Overlay/Bond Coatings that Resist Hot Corrosion in Navy Gas Turbines - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV028

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop overlay or bond coatings and a coating model that enables longer service and prediction of corrosion, oxidation and overall degradation when exposed to marine Naval environments as a function of corrosivity, stress, and various temperature combinations via integrated computational material engineering (ICME), which will foster creation of new coatings resistant to these degradation modes.

Description:

Marine gas turbine engines serve as primary and auxiliary power sources for several current classes of ships in the U.S. Navy. It is desirable for marine gas turbine engines to have a mean time between removals of 20,000 hours. While some engines have approached this goal, others have fallen significantly short. The main reason for this shortfall is various forms of hot corrosion (Type I and Type II) damage in the hot section turbine hardware due to intrusion of salts from the marine air and/or from sulfur in the gas turbine combustion fuels.

The synergistic effect of stress- and deposit-induced high temperature corrosion can lead to other corrosion mechanisms. Corrosion fatigue as well as fatigue often initiates at stress risers. Metallurgical examination of several failed marine gas turbine blades that had operated between 5,000 and 10,000 hours was performed and compared to “unfailed” blades with 18,000 operating hours from a similar marine engine. Deposition occurring at sites under the platform of unfailed turbine blades revealed pitting at those sites.

Further examination revealed poor coating quality (i.e., high porosity and variable thickness) under the platform of first stage turbine blades that allowed salts to permeate through the coating to the alloy surface and initiate hot corrosion. Further coating examination under the platform showed highly variable coating thicknesses (0-40 µm) in the curved area of transition between the under platform and the blade stem. In a few cases, coatings were non-existent on the “unfailed” blades. The Cobalt Chromium Aluminum Yttrium (CoCrAlY) coating, when present, usually was porous or the available coating under the platform was highly contaminated due to lack of adequate spray deposition in these non-line-of-sight areas. CoCrAlY coating thicknesses at other sites along the blade stem were 35 µm to 105 µm (1.4 to 4.1 mils) and devoid of porosity. The corrosion that was observed under the platform in all cases was caused by Type II, low-temperature hot corrosion, which occurs in the temperature range of 649°-732°C (1,200°-1,350°F). Corrosion penetrated the porous coating and caused further undercutting of the coating along the coating/alloy substrate interface, Type II hot corrosion caused pitting at these locations under the platform, which caused stress risers where corrosion fatigue cracks initiated. These pits advanced through the blade stems to varying degrees.

The synergistic effect of stress- and deposit-induced high temperature corrosion leads to the premature failure of aero turbine blades reportedly due to stress corrosion cracking. The lower shank of aero gas turbine blades, which operates below 600°C is susceptible to this mode of failure. Two important factors that lead to stress corrosion cracking of single crystal nickel-based superalloys are the type of deposits that form on components (these include alkali chlorides and sulfates which are introduced through the environment) and the concentration of SOx in the environment. Therefore, it is important to understand the synergistic role of deposits and sulfur containing gases on the stress corrosion cracking susceptibility of single crystal nickel-based superalloys below 600°C.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below:

Automated Ice Detection and Polar Navigation Tool (PolarNav) - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV027

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop a prototype for a system that integrates information on sea ice conditions from a diverse set of sources, including shipboard instruments, airborne and spaceborne sensors, and sea ice model output, to yield optimized route options as a planning aid for navigation through ice-infested waters in polar regions.

Description:

Recent trends of warming in the Arctic have led to a steady decrease in the extent of multi-year sea ice, a corresponding increase in seasonal sea ice, and an overall lengthening of the navigable season [Refs 1, 2], thereby making the Arctic increasingly open to maritime traffic. Vessels operating in and near sea ice must make navigation decisions that balance the capabilities of the ship with the objectives of their voyage. Such route planning is complicated by the dynamic nature of sea ice, as it is subject to movements caused by a number of factors such as the Beaufort Gyre, transpolar drift, and weather events, which are even more pronounced on the thinner, seasonal ice. A system capable of aiding navigation teams in route planning based on ice observations and forecasts over time scales on the order of hours to days is essential for safe navigation through polar regions.

Currently, ice navigation relies heavily on manual processes. A majority of route planning information comes from satellite imagery, either optical or synthetic aperture radar (SAR), or from forecast information from entities like the U.S. National Ice Center. Due to dynamic weather conditions and rapid movement, the operational value of overhead imagery is sometimes temporally limited. These longer-range data sources are augmented by shipboard systems, such as onboard radar systems for icebergs, in-situ ice floe, and pack ice detection, which typically have detection ranges on the order of a few tens of kilometers. These close-range systems help inform tactical navigation decisions and near-term route planning.

Key aspects of ice analysis, whether conducted onboard or remotely, are ice edge definition, identification of ice types (e.g., seasonal ice, multi-year ice) and concentration, and detection of ice features such as ridges and icebergs. This analysis is then presented to the navigation team and command who assess the current and planned route and make course adjustments as necessary. Current ice forecasts do not always adequately account for projected ice movement over the next 12-96 hours, which is crucial for effective route planning. Moreover, the analysis and route planning are often separate functions, each conducted by distinct teams based on their own personal experience and knowledge. This separation can lead to suboptimal decisions and increased risk.

The goal of this SBIR topic is to develop a prototype tool that helps ships make safe navigation decisions in the Arctic. The tool should leverage established ice prediction models and incorporate other available sources to assimilate models and improve forecasts. These additional sources may include:

Onboard sensors: Radar, thermal cameras (forward-looking infrared), and microwave sensors on the ship.

Aircraft sensors: Sensors on airplanes and unmanned aerial systems (if available).

Satellites: Optical and SAR data, dynamically updated with every new overpass.

Iceberg records: Historical data on where icebergs have been seen/located (e.g., from the U.S. Coast Guard's International Ice Patrol).

The envisioned product is a geographic-information-system-based tool that uses artificial intelligence, first-principles algorithms, and automated data processing schemes to combine information from the above sources, update model-based predictions, provide 12–96-hour sea ice forecasts, and suggest potential navigation routes. Route options should consider vessel specifications, such as ice resistance characteristics and fuel consumption rate, and provide options for fastest route to destination, shortest route to destination, route with minimal wear/tear on vessel and crew, and maximum safe speed based on ship hull type/construction. Ultimate route decisions should be left to the vessel’s navigation team.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below:

Passive-Active Combo System for Unmanned Characterization of Littoral Environments - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV026

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop a lightweight, integrated passive imaging and LiDAR system, deployable on an unmanned aerial platform for target detection, feature characterization, and bathymetry retrieval in littoral environments. The system should be light enough for deployment from a Group 2 (max. gross takeoff weight: 21 – 55 lbs.) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

Description:

Achieving and maintaining maritime dominance in the coastal battlespace requires the Navy and Marine Corps to have superior situational awareness. A key component of this dominance is the ability to rapidly characterize shallow, nearshore environments [Ref 1] in real-time using agile, unmanned aerial platforms. To this end, a system is needed that provides (1) bathymetry retrieval; (2) detection and discrimination of underwater targets; and (3) characterization of the land-ocean interface (i.e., surface type, topography, and shallow-water bathymetry).

Current UAV-based shallow water and littoral zone characterization relies on either (1) passive imagers alone or (2) bathymetric LiDAR systems deployed on larger airborne platforms or in separate missions. While passive imagers effectively characterize surface features, bathymetric LiDAR is necessary for bathymetry retrieval and underwater target detection. Simultaneous deployment of both a high-performance passive imager and a bathymetric LiDAR on a Group 2 UAV is challenging due to payload weight limitations. Systems that attempt this combination often compromise sensor performance or utilize topographic LiDAR [Ref 2], which uses near-infrared wavelengths unsuitable for bathymetry retrieval.

One potential solution is a system that can accommodate a passive imager and a dual-wavelength LiDAR that operates at two wavelengths – one where light penetrates deep into the water column and another with very little to no penetration into the water column – which can be used to effectively discriminate between LiDAR returns from the water surface and the substrate. The heaviest part of a topo-bathy LiDAR is the scanning component. A non-scanning, nadir-viewing LiDAR system would be light enough for simultaneous deployment on a Group 2 UAV. The passive imager could be hyperspectral or multispectral but should provide sufficient spectral information to spectrally characterize the water column and the land-ocean interface and discriminate underwater objects and features. Single nadir lines of LiDAR returns from adjacent flight lines could be mapped onto corresponding spatially explicit imaging data to build three-dimensional profiles of bathymetry. Coincidental LiDAR and imaging data could also be used to train a regression-based machine learning (ML) model to estimate depths from the imaging data, similar to previous empirical approaches [Ref 3].

The system should provide rapid onboard processing of passive spectral and LiDAR data and real-time downlink of preliminary output to a ground station. The output should include a true-color composite of the target area, a topo-bathy map, a target detection map (showing locations of targets of interest, which could be new objects or objects with known properties pre-programmed into the system), and a terrain characterization map (showing information on the terrain type, concentration of optically significant constituents in the water column, and bottom type). Performers may use simple or sophistical techniques to retrieve information from spectral imaging data, such as simple band-ratio algorithms, spectral inversion based on radiative transfer modeling, spectral derivatives, or ML techniques. The system should provide the above information for coastal waters up to 20 meters depth in moderately turbid waters (diffuse attenuation coefficient at 490 nm, Kd(490) ˜ 2-4 m-1). Note: SBIR funds may be used to purchase a Group 2 UAV to serve as a platform for the imager + LiDAR combo system.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below:

Leveraging Machine Learning for Advanced Passive Sonar Tracking - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV025

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop advanced automation to detect, locate, classify, and correlate contacts across multiple sonar sensors and multiple display surfaces.

Description:

Passive sonar systems employ a standardized signal processing pipeline to track, classify, and localize underwater contacts. This automated process, often referred to as "automation," begins after front-end processing generates visual displays for sonar operator analysis and automated processing. Existing algorithms that track energy signatures on these displays typically include Kalman filters, probabilistic multi-hypothesis trackers, and particle filters. However, these traditional tracking methods, as implemented in current operational systems, often fail to fully leverage the potential of modern machine learning techniques. This SBIR topic seeks to incorporate cutting-edge machine learning technologies into passive sonar processing to significantly improve tracking, classification, fusion, and localization of current anti-submarine warfare passive sonar systems. The specific threshold and goals for performance improvement are as indicated in the following table.

Targeted Improvement

Metric

Threshold

Objective

TrackingIncrease Hold Time Ratio10%

20%

TrackingReduce Time to Detect10&

20%

ClassificationIncrease Probability of Correct Classification10%

15%

ClassificationReduce Probability of False Alerts10%

15%

Track FusionIncrease Probability of Correct Association15%

20%

LocalizationReduce Area of Uncertainty15%

20%

Work produced in Phase II may become classified. Note: The prospective contractor(s) must be U.S. owned and operated with no foreign influence as defined by 32 U.S.C. § 2004.20 et seq., National Industrial Security Program Executive Agent and Operating Manual, unless acceptable mitigating procedures can and have been implemented and approved by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) formerly Defense Security Service (DSS). The selected contractor must be able to acquire and maintain a secret level facility and Personnel Security Clearances. This will allow contractor personnel to perform on advanced phases of this project as set forth by DCSA and ONR in order to gain access to classified information pertaining to the national defense of the United States and its allies; this will be an inherent requirement. The selected company will be required to safeguard classified material during the advanced phases of this contract IAW the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM), which can be found at Title 32, Part 2004.20 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below:

3D-Heterogeneously Integrated Photonic (HIP) Imaging Sensor - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV024

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Design, fabricate, and verify the performance of a 3D-heterogeneously integrated photonic (HIP) imaging sensor consisting of a detector array, read-out integrated circuit (ROIC), and photonic transmitter.

Description:

Emerging military electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) sensors enable high resolution through small pixels, wide field-of-view through large arrays, and high frame rate through high sensitivity and low latency. For the most advanced focal plane array (FPA) sensors, the data bandwidth dictated by the high pixel count and bit rate is reaching the limits of conventional copper wire interconnects. Datalinks using optical interconnects offer a unique and commercially mature solution that can obviate the copper bandwidth limitation, while offering additional advantages of lower power, lower cost, and on-chip integration. For large arrays, the high data rate can be further managed by tiling synchronized, independently addressed smaller arrays, which divides the serialized data stream into multiple parallel paths, while also improving foundry yield. However, existing FPA layouts place read-out electronics, including column analog-to-digital converters, serializers, and bias sources, along the periphery of the imaging chip. To enable tiling with sub-pixel gaps between tiles, the peripheral electronics must be moved below the detector layer. A photonic layer could also be added to create a 3D vertically integrated FPA stack, enabling large arrays to operate at exceptionally high data rates. 3D heterogeneous integration of the FPA stack can be accomplished using bump-bonding, direct-bond integration, or other techniques, but ultra-low capacitance connections are required for low-noise operation to permit the short photon integration times inherent to high-frame-rate imaging. As militarily relevant EO-IR imagers often operate at cold temperatures of 100K+/-20K, the 3D HIP FPA transmitter must also perform well under cryogenic conditions. When tiled in large arrays of small pixels, the 3D-HIP imaging sensor will provide concurrent wide-FOV, high-resolution, and ultra-high frame rate, circumventing conventional imaging sensor paradigms. Frame rate should use 1 KHz as the goal is to address high data rate challenges, however, since the pixel size and format are flexible for this effort, this is not a hard requirement. This SBIR topic’s intent is the development and maturation of 3D heterogeneous integration (3DHI) of electrical and optical/photonic layers that achieves high bandwidth interconnection.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below:

Risk-Aware Regenerative AI-based Multimodal Visual-Tactical (ISRT) (Observant-AI) – Monitor, Understand, Alert, and Assist - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV023

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop risk-aware artificial intelligence (AI)-based computing methods motivated by three naval challenge problems that enable insightful active cross-domain (Sea-Space-Air-Land-Cyber) situational awareness and AI-assisted course of action and countermeasures in real-time conditions, namely, “LIVE” machine self-teaching (i.e., Regenerative AI); contextual machine exploitation; contextual networking to gain insights from accessible all-source-intelligence (ASI) and multimodal sensors; and proactive AI-assisted targeteer and decision support to manned and unmanned assets. The Observant-AI is envisioned as a distributed system of mission-focused AI agents that self-organize and share insights via ad hoc networking. The agents autonomously form mission-oriented collaborative teams to process and fuse multidomain anomalous events and activities for real-time AI-generated visual-tactical understanding, monitoring, alerts, and related operational risks. It applies natural language explanations for human-AI interactions, course of action assistance, and reasoning about risky engagements. For example, submersible X is tracking you, change course to southwest, speed up…; Cargo-Ship Y is armed, Container Marking is…, Departing Port XYZ; 20 UAVs are shadowing, armed, turn around go south; Littoral Zone X, Torpedo-Mines, Bottom-Mines, Deep Fencing, Actively Guarded, Speed Boats, Risk-High Navigation, Need Minesweeper, Check with CENTCOM; etc.

Description:

Problem scope and capability concerns. First, over the past three decades, advancements in AI and machine learning (ML) for applications in hybrid networked teaming of manned and unmanned systems and sensors have unlocked new possibilities across a range of naval operations for novel missions. On the other hand, the defensive and offensive effectiveness of these technologies against near-peer adversaries remains a significant challenge.

Second, current Naval ISRT operations follow rigorous protocols supported by wide-ranging wargaming scenarios to plan tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) with contingencies as operations unfold. TTPs focus on various situational details, such as adversary strength, leadership temperament, past and present operational performance, logistics, and exploitation opportunities for friendly cross-domain actions and effects. These plans are vital to be followed. However, they are extremely vulnerable to human biases and omissions that undermine the assessment of evidence, statistical analysis, and the understanding of cause and effect.

Third, generative AI methods are being integrated into the operational planning process and can enrich the development of a range of ISRT strategies. However, it must start all over again if “Unknown-Unknown” events crash the ongoing TTPs. Also, generative AI needs high-quality training datasets; otherwise, it is prone to inaccuracies and biases.

This SBIR topic will develop Observant-AI agents as a class of regenerative AI that learn in real time, enables active visual and tactical monitoring of anomalous activities, and trigger I&W alerts in naval operations. The envisioned Observant-AI agents proactively enforce the fail-safe execution of approved ISRT operational plans. They exploit unexpected events in real-time by leveraging insights from all-source intelligence (ASI) and remote sensors (i.e., space assets). They generate and execute novel all-domain ISRT TTPs plans consistent with the approved plans to counter evolving adversarial intents and undesired events, LIVE. In other words, the Observant-AI agents enable fault-tolerant mission-focused reconfiguration by analyzing existing assets’ capabilities through novel tactical teaming arrangements from approved deployable capabilities (sensors, manned and unmanned weapon platforms, intelligence data sources, etc.). Observant-AI will automatically alert the chain of command at all levels with emerging or mission-altering observables that may interfere with operational objectives.

The goal of the effort is to perform a combination of offline and online predictive engagement modeling to plan for trusted AI-enabled TTPs that will strategically adjust plans in real time to adapt to emerging events and conditions. It will use Monte Carlo simulation to model the probability of various outcomes under countless AI-generated Red vs. Blue engagement (action-reaction) scenarios for offline TTP planning and mission success assessment. Regenerative AI will ensure Observant-AI can quickly adapt the blue’s creative ISRT strategies against near-peer adversaries (Red). Regenerative AI offers unique capabilities such as learning from sparse data and predicting complex interactions. It will achieve this objective by testing novel all-domain penetration strategies, including offensive cyber and information operations to find advantageous strategies, then running them against many emerging scenarios, identifying the vulnerability points and engagement risks, and modifying strategies to sustain their performance with acceptable risks.

Critical AI technology components and developments are as follows:

Contextual modeling: relational modeling, graph-based modeling, spatial modeling, logic-based modeling, uncertainty modeling, ontology-based modeling, hybrid context modeling.

Multidomain multimodal all-source intelligence data and signals: multi-level secure connectivity and access.

Data learning: decision tree classifier, multilayer perception classifier, collaborative filtering, frequent pattern mining, K-means, deep learning.

Data quality, data interoperability, data generation.

Data storage: signal-oriented database, graph-based database, associative database, text-oriented database.

Spatiotemporal synchronization methods for multimodal data across decentralized architectures.

Multimodal contextual signal processing and fusion.

Cross-domain contextual collaborative learning, inference, and recognition.

Contextual collaboration, adaptation, and teaming via ad-hoc networking.

Contextual reasoning, risk assessment, and risk reduction.

Contextual query, question-answering (Q&A), and natural language processing.

Contextual priority-based task management and balancing competing multifaceted ISRT operational objectives such as persistence, endurance, opportunistic collections, and targeting.

AI-risk escalation control methods that will not erode decisions across the integrated chain-of-command.

AI-assisted targeteer maneuvers and engagements.

Work produced in Phase II may become classified. Note: The prospective contractor(s) must be U.S. owned and operated with no foreign influence as defined by 32 U.S.C. § 2004.20 et seq., National Industrial Security Program Executive Agent and Operating Manual, unless acceptable mitigating procedures can and have been implemented and approved by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) formerly Defense Security Service (DSS). The selected contractor must be able to acquire and maintain a secret level facility and Personnel Security Clearances. This will allow contractor personnel to perform on advanced phases of this project as set forth by DCSA and ONR in order to gain access to classified information pertaining to the national defense of the United States and its allies; this will be an inherent requirement. The selected company will be required to safeguard classified material during the advanced phases of this contract IAW the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM), which can be found at Title 32, Part 2004.20 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below:

Extremely Wide Band Digital Recording System for Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Development - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV022

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop a small and dense data recorder that can store > = 8 Petabytes of information in = two different interface protocols each supporting > 400 GB/sec data transfer rates for > = 30 seconds.

Description:

In today’s environment, emphasis is put on how Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) can solve most of the Department of War’s (DOW) problems as long as the AI/ML algorithms are trained correctly. This training requires vast amounts of relevant data. Unlike commercial websites where the algorithm developers can have the public train them based on security selection images, the DOW does not have vast stores of relevant data sets much less a global community to train the algorithms. Unfortunately, very few to none of the fielded program of record (POR) systems have the ability to record (at the tactical edge) relevant data products in sufficient quantity to help algorithm developers.

This SBIR topic is intended to develop extremely deep sensor data recorders for implementation/fielding on tactical platforms for tactical sensors at the tactical edge. These recording devices must be able to be integrated easily into the platform’s sensor suite and be able to record the relevant data products for use in future algorithm development and training.

These recorders must easily adapt to various networking infrastructures (e.g., InfiniBand, NVLINK, PCIe, and or Ethernet, etc.) and support the extreme streaming bandwidths for wideband (500Mhz and greater I/Q data) Radio Frequency (RF) digital data and high definition (4 K or greater) streaming video. These recording devices must be scalable in nature, at a minimum take up less than or equal to 4u of face plate volume in a 19-inch rack, and record greater than 8 petabytes of storage.

These devices must meet all NSA data at rest encryption requirements and be developed in a manner to easily acquire a volatility certification letter. References 7, 8, and 9 are provided for informational purposes, further information may be provided to Phase II awardee. These prototype devices will be installed on manned and unmanned platforms. With that in mind, they must be developed with remote and/or autonomous operations in mind. These prototype devices will deliver the hardware and the requisite software to perform recording, playback, librarying, and search functions for the data on the devices.

Key requirements:

- Less than or equal to 4u of 19-inch rack volume

- Must meet class B shipboard installation Environmental Qualification Testing (EQT)

- Greater than 8 petabytes of data storage

- Must meet data at rest security requirements

- Must meet non-volatility certification requirements

- Have networking architecture demonstrating ability to configure to multiple types of networks

- Have a minimum of two different networking options where each networking option can sustain > 400 GB/s data rate

- Compliance with shipboard installation environmental qualification requirements

- Ability to perform data at rest encryption and the ability to meet volatility requirements for system posture changes

- Ability to consume data from a defined sensor and parse/tag this data

- Ability to record and playback from both local and remote users

Conduct, at a minimum, two lab demonstrations at the developer’s facility and one integration and demonstration at a government lab. (Note: The government lab will provide testing and validation of the capabilities and provide immediate feedback to the developer for further refinement of the prototype.) Work with the government lab to develop a shipboard installation and testing plan. If the Phase II Option is exercised, focus on getting the prototype system ready to be installed and tested at sea during a government-defined testing event.

Work produced in Phase II may become classified. Note: The prospective contractor(s) must be U.S. owned and operated with no foreign influence as defined by 32 U.S.C. § 2004.20 et seq., National Industrial Security Program Executive Agent and Operating Manual, unless acceptable mitigating procedures can and have been implemented and approved by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) formerly Defense Security Service (DSS). The selected contractor must be able to acquire and maintain a secret level facility and Personnel Security Clearances. This will allow contractor personnel to perform on advanced phases of this project as set forth by DCSA and ONR in order to gain access to classified information pertaining to the national defense of the United States and its allies; this will be an inherent requirement. The selected company will be required to safeguard classified material during the advanced phases of this contract IAW the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM), which can be found at Title 32, Part 2004.20 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below:

Robocasting Ceramic Sensors - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV021

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop a low-cost, flexible manufacturing technique to produce large format ceramics for undersea sensor applications.

Description:

Piezoelectric ceramic materials are essential materials to produce undersea sensors. Many existing undersea sensors rely on a dry press manufacturing process that produces the ceramic components used in many fielded sensors. Existing piezoelectric ceramic components are becoming increasingly difficult to source due to a shrinking supplier base and a desire by many private companies to stop manufacturing lead-based products. Additionally, these components have been largely unchanged since the 1960’s with little to no performance enhancements to ships’ critical systems.

The goal of this SBIR topic is to support the development of new agile manufacturing techniques to produce large format ceramics and that require less capital overhead and would be easier to stand up in new cottage businesses if the current supply base continues to degrade. The secondary goal is to improve the electrical and acoustic performance of these large format ceramic materials by utilizing textured ceramic technology.

Textured ceramic materials have an aligned microstructure that can exhibit enhanced properties compared to traditionally manufactured ceramics with randomly oriented gains. One documented benefit is an improved piezoelectric performance for sonar sensor applications (early prototypes have shown upwards of 12dB improvement in performance, enabling sensors to detect potential threats much farther out). Current manufacturing techniques to produce textured ceramics are costly, inefficient, and typically limited to smaller sensor geometries. There is currently no known commercial technology that solves these problems.

There is a need for the ability to produce textured ceramic materials in a larger format than is currently available through tape casting and existing additive manufacturing techniques. The process of robocasting or direct ink writing of a shear thinning ceramic paste shows great potential as a flexible manufacturing technique to produce ceramics for undersea sensors. The hardware requirements for the robocasting process are often affordable, relatively simplistic instruments that can be adapted to additively manufacture ceramics. There has been recent research demonstrating that extruding a ceramic paste through a high aspect ratio nozzle can align high aspect ratio particles within a material, allowing to produce textured piezoelectric ceramics through a robocasting process.

The primary focus of this SBIR topic would be to validate the feasibility to integrate a Navy piezoelectric ceramic with a robocasting or direct ink write slurry system. The system must demonstrate the ability to properly extrude a ceramic paste that will support the buildup of sequential layers and produce a prototype part. Key criteria for success will include the ability to consistently extrude a layer of ceramic paste, support proper adhesion between layers, and produce high percent solids loading of the paste; and the ability to sinter the materials to produce dense final parts.

The secondary focus will be to demonstrate the ability of the additive manufacturing hardware to properly align high aspect ratio platelets during the printing process. These platelets should be dispersed in the piezoelectric ceramic and aligned within each print layer. This technique should be flexible enough to produce prototype samples of varying sizes. Common geometries include cylinders with 1in outer diameter as well as rings that are greater than 4in in outer diameter.

Prototype parts of multiple geometries will need to be produced and undergo binder burn off and sintering. Sintered prototypes will need to have electrodes applied and the parts will have to undergo a poling process. Prototype parts will be evaluated by Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division for density, surface finish, particle/grain alignment, texture fraction as well as electrical and acoustic properties. Textured prototype parts will be electrically tested for resonance frequency, capacitance, dielectric constants, and loss factors to be compared to traditionally manufactured non-textured materials. The awardee will aim to create a prototype that exceeds a capacitance of 200pf while minimizing the loss tangent. The awardee will then revisit particle alignment and binder composition as needed to improve acoustic and electrical performance.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below:

Auto-Focus Detection Capability for SONAR Systems - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV02

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop an auto-focus signal processing capability to optimize detection of quiet contacts by arrays of hydrophones.

Description:

Arrays of hydrophones are used to detect, classify, and localize contacts in the ocean environment. Finding a contact, especially a quiet contact, is extremely challenging due to the large volume of data that needs to be searched as well as the large number of other noise sources (e.g., shipping, fishing, whales, etc.) that generate clutter on the displays.

Array signal processing, also known as beamforming, steers many beams to spatially filter the noise environment and generate a 3-D data volume that is a function of time, frequency, and bearing (i.e., steered beam) that are processed to generate several detection surfaces.

Several parameters can be adjusted to optimize the detection of a signal on an array. One of these parameters is focus range. (Other parameters are more sensitive and will be provided to Phase II awardees). However, only a limited number of display surfaces are typically generated due to processing constraints, and this may not provide the best opportunity to detect all signals. Furthermore, the operators typically have a large workload and are only able to search for a limited number of the available display surfaces.

Automation approaches have been developed for decades to help reduce operator workload. However, a well-trained operator can still detect lower Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) signals than the state-of-the-art automation. The main reason for this is if the automation detection threshold is adjusted to detect lower SNR signals, it will cause an increase in the number of false alerts that detracts from the search process.

Another approach that is used to reduce the operator workload is ORing, which combines multiple Passive Narrow Band (PNB) displays by taking the maximum value at each time/frequency bin and then combines all contacts found on any of the displays onto a single display; however, it also takes the maximum of the noise bins. This results in ORing loss by increasing the noise floor and reducing the overall SNR.

As a result, automation has not yet solved the operator workload problem and operators are still required to conduct manual search on a limited number of detection surfaces. This leads to system losses that can at times be significant and offers an opportunity to mitigate those losses with a new processing paradigm.

The objective of this SBIR topic is to develop a signal processing approach that will auto-focus on the signal processing (much like a digital camera does) with respect to parameters such as focus range. There is currently nothing available commercially.

The easiest example to understand is range focusing. Let’s assume we are trying to track whales and there are several of them at different ranges. If we process a single far field (i.e., distant) focus range, then the close-range whales may barely be detected. Instead, if we process several focus ranges, let’s say 10, from close to far, there will be one focus range where each of the whales displays the clearest signal with the highest SNR. Over time, the whales will swim closer and farther, and the best detection range will change. The problem is that the operator doesn’t have time to look at the detection surfaces for all 10 focus ranges so instead we need to combine them into a single display that contains the higher SNR instance of each whale regardless of the range where they are.

Different whales will also have different broadband signatures and would be more detectable when averaging over different frequency bands. The optimal frequency band may also vary as the ambient noise environment (such as nearby shipping and weather conditions) changes. If the processing generates a large number of detections in multiple frequency bands, then a user will be able to find the most detectable instance of each whale over time.

Processing multiple focus ranges is relatively straightforward and is largely just brute force processing. The innovative part of this SBIR topic is the use of this larger data volume to build a combined display that contains the best representation of every available signal. This combined display would be the primary search space for the operators and would also be provided with other automation algorithms.

One of the keys to success will be developing an alternative to standard ORing that takes the maximum value at each pixel across the beams being ORed. It is speculated that improvements are possible since the SNR of the signals will be well behaved across the ORing dimension. For example, if multiple focus ranges are combined, there will be one focus range where the signal is strongest, but the signal will gradually degrade as the difference between the focus range and the actual range increases. For pixels that contain noise instead of signal, it is expected that the levels will be more random and that this could be exploited to enhance the signal without increasing the background noise.

Overall, it is expected that this auto focus approach will allow system gains that are currently not being realized with the current signal processing and automation approach. This would significantly improve system performance by providing earlier detections and longer holding times of contact without increasing the operator workload or requiring a complete overhaul of the signal processing and automation framework. And although this does come at an increased computational cost, it would allow us to squeeze every dB out of the signal processing.

Work produced in Phase II may become classified. Note: The prospective contractor(s) must be U.S. owned and operated with no foreign influence as defined by 32 U.S.C. § 2004.20 et seq., National Industrial Security Program Executive Agent and Operating Manual, unless acceptable mitigating procedures can and have been implemented and approved by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) formerly Defense Security Service (DSS). The selected contractor must be able to acquire and maintain a secret level facility and Personnel Security Clearances. This will allow contractor personnel to perform on advanced phases of this project as set forth by DCSA and NAVSEA in order to gain access to classified information pertaining to the national defense of the United States and its allies; this will be an inherent requirement. The selected company will be required to safeguard classified material during the advanced phases of this contract IAW the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM), which can be found at Title 32, Part 2004.20 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below:

High Voltage and Current Silicon-Carbide (SiC) Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (MOSFET) for Fast Turn-On Current Applications - STTR Topic DON26TZ01-NV019

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop state-of-the-art silicon carbide (SiC) Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) packaged for improved size, weight, and power (SWaP) for applications where a high-blocking voltage of more than 10 kV, a high pulsed current density of greater than +/- 5 kA (10 kA ideal), and tens of nanoseconds turn-on time, with low-jitter, are needed for integration with high power microwave (HPM) systems.

Description:

The DOW needs SWaP-favorable solutions for fast turn-on and low-jitter SiC MOSFETs to generate high current densities from high voltage capacitors. Current methods of high-current/voltage switching from SiC MOSFETS rely on an array created from series and parallel combinations of commercial off the shelf (COTS) devices [Ref 1]. However, these device arrays are limited in the voltage and amplitude they can switch, have complicated gate driving circuits, and can become size limited. To improve current state-of-the-art capability, the DOW has a need for the development of MOSFETs that have a blocking voltage greater than 10 kV for a single wafer, such that a low-side gate driver can be used to turn on the MOSFET, and a high pulsed-current capability. The requirements for a 5 kA peak current (10 kA ideal) may require multiple parallel combinations of MOSFET wafers, and if so, packaging is to be minimized and vertically stacked packaged arrays should be utilized. It is understood that at higher blocking voltages and current densities an additional diode may be necessary to accommodate the desired pulse current [Ref 2]. Minimizing gate charge and gate resistance for an array of MOSFET is important to alleviate driver requirements, such that a turn on time of less than 30 nanoseconds (ns) is achievable with less than 30 V of gate voltage and 10’s of amps of gate current.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below:

Improved Portable Underway Replenishment (UNREP) Tester/Trainer - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV019

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop a portable Underway Replenishment (UNREP) Tester/Trainer to be used pier side to replace legacy in-port Shipboard Qualifications Testing that requires a supply ship and pier space for the two ships.

Description:

Underway Replenishment (UNREP) systems are used to transfer cargo and liquid (i.e., fuel, water) at sea between U.S. Navy ships. A tensioned line is rigged between the two ships, and the cargo/liquid is transferred along the highline between the ships. Delivery ships (i.e., T-AKE, T-AO, and T-AOE) have the equipment used to transfer the cargo and fuel, while the receiving ships (i.e., combatants, carriers, amphibious) have a simple connection point to connect the line from the delivery ship and then receive the cargo/liquids.

The Navy requires in-port testing to verify the installation and training of the fleet on how to operate the UNREP systems. Currently this testing requires the delivery ship to connect their cargo and fuel systems to the receiving ship in addition to the pier space for the receiving and delivery ships. Delays in testing often occur due to limited pier space and delivery ships not being readily available. This has increasingly become an issue as the fleet increases their size, placing a greater demand for pier space availability. There is currently no commercial technology that can meet this need.

The Navy seeks a portable UNREP Tester/Trainer System that will test the current design and use innovative power and controls to meet the Navy’s needs. The new trailer should be able to test the UNREP stations on a receiving ship and provide training opportunities for the fleet while in-port. The proposed solution can be self-propelled or towable to allow use in various locations. It must be self-powered for UNREP testing/training. The trainer/tester will need to be fixed to the pier to allow all required testing. The testing/training will be for both cargo and liquid systems. Currently, cargo transfer uses a trolley that is pulled back and forth on the tensioned highline, while the liquid transfer uses a hose hanging from the tensioned highline. No fuel would be transferred; all liquid training and testing will be dry. The tensioned highline testing will include pulling at different angles including above and below the horizon and fore and aft of the station. The Navy UNREP testing requirements are further defined in NWP 4-01.4 [Ref 1].

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below:

Production of Norbornadiene - STTR Topic DON26TZ01-NV018

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop efficient and scalable methods for the production of norbornadiene from abundant domestic feedstocks.

Description:

Norbornadiene is a critical chemical used in the manufacture of fuels and cross-linked polymers. The conventional process for production of norbornadiene relies on a Diels-Alder coupling reaction between cyclopentadiene and acetylene. Acetylene air mixtures can be explosive, which has increased the cost of norbornadiene and reliance on foreign supply chains. The intent of this STTR topic is to establish a manufacturing process that will enable the safe and efficient domestic production of norbornadiene, which will in turn reduce acquisition costs.

Ultimately, this topic seeks to establish a process for the domestic production of norbornadiene at > 500 metric tons/year with target acquisition costs below $20/kg. The norbornadiene synthesized in this effort should have a purity > 97%. The utilization of advanced manufacturing techniques that generate acetylene on demand or incorporate novel methods for the safe storage of acetylene on-site are encouraged. Other approaches that generate norbornadiene via unique intermediates are also of interest. A preferred approach is to utilize domestic bio-feedstocks, including hemicellulose and furfural, as substrates for the production of norbornadiene.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below:

Lightweight Beaching Ramp for Ships - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV018

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

The Medium Landing Ship (LSM) is a new construction beachable vessel intended to perform ship-to-shore amphibious movement of cargo, equipment, and troops. To accomplish the loading and unloading of equipment, a large vehicle ramp is needed for Roll-On/Roll-Off (RO-RO) capability. Large RO-RO ramps are used on multiple ship classes and are commonly made of heavy steel, susceptible to corrosion and maintenance issues. On beaching vessels, these ramps are constantly subjected to saltwater immersion and are expected to traverse a long distance to provide a safe transfer of vehicles to the shore. Without a properly functioning ramp, the primary mission of these beaching vessels is compromised. There is currently no commercial technology that can meet this need.

Description:

The Navy seeks a reliable, low maintenance, corrosion resistant ramp system for beaching vessels. The legacy ramps are mostly made of steel and are often submerged in seawater while rolling stock compromises paint protection causing corrosion. Due to complex geometric challenges of beaching a large vessel, complex articulating beaching ramps tend to be very long and heavy (typically about 75’ and 110 tons). These length and weight challenges of deployment systems tend to be unreliable and often have mission degrading failures. The solution should be at least 13 ft in width and 75 ft in length and support a maximum vehicle load of 70 tons (tire contact load of 32,100 lbs. over 24” x 25.5” patch area). The ramp should be articulated from a single hinge point using hydraulics on the ship. However, the solution can be divided into as many subsections as necessary such as employing the use of multiple folds to accommodate the length and weight requirements. The time it takes to deploy the ramp, however, shall not exceed 30 minutes.

The technology should utilize maintainable systems for deployment and retraction. The developed solution should reduce maintenance requirements while maximizing reliability of the deployment/retraction system. The durability of corrosion resistant material should last the life cycle of the ship (30 years). The solution should take extreme environmental conditions such as wind, humidity, and sea spray into consideration as such conditions can decrease the life cycle of a technology. The solution should have a nonskid surface that is able to withstand the demands of high traffic during loading and offloading of heavy equipment and vehicles.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below:

High Energy Laser Optically Rugged Maritime Beam Director Components & Subassemblies - STTR Topic DON26TZ01-NV017

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop new, innovative processes and methods of reproduction, and deliver prototypical end item high precision optics suitable for use with high energy lasers in beam directors - as scalable components and/or subassemblies, through automated and additive manufacturing techniques for structures, optics, and mirrors (flat and parabolic) - including any required finishing processes, (e.g., coating and polishing processes) to develop, document, achieve and demonstrate “end item” durable, rugged, reliable, tested components and/or products.

Description:

Highly precise, small to large diameter (10 to 50 to 100cm) high energy laser optics and mirrors have very long lead times often exceeding individual fiscal year funding, and experience a high rejection rate due to complex, multi-step processing between multiple dislocated facilities. Resulting optics have high defect rates and low ruggedness requiring depot supplies of spares and replacements, creating logistical shortages and non-availabilities which impact readiness and capacity.

Creating multiple kinds of components for a notional or specific beam director that offers a series of developmental components and elements toward a finalized ruggedized beam director, suitable for at-sea deployment for up to ten years without maintenance is the objective. Threshold shall be the development of an optic that provides initial research and development value that can be tested in multiple laser inducted damage tests (LiDT). Examination of capabilities for scale, with optics from 10cm to 50cm or 100cm diameters, is expected.

Specifically, there is a very high interest in creating components from bulk materials with finished or near finish high quality optical surfaces and properties, transmissive or reflective, at a greatly reduced cost compared to traditional optical components (e.g., an optical transformation lens, a simple transmissive optic, or a fast steering mirror) utilizing “on-demand” adaptive, additive 3-D printing, etching, and highly automated finishing techniques. High interest exist in optical elements from 40 to 50 centimeters in diameter (e.g., ceramic, metal or other optical materials), small lightweight optics (e.g., from plastics or ceramics), and items that are completed to form a fully finished component through “no touch” human intervention processes or via fully automated decision-based manufacturing and processing (e.g., including finished robust optical coatings suitable for sea water based atmospheric exposure – such as fog or sea water splash contamination).

The Navy seeks a capability to create custom optical components, potentially including required integrated subassemblies, from processes that result in highly precise end item optics for high energy laser beam directors and laser weapons systems, either as components, replacements and/or subassemblies, through automated and additive manufacturing techniques for structures, optics, mirrors both shorten timelines for availability, and also enable innovative laser architectures - including or beyond current state-of-the-art modular architecture designs. Especially those where limited lifetimes due to environmental exposure require unique materials and innovative generational designs that change based on emergent requirements and increased commercial capacity. These can potentially open new avenues that enable new, innovative laser architectures - including capabilities or beyond current state of the art modular architecture designs, such as “ball on gimbal”, heliostats and celiostats – but the focus is on the processes and means to scale component designs, rapidly prototype multiple initial designs, and then move to quickly produce production grade high quality optics for initial use or as replacement utility spares. Preference shall be given for use of existing, commercially available materials, starting feed stock, or machine tooling. Similarly, preference shall be given for use of existing or modified “open system, open software” code and manufacturing methods.

The Navy has special interest in those components where limited lifetimes are expected (e.g., exit apertures, rotating or moving optics) due to environmental exposure and require unique materials (e.g., hard coatings for dust resistance, hydrophobic water shedding or chemical resistance) and innovative designs (e.g., flexible substrates) that can adapt, be replaced quickly, or change based on when emergent requirements and increased commercial capacity are noted.

Work produced in Phase II may become classified. Note: The prospective contractor(s) must be U.S. owned and operated with no foreign influence as defined by 32 U.S.C. § 2004.20 et seq., National Industrial Security Program Executive Agent and Operating Manual, unless acceptable mitigating procedures can and have been implemented and approved by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) formerly Defense Security Service (DSS). The selected contractor must be able to acquire and maintain a secret level facility and Personnel Security Clearances. This will allow contractor personnel to perform on advanced phases of this project as set forth by DCSA and ONR in order to gain access to classified information pertaining to the national defense of the United States and its allies; this will be an inherent requirement. The selected company will be required to safeguard classified material during the advanced phases of this contract IAW the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM), which can be found at Title 32, Part 2004.20 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below:

Bridge Environmental Light Pollution Mitigation and Control - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV017

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop and deploy a safe, sustainable technology suited for controlling light pollution, thereby reducing ambient light levels across a bridge environment and providing adequate situational task lighting at select workstations across the bridge.

Description:

The Navy seeks a light mitigation technology for adequate situational lighting compliant with the Bridge Light Pollution Mitigation and Control Program (BLPM & CP). A comprehensive review of collisions involving U.S. Navy ships cited bridge lighting conditions as a possible contributing factor, stating the need to adhere to military standards for light producing displays and equipment installed on the bridges of surface combatant ships. The principal BLPM & CP’s objective is to resolve non-compliance of current bridge equipment and hardware with Military Standard MIL-STD-1472H, DOW Design Criteria Standard for Human Engineering [Ref 2]. Existing hardware often fails to satisfy requirements as outlined in the referenced standard (MIL-STD-1472H).

Light pollution mitigation efforts are necessary for all light producing technology installed on surface ship bridges/pilot houses. Reducing the undesirable effects of excessive or poorly designed lighting (i.e., light pollution) on night vision and bridge-watch stander performance will create greater situational awareness for crew members in a darkened bridge environment, therefore enhancing ship safety at sea.

The Navy seeks light mitigation technology for the bridge environment that complies with MIL-STD-1472H and enhances the effectiveness of all lights (e.g., screens, indicator lights, LED) during dark operations. This solution must also include a ruggedized work light that complies with free translation in three-dimensional space and free rotation on all three axes of rotation. There is currently no commercial technology that can meet this need.

The light should comply with all surface ship environmental standards regarding Electromagnetic Environmental Effects (E3), shock, vibration, and power quality and be able to produce light at the levels described in MIL-STD-1772H. The work light shall allow bridge watch standers to observe printed material at nighttime while still preserving night vision. A shipboard bridge work light must provide a focused beam of light with minimal glare, must be adjustable to direct light precisely where needed, and must offer the ability to control brightness levels with a cool color temperature to minimize eye strain while performing detailed tasks like reading or writing notes especially for crew members in a darkened bridge environment.

This scope of this effort includes all light emitting devices on the bridge, and is not limited to the following bridge systems:

Navigation Radar

Surface Search Radar

Situational Awareness Radar

Electronic Charting System

Ship Control Consoles

Voyage Data Recorder

Bridge-to-bridge Radio

Hull, Mechanical, and Electrical (HM&E) Systems

Damage Control Equipment/Displays

Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) Systems

Desired light mitigation solution parameters include but are not limited to:

Overlay applications, easily applied to existing displays, requiring no special tools, equipment, hardware, fixtures, adhesives, tapes, or fasteners.

Collapsible, foldable, stackable, and/or portable solutions to allow effective and easy storage when not in use.

Various optical densities and sizes of Neutral Density filter material may be overlaid on displays.

Solutions shall allow operator adjustment during application or installation.

Temporary covers, fixtures, filters, shades, etcetera must not alter the original design characteristics nor interfere with normal operation of mitigated light emitting sources.

Technology should not require external electrical power nor include additional electronic control systems or require any form of computer network connections.

Solution shall not leave any adhesive residue behind on surfaces after removal.

Mitigations may also include other formed caps to cover various instrumentations to reduce or eliminate light pollution associated with installed bridge equipment and other environmental light polluters.

Solution must be able to withstand extreme environmental conditions (e.g., high humidity, persistent vibration, temperature below 40° degrees Fahrenheit, etc.).

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

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Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) Power Interfaces - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV016

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop a Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) system to support intermittent pulsed power loads by providing a consistent load to the generation source during pulsed power duty cycle.

Description:

A Navy ship’s electric plant and the electrical load aboard the vessel mimics an electrical microgrid structure to distribute power. Conventional plant designs have separate mechanical propulsion and weapons systems with the electrical plant to support hotel and combat systems. Future all-electric naval ships will require all prime movers to have the functionality of distributed electrical generators to power a wide variety of loads ranging from conventional electronics, electric propulsion systems, and pulsed power systems to drive electric weaponry. The pulsed power systems will draw power from the ship’s electrical distribution to enable continuous operation.

While large-scale energy storage may support operations, high-rate intermittent storage is necessary to ensure the electrical distribution and prime movers are provided with relatively consistent loading. During the charge process of the pulsed power system, a considerable amount of power will be drawn from the electrical grid for time durations on the order of seconds with a lapse in between charges. The large power drawn in an intermittent fashion is difficult to control and difficult for non-stiff electrical generators to supply. Enabling technologies to support a supplemental high-rate storage system is required for pulsed power loads to be effectively used on board the ship without disruption to other loads or damage to the distributed generators.

SMES systems are a relatively new technology that can charge and discharge energy at rates to support the various loads that new Navy ship designs are targeting. Innovative R&D is needed to model and validate novel high-rate, intermittent energy storage and control architectures that can rapidly accept high intermittent currents to load-level prime movers during the pulsed-power duty cycle. The architecture should be designed to minimize the impact this type of operation has on the electrical generators and support the pulsed load modules’ operation. The energy storage must be able to accept rapid charge from the generation system within the constraints of the duty cycle of the pulsed power system and then provide this stored energy on the order of seconds to allow for cyclic capability in a continuous manner. New high-peak power energy storage technologies and designs are needed to accomplish this goal. Control system architectures and algorithms must also be developed to ensure load leveling in all modes of operations while ensuring safety and constant operation. These devices, with the requisite conversion schemes, are necessary in highly dense packages to allow for implementation in volumetrically constrained environments. Proof of principle hardware tests and validated computer design models are desired.

The Navy seeks a full-scale pulsed power SMES system to store energy between 4-10 MJ at a 2-4 MW power level. The energy storage system developed is expected to charge at a rate of > 1 MW and to deliver power > 1 MW. The energy will be pulsed at a power duty cycle > 80% at a discharge/charge ratio of 1:1 and accept power at a sub-second response rate. The Navy desires the energy storage interface to withstand voltages > 1000 V.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below:

Nudging Behaviors for Better Sleep - STTR Topic DON26TZ01-NV016

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop software for personalized and adaptive behavioral interventions (i.e., nudges) using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) wearable hardware devices to promote and improve sleep outcomes and human performance in dynamic environments.

Description:

Despite extensive research on the mechanisms of sleep and behavioral modifications to improve sleep, relatively little is known about how context-sensitive behavioral nudging systems—those that dynamically suggest small, adaptive changes based on real-time data—can improve sleep quality and overall performance outcomes in complex, high-stakes settings. Fatigue caused by inadequate sleep negatively affects service members' performance and has contributed to accidents—resulting in deaths and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to ships, vehicles, and aircraft [Ref 1]. “Nudging” refers to subtle interventions that steer behavior without restricting choices [Ref 2]. For example, non-obvious changes in how options are presented (e.g., ordering, timing, framing) have been shown to significantly affect sleep behaviors and dietary choices [Ref 3]. Recent advances in wearable sensor technology (e.g., smartwatches, rings, sleep trackers, etc.) allow for continuous collection of physiological and behavioral data. Many hardware devices are coupled with software that provide notifications, advice, and suggestions, but these are often canned, static statements that are simply pushed to the user (i.e., a one-way notification) and are not personalized to the user and/or their data.

Delivering adaptive behavioral nudges that learn and track the user’s state and responses, evolve over time, and promote sustained positive behavior change is also critical for mitigating the impact of sleep on operations. The objective of this STTR topic is to develop personalized and adaptive behavioral interventions (i.e., nudges) using COTS wearable devices to promote and improve sleep outcomes and human performance in dynamic environments. Achieving this objective requires: (1) research into integrated theoretical frameworks for personalized behavior change, grounded in cognitive, physiological, and contextual variables, and informed by mathematical tools such as dynamical systems modeling; (2) the development of adaptive algorithms that leverage Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to integrate with existing wearable and embedded sensors to identify optimal timing, modality, and content for real-time, minimally-intrusive, adherence-supporting behavioral nudges across diverse user states and operational contexts; (3) the exploration of human-centered communication strategies for delivering behavioral insights and recommendations, ensuring interventions are not only well-timed but also subtle and capable of supporting an ongoing user-system relationship built on trust and voluntary engagement; and (4) empirical testing in ecologically valid environments, including experiments that collect sleep and performance metrics to evaluate effectiveness, generalizability, and long-term behavioral impact.

Equal emphasis will be placed on (1) advancing theoretical models of behavior change, sleep regulation, and performance adaptation and (2) developing AI/ML systems and communication strategies for delivering behavioral nudges.

This topic focuses on sleep behavior due to its broad applicability to the general population, its foundational role in human performance, and the relative ease and reliability of measurement. Proposed efforts should aim to develop generalizable algorithms that integrate complex mathematical modeling and ML with cognitive-behavioral theory to drive adaptive behavioral interventions. These interventions must be compatible with existing wearable and embedded sensor ecosystems – this topic explicitly does not aim to develop new hardware, but instead to maximize the utility of currently available commercial sensors as inputs to a personalized, adaptive nudging system.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below:

Virtual Reality Model Walkthrough - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV015

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop software for a commercially available Virtual Reality (VR) headset to view new ship construction models in an immersive environment.

Description:

When constructing a DDG-51 Class Destroyer, Navy engineers regularly need to perform design reviews to verify and validate proposed ship changes. Currently, these design reviews are held using screenshots and model sharing of the ship’s Computer Aided Design (CAD) models. However, 2D rendering of 3D spaces and objects can make it challenging to assess the actual layout and configuration of items. This can lead to errors in the ship design process, requiring costly rework later in the ship construction cycle.

The Navy seeks an innovative solution for VR software that allows Navy engineers to view the ship construction models as though they were standing in space. The proposed solution would allow the shipbuilder and the Navy to be better able to detect and correct errors early in the construction process. Additionally, such software could be used to train new engineers in the layout and navigation of the ship before they board it for the first time. There is currently no commercial technology that can meet this need.

The development of VR software faces several technical challenges. First, the shipyards use Computer Aided Three-Dimensional Interactive Application (CATIA) and Ship Constructor CAD models. The VR model must be capable of accurately using the outputs of both these CAD programs. The Navy understands this can be difficult and will require good knowledge of CAD file formats. Secondly, the user must be able to navigate virtual space and manipulate the environment. Many VR programs have some form of self-directed navigation. Destroyer spaces can have complex interior layouts and minimizing any motion sickness the user might experience while navigating VR can be a challenge. The solution should be able to load and view multiple CAD files, navigating between them with minimal lag and overlaying them to view discrepancies.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below:

Advancing Human Modeling Tools for Enhanced Performance and Survivability in Austere Environments - STTR Topic DON26TZ01-NV015

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop an advanced suite of parametric human modeling tools incorporating USN/USMC aircrew anthropometric databases, empirical posture data, and 3D scans.

Description:

The goal of this STTR topic is to leverage newly available data and advances in digital human modeling to improve modeling fidelity for USN/USMC and other DOW aircrew to improve acquisition outcomes. Resulting improvements to operational and environmentally appropriate protective clothing and equipment size, design, and tariffing (i.e., determination of how much of each size needs to be procured and distributed) will yield significant benefits to Fleet readiness and sustainment, safety, performance, protection, and affordability.

Digital Human Modeling (DHM) applications and tools are used to design and assess items for the DOW including protective clothing, footwear, body armor, flight equipment (e.g., helmets, oxygen masks, survival vests, G-suits, torso harnesses, etc.), seating, restraint systems, workstations, cockpits, controls, ground vehicles, and much more. Using this technology early in the product lifecycle is essential to reducing development cost and schedule and informing design tradeoff decisions. Historically, use of DHM has been subject to a variety of limitations that affect model fidelity, which is how well the model represents reality. These limitations result in reduced utility of the technology when the limitations are understood, but more concerning are the potential adverse outcomes where the limitations have either not been understood or have been ignored. This is concerning for all types of design applications, but especially problematic in aviation where safety of flight is crucial. There is an abundance of feedback from aircrew regarding poor fit or lack of availability of the sizes of protective clothing and operational equipment they need. They experience pain and injury, reducing performance and impacting readiness. There is now the potential to exponentially improve DHM capabilities due to a variety of advances in 3D scanning, model development, and availability of aircrew population specific anthropometric data and empirical posture data representing real-world conditions for military aircrew.

Limitations to current DHM capabilities related to the users include issues with intuitiveness of the tools, the degree of expertise required for effective use, and the significant amount of time it takes to develop expertise. There is a shortage of expert users in both the DOW and industry. Manikins used in DHM analysis are commonly selected from built-in software libraries with inappropriate anthropometric measurements for the population and/or design being evaluated. DHM users with a poor understanding of anthropometry often fail to consider the multivariate nature of anthropometric accommodation ignoring the need to consider more than one measurement at a time and neglecting the critical interactions of the measurements. Users positioning/posturing manikins routinely use guesswork in the absence of empirical data to account for clothing and flight equipment, restraint systems, cushion compression, flesh compression, and postural variation. They often have a limited understanding of aircrew operations and/or environment leading to incorrect assumptions when setting up their models.

For some DHMs the anthropometric measurements that can be adjusted are not the ones that matter for design application and the underlying anthropometric data used in the application may not represent the target population. Multivariate use cases have been developed and in use on DOW aircraft acquisition programs since the mid-90s [Ref 1], but manikins representing the use cases are often not included in DHM manikin libraries causing users to default to inappropriate use of the manikins that are available. Until recently, the only USN/USMC aircrew anthropometric data available was from a 1960s database that did not include women. Currently, there are no DHM applications that include USN/USMC aircrew anthropometric data or associated multivariate use cases.

Another important consideration is that the commercially available DHM applications allow for analysis of one or more manikins, to include a family of multivariate use cases, but do not allow for parametric modeling of an entire population needed to accurately quantify the accommodation levels of a design.

The NAWCAD Human Systems Engineering Department has recently completed an aircrew/aviator anthropometric survey and is also collaborating with the USAF on the Seat Specific Posture Model (SSPM) Project to collect empirical posture data to improve modeling fidelity. This project was initially intended for the purpose of developing an aviation specific postural analysis tool in the RAMSIS DHM but will be useful for other applications as well. One example that this STTR topic proposes is that this aircrew data be used in in the development of aviation-specific parametric accommodation models. The US Army has successfully developed this type of modeling tool for ground vehicles with a great many advantages to their acquisition programs and alleviation of many of the limitations documented above [Refs 2,3,4].

There have also been significant advances to head, hand, and body models that can be leveraged to greatly improve DHM state of the art and acquisition outcomes [Refs 5-11]. Integration of aircrew-specific anthropometric and 3D scan databases would ensure modeling efforts reflect the intended population. Aviators are a distinctly different population and appropriate representation of them in modeling applications is essential. Model input parameters can be adjusted to represent the goals of the modeling effort (i.e., desired accommodation levels and target population or subpopulation) with adjustable demographic variables such as sex, age, and race/ethnicity. Modeling tools can incorporate the ability to consider not only traditional 2D anthropometric measurements, but 3D shape and/or non-traditional measurements with the goal of improving size design and fit prediction [Refs 12, 13]. Through new and affordable 3D body scanning technologies [Refs 14,15], it is possible for an individual’s specific anthropometry as well as their feedback on fit and preferred size to be run through an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm to allow for ongoing improvements in size design, fit prediction, and tariffing. There have been advances in the development of head models that do not include hair artifacts [Ref 16], an important consideration in design. Improvements of head and hand models for dynamic or functional fit can improve the ability to digitally evaluate if masks maintain a seal when pilots talk or change facial expression and if gloves are designed appropriately for all pilot tasks, not just one static hand position. Posable manikins representing intended individuals or populations (multivariate use cases) can be easily customized and imported into any CAD environment or DHM software application for a variety of uses.

It is important to note that the proposed tools are meant to be supplemental not duplicative of other modeling tools currently available or in development. Having these proposed modeling tools be interoperable or integrated with existing or emerging tools is highly desirable. What makes these tools unique from existing/emerging modeling tools:

Inclusion of USN/USMC aircrew anthropometric databases and 3D scans.

Inclusion of SSPM project aircrew posture and reach data.

Solution is not computationally and/or time prohibitive to use.

Fills a gap in providing a solution that does not require an artisan modeler to make use of the models (easy to learn, simple user interface).

Leveraging existing models/methods for expeditious transition.

Models to be exported in common file formats to be interoperable with a broad range of CAD/DHM applications. No specific software applications are required.

Not strictly PPE focused but also applicable to clothing design.

Includes accommodation modeling tool for aircraft cockpits and workstations.

Will represent digital twins of individuals like other modeling tools, but will also provide population virtual assessment of fit, size design, tariffing recommendations, and report population accommodation levels.

Will allow for principal component analysis on a population and representation of boundary cases customized for specific applications.

Includes ability to import anthropometric data for a group of participants and create bivariate plots for visual comparison to aircrew population data.

Models will be web-hosted and freely/easily available to DOW civilians and contractors.

Intention is to have web-hosted instructional materials, user forum, document library, and subject matter expert information to encourage best practices and collaboration.

Framework will be built in to allow import of other population databases so other military populations including foreign military partners can be represented.

The proposed suite of tools would need to be easy to use, affordable, and easily accessed (e.g., hosted webapps and/or downloadable standalone applications) to facilitate practitioner usage and standardization. Accompanying guidance in the form of teaching materials, a user forum, links to relevant papers and reports, and a registry for subject matter experts and facilities wishing to be listed would be beneficial inclusions. The ability to create visualizations should also be considered. Allowing the import of anthropometry in a .CSV file for overlay with existing anthropometric databases in the form of bivariate plots of key anthropometric measurements is extremely helpful for population comparisons as well as confirming that human participants used for physical assessments adequately represent the target population. This proposed effort also seeks to put a framework in place that will allow incorporation of data from other populations and use of the models for other applications and users to include the entire DOW, foreign military partners, NASA, industry, and academia.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below:

Non-Radio Frequency, Covert Maritime Transceiver - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV014

Disclaimer:
This topic was temporarily posted by the Department of War SBIR Program on March 2nd 2026 and removed the following day.
We believe this topic is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.

Sign up below to be notified as soon as this topic is released again. In the meantime, we’d recommend you start planning to respond if within your capabilities.

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop a reliable and covert transceiver for use in contested areas where the use of traditional radio frequencies are not permitted in order to remain concealed. The Navy is looking for new technologies that can transmit and receive wireless communications from distances of at least 5km. The signal medium may be, but not limited to, acoustic, infrared, or ultraviolet. The communications link must be highly resistant to interference, detection, and exploitation.

Description:

Covert communications have continuously evolved during the history of warfare. Paradigm shifts in communication (in warfare) have enabled evolutionary tactical advantages that have lasted for finite periods of time until an adversary adjusts technology and tactics to detect, and in some cases monitor, seemingly covert communications. Various modalities are available to attempt to provide secure, covert communications including many Radio Frequency (RF) techniques, free-space optics (laser comm.) and others. Due to the United States’s reliance on RF for communications and sensing (e.g., radar), various peer-adversaries have engineered around many of these modalities putting secure communications at risk. For this reason, it is necessary to go “out-of-band” to provide a modality of communication not commonly used and enabled by technology that is wholly new and therefore restricted by rarity. Another limitation to this application is the need to avoid bulky, power-hungry systems that may require a high degree of attention in order to operate properly.

Therefore, the Navy is looking for a low power, small communications transceiver that offers low probability of intercept (LPI) and low probability of detection (LPD). The new technology must be able to acquire, track, and maintain a secure communications link between rapidly moving vehicles (manned and unmanned). Emerging applications include cognitive operations with other autonomous systems for armed combat, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR), casualty extraction, and field communications. Each of these applications have different objectives but all require uninterrupted, high bandwidth, and secure communications.

Attributes:

- Must be able to communicate between two or more points at least 5km away

- Low Size, Weight, and Power/Cost (SWaP-C)

- Reliable, continuous communication link

- Field Programmable

- LPI/LPD

- Flexible data rate requirement (up to 10MB/s)

Work produced in Phase II may become classified. Note: The prospective contractor(s) must be U.S. owned and operated with no foreign influence as defined by 32 U.S.C. § 2004.20 et seq., National Industrial Security Program Executive Agent and Operating Manual, unless acceptable mitigating procedures can and have been implemented and approved by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) formerly Defense Security Service (DSS). The selected contractor must be able to acquire and maintain a secret level facility and Personnel Security Clearances. This will allow contractor personnel to perform on advanced phases of this project as set forth by DCSA and NAVAIR in order to gain access to classified information pertaining to the national defense of the United States and its allies; this will be an inherent requirement. The selected company will be required to safeguard classified material during the advanced phases of this contract IAW the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM), which can be found at Title 32, Part 2004.20 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Who will win?

If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

Request to talk with a member of our team by completing the form below: