeline, including in-line dewatering.

Track 3 asks for an in-line, marinized mixing system near the print nozzle that can handle variable sediment and binder ratios, monitor mix quality in real time, and adjust based on sensor feedback.

Track 4 asks for a structured, data-driven approach to sediment-based concrete formulation, including building a machine-readable database of sediment properties and mix performance, and developing a beta AI tool that predicts strength and printability and recommends optimized mixes.

Every proposed subsystem needs to fit inside a 3,000,000 dollar budget per performer, use seawater in the concrete mix, and be designed for future interoperability since DARPA plans a follow-on program focused on full system integration.

DP2 Feasibility and Phase II Structure

Because this is a Direct to Phase II topic, there is no separate Phase I award. Proposers to Tracks 1 through 3 need to show prior work demonstrating understanding of low-binder seafloor sediment concrete. Proposers to Track 4 need to show prior work with low-binder, non-traditional concrete mixes. DARPA points to its own Trenton program as the baseline proof that this approach is feasible.

The 18 month Phase II period runs through four stages: feasibility and requirements analysis, system design and detailed design review, component fabrication and subsystem testing, and prototype demonstration with transition planning. Every proposal must include an Integration Readiness Plan and performers will participate in cross-team Technical Interchange Meetings, since DARPA is planning a future Strategic Breakthrough Phase II focused on integrating everyone's subsystems together. The prototype demonstration has to tie to a real-world use case such as port damage repair, new port construction, seawall construction, underwater cable or pipe protection, blowout protection for oil and gas, or artificial reef construction and repair.

Fixed milestones run from a Month 2 requirements analysis through a Month 17 near-shore underwater prototype demonstration and a Month 18 final report.

Phase III Outlook

Phase III applications split cleanly between military and commercial. On the defense side, DARPA points to expeditionary port damage repair, underwater infrastructure, and underwater asset protection. Commercially, the technology applies to offshore platform construction, custom mooring, shoreline protection, environmental restoration, hydroelectric infrastructure, and even underwater data centers. The long-term vision is full system integration combining sediment harvesting, formulation, transport, mixing, and printing into one autonomous, deep-water capable construction system.

Funding and Timeline

Award amount: up to 3,000,000 dollars for the base period of performance.

Period of performance: 18 months, with no option period.

TABA: DARPA offers Technical and Business Assistance up to 25,000 dollars per Phase II project, reviewed at time of award.

Proposal deadline: September 23. Technical questions must be submitted by September 16, since DARPA does not answer questions submitted within 7 calendar days of the closing date.

Proposal Format

DARPA DP2 proposals for this topic use the standard Technical Volume format rather than the white paper and slide deck format, since Hoboken's table entry lists page limits rather than slide limits in the underlying BAA structure. Proposers should confirm the exact Volume 2 format required for this topic against the DSIP posting before drafting, since DARPA enforces page limits strictly and will not consider pages beyond the stated limit.

All proposals go through DSIP and require the standard seven volumes: cover sheet, technical volume, cost volume, Company Commercialization Report, supporting documents, Fraud Waste and Abuse training, and the Disclosures of Foreign Affiliations webform, which must be completed as a webform and will not be accepted as a PDF upload.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadline for DPA26BZ05-DV018? September 23. Technical questions must be submitted by September 16.

Is this a Phase I or Phase II award? Phase II only. This is a Direct to Phase II topic, so no separate Phase I award will be made. Proposers must show feasibility was already established outside the SBIR program, largely by pointing to the DARPA Trenton program results.

Can a company propose to more than one track? The topic describes four distinct tracks and expects each performer to focus on one or more, but the proposal should clearly identify which track or tracks are being addressed and size the budget accordingly within the 3,000,000 dollar per performer limit.

Does DARPA expect a fully integrated system in Phase II? No. Full system integration is explicitly deferred to a future program. Phase II is about developing and demonstrating individual subsystems and proving they are ready for future integration.

Is this topic export controlled? Yes. It is restricted under ITAR and may also fall under EAR. Any planned use of foreign nationals must be disclosed, including country of origin, visa status, and specific tasks.

Can venture capital or private equity backed companies apply? Yes. DARPA topics under this BAA explicitly accept proposals from companies more than 50 percent owned by venture capital operating companies, hedge funds, or private equity firms, provided the company registers with the SBA Company Registry Database and submits the required VC certification.

What real-world application does the prototype need to support? At least one of the following: port damage repair, new port construction, seawall construction, underwater cable or pipe protection, blowout protection for oil and gas, or artificial reef construction and repair.