AI-Assisted Modernization and Optimization of Theater Mission Planning Center (TMPC) Software - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV013

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is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.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 AI-driven toolset to automate the modernization of Theater Mission Planning Center (TMPC) software, focusing on refactoring legacy code, optimizing performance, integrating advanced cybersecurity, and ensuring compatibility with modern and next-generation mission systems.

Description:

TMPC software is built on legacy code that presents challenges in maintainability, performance optimization, cybersecurity, and integration with evolving mission systems. Current modernization efforts rely on manual refactoring, which is time-consuming, error-prone, and costly. There is a critical need for an AI-driven capability to automate code refactoring, optimize computational efficiency, and integrate cybersecurity features without disrupting TMPC’s core functions. This effort will enable seamless software upgrades while maintaining backward compatibility with existing operational platforms.

The proposed solution will leverage machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) to analyze, refactor, and optimize TMPC’s codebase while preserving mission-critical functionalities. Additionally, AI-assisted software validation and security enhancements will ensure that modernized TMPC software meets the evolving requirements of Navy mission planning environments.

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:

Sensing to Measure and Validate Corrosion in Naval Systems - STTR Topic DON26TZ01-NV012

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 deliver a sensory tool that can be used to monitor and assess several modes of corrosion activity as a function of time within Navy ship systems and subsystems. The sensory tool will incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) identify and estimate component life in a given platform/system for a given material selection, CAD geometry, and environment during the ship operations. AI can incorporate a set of mathematical models that will detect when the error happens and when to do maintenance. The main objectives of AI are to reduce maintenance time, production downtime, and the cost of component supplies.

Description:

It is increasingly important for corrosion rate analysis to be performed on steel structures such as ships, offshore platforms and bridges to determine their safe operating life and for the development of effective and efficient maintenance practices. Optimal timeframes for asset availability and for planned redundancy also demand information about corrosion rates. Corrosion loss affects the effective load capacity of steel plating through causing plating thickness loss. The design of steel ships typically incorporates a corrosion allowance, i.e., an amount of corrosion loss that can be tolerated before the structural system is considered compromised. Corrosion protection measures include paint coatings and sacrificial anode systems for immersed areas. However, these methods are not always wholly effective, and continual maintenance usually is required but not always applied. In extreme cases, repair and replacement of structural details may be necessary, incurring very considerable cost penalties due to direct repair costs. It follows that the estimates of the expected rate of deterioration are important inputs for optimal maintenance and repair decisions for ships.

Naval ships are exposed to a range of corrosive environments and as a result the patterns of corrosion vary widely. The structural details and the orientation and position within the space within a given environment also will cause different corrosion patterns and rates. For immersion environments, influences on corrosion include chemical factors such as salinity, oxygen content, pH, and presence of pollutants; physical factors such as temperature and pressure; and biological factors such as bacteria and biomass. For ballast tanks the immersion environment usually is considered the most critical but in modelling the corrosion process attention might also need to be given to the occurrence of repeated wet/dry cycles as a result of the tanks being filled and emptied to adjust the freeboard trim of the ship. In addition, the presence of sacrificial anodes may have some influence, although they are effective only under immersed conditions and for uncoated areas. Thus, a de-ballasted tank will not be protected. It follows that the amount of corrosion in a ballast tank is a function of the environment, the type of corrosion protection, and the tank status. Apart from corrosion protection and operational practices, the main influence on the environmental parameters is the result of the conditions encountered during operations – what might be called the trading route, including geographical influences.

The number of hours a ship is generally in an operating or training status have decreased. Navy corrosion maintenance costs continue to escalate, reaching upwards to nearly $10B/year. Roughly 40% of those costs are caused by corrective maintenance that can be attributed to the improper selection of materials, usually from design process decisions that addressed system requirements without considering materials corrosion behavior in environments for which they are planned.

The application of a resistant coating on ships, offshore structures, and pipelines is the primary prevention method of corrosion wastage in the marine industries. To guarantee coating integrity and to be able to thoroughly survey for corrosion wastage on marine structures, new advanced nondestructive methods are being sought. The requirements of convenient and rapid determination of corrosion wastage on coated structures, even in the difficult spatial positions of the structure, will require advanced technologies which are being developed for other industries that also require very high structural integrity. Corrosion detection and monitoring are essential diagnostic and prognostic means for preserving material “health” and reducing life-cycle cost of industrial infrastructures, weapon systems, ships, aircraft, ground vehicles, pipelines, etc.

Sensor system attributes of small size, low weight, open plug-and-play interface architecture, self-diagnostics and validation make this a valuable interface and controller platform for other industrial and military monitoring applications. The system simplicity and low cost allows for wide area coverage by monitoring multiple sites on an individual structure and for fleet-wide vehicle condition monitoring. Other than Military vehicles, the smart sensor system has market potential in stationary structures, industrial processes, and civil and commercial transportation. By collecting and consolidating datasets into a fleet management system, DOW can better allocate maintenance resources and increase availability and service life objectives for these platforms. The collected data drive sustainment analytics and fleet management by increasing the accuracy of predictive maintenance schedules and decreasing inspection intervals and unnecessary preventative maintenance.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays a pivotal role in interpreting the vast amounts of data collected by drones. Machine learning (ML) algorithms analyze the images to identify patterns of corrosion, thereby enabling more accurate and timely maintenance decisions. This level of automation reduces human error and ensures that Navy vessels remain in optimal condition. AI is a machine’s capability to impersonate human behavior, respond perceptively, solve problems, and make decisions automatically without human interference or with less human interference. The main objective of AI research involves general intelligence, automated planning, perception, natural language processing, knowledge representation, and robotics.

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:

Compact Battery Operated Mid-wave Infrared (MWIR) Hyperspectral, High-Definition, Real-Time Video Camera Integrated with Photonic Crystal - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV011

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 demonstrate a compact battery-operated mid-wave infrared (MWIR) hyperspectral imaging (HSI) photonic chip video camera for integration into mobile network enabled small sensor platforms.

Description:

Hyperspectral imaging allows quantitative evaluation of material composition and spatial distribution and finds numerous applications in areas such as remote sensing and military reconnaissance. In particular, the operational utility of HSI for detection, recognition and identification of hard-to-detect targets in environments cluttered with background noise is especially critical. Spectral imaging can aid the detection, acquisition and tracking of a potentially camouflaged, low-signature target, with significantly improved accuracy that cannot otherwise be detected using more conventional imaging means.

Conventional HSI systems [Refs 1, 2] tend to use large, bulky optical elements, such as a Michelson interferometer or other tunable optical filter components to spectrally resolve the input optical signals, and therefore usually have the characteristics of significant size, weight, and power (SWaP) consumption, mechanical complexity, as well as non-compliance with military specifications. More importantly, the mechanical mechanism of the conventional tunable filtering system gives rise to extremely slow spectral scanning speed and thus, slow imaging speed at that rate of one hyperspectral image per approximately one to two minutes. Traditionally, hyperspectral algorithms have considered only static images, and existing algorithms process single frames without regard for sequential similarities or correlations. The difficulty in capturing and processing hyperspectral video sequences in real-time is correlated directly to the high dimensionality of the data. As a result, conventional HSI systems cannot be deployed to the more demanding field applications that require images that can be captured and analyzed on a real-time basis at a much higher frame rates due to HSI’s inherent image acquisition speed bottleneck.

A typical hyperspectral image consists of a high-resolution 3-dimensional (3-D) data cube, with two dimensions in space and a third dimension in wavelength. A focal plane array (FPA) can only acquire a 2D data set in one exposure. In the conventional approach, spectral scanning is thus often used to attain the third dimension of wavelength for a 3-D data cube. As stated earlier, this process makes HSI operation very slow because wavelength scanning requires multiple exposures over a specific spectral range. In addition to the very slow scan speed, it also suffers from a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) resulted from a high level of noise in infrared detectors and a low light throughput caused by narrow-band filters used in spectral scanning. The use of narrow-band filters also limits the number of spectral bands.

Infrared spectroscopy routinely uses spectral multiplexing to overcome the challenge of detector noise. This is known as the Fellgett’s multiplexing advantage [Ref 3]). The best example is Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Instead of spectral scanning, it projects an unknown spectrum onto a serial of sinusoidal functions constructed by a Michelson interferometer and thus greatly improves light throughput. However, it is difficult to integrate FTIR with FPA because of their bulky size and single channel operation. Recently, on-chip multiplexing has emerged as a new approach for hyperspectral sensing. It uses the spectral response of judiciously designed nanostructures to construct the multiplexing basis. Exploiting optical interference and resonance effects at the nanoscale, these nanostructures can provide a highly complex and diverse range of response functions suitable for efficient multiplexing [Ref 2]. They can be directly integrated into FPA to have an ultra-compact form factor. Multiplexing can be performed in both spectral and spatial domain. Advanced data-driven optimization such as machine learning can be used together with compressive sensing to reconstruct 3D data cube in single-shot operation [Ref 4].

It is therefore the objective of this SBIR topic to develop a battery-operated, compact, high-performance MWIR HSI camera system capable of capturing HSI video at real-time or higher frame rates in the room temperature thermal infrared region. One of the key challenges in on-chip photonic multiplexing of a photonic crystal-integrated FPA is the computational design. Constructing the multiplexing basis is a delicate balance between the physical limit of on-chip photonic structures and the imposed requirement from demultiplexing algorithms. The former requires solving multi-scale Maxwell’s equations, and the latter requires large-scale data-driven optimization of demultiplexing algorithms. The coupled design process needs to be iterated efficiently to reach any useful design. It is expected that this challenge can be addressed by using massively parallel simulation of electrodynamics paired with efficient optimization algorithms such as adjoint method.

The project should demonstrate a systematic design method that leverages large-scale simulation, machine learning, and data-driven design to realize real-time hyperspectral video imaging. The final goal of this project is to experimentally demonstrate a battery operated MWIR HSI video camera with the following specifications.

System required parameters include:

Wavelength range: 3-5 microns

Array size: Threshold -- 1280 x 1024 pixels; Objective -- 2048 x 1536pixels

Spectral resolution: below 5 nm

Pixel pitch: Threshold – 12 microns; Objective – 8 microns

Real-time hyperspectral video imaging Programmable; 0.0015 Hz to 125 Hz frames per second

Acquisition time of hyperspectral image with 500 spectral bands: Size and Weight: 7.5 grams and Battery Type: Lithium-ion battery enhanced by using carbon-based nanostructures with a specific energy > 600 Wh/kg at 0.5C discharge rate, and specific capacity of > 600 Ah/kg.

Low power consumption, starting at 600 mW

Humidity Non-condensing between 5% - 95%

Non-Operating Temperature Range -57 °C to +80 °C (-65 °F to +176 °F)

Operating Temperature Range -40 °C to +71 °C (-40 °F to +160 °F)

Operational Altitude 40,000 ft (~12km)

Shock 40g w/ 11ms half-sine pulse, 3-axis

Vibration 5.8 grms 3-axis, 1hr each

Responding to the 21.2 AC1 S&T Domain comments: Surface Optics produces multi-spectral camera that can only provide multispectral images with about 10 spectral bands. Also, their multi-spectral camera is in the SWIR band. This current topic is for the first time a topic that can produce MWIR hyperspectral images at better than real-time video frame rate (24 frames per second or higher) with up to 500 (not 10 in the multispectral camera situation) high-resolution hyperspectral images per frame. This current proposed technology can produce up to 50 times more spectral information than the current multispectral camera in the market. Hence, there is zero overlap in terms of technology innovation between what Surface Optics and other commercial concerns market as multi-spectral or hyperspectral cameras and this current topic. In fact, the current proposed topic's performance and SWaP are far superior to any commercially available hyperspectral images by a 10 to 1 to 50 to 1 wide margin.

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:

E-2D Large Language Model Entity (ELLMENT) - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV010

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 implement a traceable, explainable, referenced, and reasoned Large Language Model (LLM) that functions as an on-demand Natural Language Processing (NLP) decision-support assistant for Naval Flight Officers (NFOs) and mission crew aboard a carrier-based, all weather, tactical battle management, airborne early warning, and command and control aircraft.

Description:

Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) technologies are transforming how complex data is understood and acted upon in operational environments. This SBIR topic seeks to explore the development of a domain-specific LLM system to support rapid insight generation from structured and unstructured documents (e.g., Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures [TTPs]), mission logs, communications, and other high-volume data sources relevant to tactical operations.

The goal is to deliver a modular, self-contained AI/NLP solution that can assist NFOs and mission crew by summarizing, reasoning over, and extracting meaning from dense operational material in real time. This LLM must be specifically designed to operate in a stand-alone configuration in accordance with information assurance policies, with mechanisms for traceability, where the information came from and how is it connecting to the goal, source attribution, and model transparency. The system must also support future extensibility to multi-modal data ingestion.

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:

Robust Universal Adaptive Denoising Technology - STTR Topic DON26TZ01-NV009

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 robust denoising approaches that are highly adaptive and effective.

Description:

Signal denoising has shown to be highly effective in improving performance of signal processing radio frequency and acoustic sensing systems. The main hindering signal in these applications is noise as it degrades the ability to sense low level signals masked by ambient noise sources which may be external to the sensor or generated by the sensor itself. The main goal of this SBIR topic is to develop a denoising technology that suppresses noise while preserving the underlying signal features. Traditionally, denoising methods have struggled to maintain performance when presented with highly non-stationary or complex noise patterns. The traditional approaches typically require extensive and time-consuming tuning to achieve desired performance. On the other hand many of learning-based methods have demonstrated excellent denoising performance but suffer from limited robustness. Therefore, the method’s performance will drop if the training conditions do not adequately reflect the characteristics of the operational environment. The Navy seeks improvements in denoising performance greater than 10 dB.

For such a system installed on an aircraft, it will experience both wind- and aircraft-generated noise. That noise has components that are narrow band (< 10 Hz wide) and broadband (10s to 100s of Hz wide). The spectrum of interest for sensing extends from approximately 10 Hz to 1000 Hz. When compared with more traditional active noise cancellation techniques, the denoising approach should be capable of providing 6 dB of additional cancellation and show potential to deliver 10 dB or more cancellation.

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 Software Test Generation and Augmentation for Improved Debloating - STTR Topic DON26TZ01-NV008

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 automated solution for developing, enhancing, expanding, and augmenting software tests to more safely broaden the employment of proactive cyber techniques such as debloating and post-construction software refactoring. Technology is needed to refine a suite of tests to a level such that it may serve as a practical expression of a software transformation objective to drive other tools as well as validate their output. Technology should leverage multi-modal methods such as ingesting code and documentation as well as be compatible with DevOps processes.

Description:

Modern software development practices such as industrialized code reuse and artificial intelligence (AI) assistance enable developers to produce increasingly complex and capable software more quickly and cheaply than ever before. The tools to ensure that all this software is well-tested and that all of the included code is well-tailored to the deployment scenario, however, have lagged by comparison.

Modern applications often include hundreds to thousands of libraries and other dependencies, with often only a small portion of the code in each being ever needed by users in each deployment scenario. The excess code that remains often tends to be less used in general, less well-scrutinized, and full of obscure features that will often be found (sometimes only years later) to contain vulnerabilities. To address this problem, numerous tools have been developed to identify bloat and then modify the software by removing unneeded code [Ref 1]. Configurations, usage logs, and tests that are fed as inputs to code transformation tools to tell them what to cut are referred to as the debloat specifications [Refs 1, 2].

Because the economics of code reuse will continue to drive library and package developers to maximize generality, debloating must happen through a separate process that begins after those components are built into a specific application. The fact that another process will be modifying code separate from the original one that designed, implemented, and tested those components adds risk—it is not uncommon to see flawed or incomplete transformations. Evaluation results in [Ref 2] showed that 37% of the debloated binaries they created failed to correctly execute the functionality they were intending to retain.

Many factors can contribute to a transformation yielding a broken application, but one of the biggest is a low-quality debloat specification. Developer-authored tests are often limited and the users of debloating tools rarely can specify in exact detail all the features they actually need for a given deployment scenario. These incomplete specifications can lead tools to be overly aggressive in things like security checks and exception handlers that are critical to application safety and robustness [Ref 3].

To better address the problem of low-quality and incomplete debloat specifications, new technology is needed to more fully incorporate and automate the capturing of desired software behaviors for input to a debloat tool. The technology should be able to take advantage of code analysis as well as analysis of related artifacts such as documentation, build configs, existing tests, and even user input, as long as it can be made practical and easy for a user to answer. Various works have explored methods and techniques for capturing exception handers [Ref 3], balancing reduction with a targeted amount of generality [Ref 4], and leveraging AI to incorporate new tests [Refs 5, 6, 7]. All may inform strategies for automated test generation and augmentation that can lead to higher quality debloat specifications.

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:

Novel Computing for Streaming Radio Frequency in Low Size, Weight and Power Environments - STTR Topic DON26TZ01-NV007

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:

Create a small and computationally powerful Radio Frequency (RF) sensor that meets or exceeds the requirements of extremely limited low size, weight, and power (LOW SWaP) platforms. This computational engine should weigh = 2 GHz of instantaneous bandwidth of RF spectrum continuously.

Description:

Today’s electronic processing technology is not keeping pace with the DOW’s computational demands. Growing networks of new higher resolution and higher fidelity sensors yield vast quantities of data, and deep neural networks are being deployed to reduce these data streams to actionable information for the warfighter. Concurrently, the constraints imposed by network capacity, latency, and data security are driving this sensor processing to the tactical and network edge where the data is collected. This transition is compounding processing throughput shortfalls because of edge platform challenges.

In today’s battle space, the concept of putting payloads on smaller and smaller unmanned platforms is a huge need. This STTR topic focuses on extremely low SWaP RF sensors that can be less than 5 lbs. The critical piece is the computational engine that will turn streaming Intermediate Frequency (IF) (with an Instantaneous Band Width of > = to 2 GHz) and perform the detection and data product formation for RF analysis and eventual classification and localization of emissions in the extremely broad RF spectrum. For these payloads to go on Group 2 or smaller Unmanned l Aerial platforms, the entire sensor package must weigh less than 5 lbs. and the processing engine is allocated less than 1.5 lbs. of this total weight and consume less than 150 Watts. The critical component is a computational engine that is small enough yet computationally powerful enough to make these payloads a reality.

The Navy seeks a single chip and infrastructure that is less than 1 lb. and less than 3 mm on either side. This will include the input/output (I/O) to the sensor data sources, the memory, the computational devices, and the I/O to the operator or decision engine (preferably the decision engine would be part of this device).

These computational engines must meet an extremely high performance metric while being extremely lightweight and energy efficient. The products resulting from this STTR topic will be utilized in Group 1 and 2 UASs as well as buoys that are less than 3 inches in diameter. These devices must be able to be zeroized and support data at rest encryption standards.

Work produced in Phase II is expected to 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:

Waste Heat Recovery - STTR Topic DON26TZ01-NV006

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 waste heat recovery system capable of converting the heat energy within DDG 51 main engine exhaust into electrical power.

Description:

LM 2500 gas turbine engines’ maximum thermal efficiency is approximately 38%. This means at least 62% of the energy in every drop of fuel consumed by the process of propelling a DDG 51 Class ship is unused and available for harvesting as it is being expelled in the form of heat via engine exhaust. Significant energy that is currently “wasted” could be recovered from exhaust to save on fuel costs and increase the range of surface combatants. To effectively utilize all resources, the Navy seeks to capture this waste heat as usable energy source.

In the past, the Navy recovered this heat energy via the Rankin cycle to heat galley appliances with steam. However, there has never been a durable, effective, weight- and space-economizing system that utilizes waste heat to produce electrical power on a Navy ship. Within the context of enhancing the environmental record of the Navy, this initiative would productively tap an “alternative” energy source to reduce fuel consumption and subsequent emissions.

The Navy seeks a solution that provides an innovative system for waste heat collection and utilization that maximizes capture and use of thermal energy while minimizing impacts on any other ship system or prominent feature (especially the main engines). Also important to the Navy is an emphasis on moderating use of or impacts to the ship’s profile and/or Radar Cross Section, available onboard space, and any serious impacts to weight and stability characteristics. Keeping these difficult limitations in mind, it is the Navy’s goal to produce the greatest possible amount of electrical power from harvesting the abundant thermal energy from every ship’s main engine exhaust. While the DDG 51 Class Gas Turbine Generators (GTGs) also have similar thermal efficiencies and the scope of this STTR topic may become inclusive of GTGs in the future, the immediate focus of the topic is on the waste heat from the LM 2500 main engines.

The proposer should quantify the level of stress the material can incur while in an operational environment, and provide a preliminary concept design and validation plan and an in-depth examination in scalability and the potential for miniaturizing any technologies highlighted within the feasibility study, as these proposed technologies will need to create a system able to fit and effectively/safely operate within the DDG 51 Class footprint(s) and meet weight and stability requirements.

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:

Automatic Cable Tester - STTR Topic DON26TZ01-NV005

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 and user-friendly automatic cable tester capable of universally testing continuity, resistance, and isolation of both Copper, Radio Frequency (RF) cables, and the impedance of Fiber Optic cables via Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (OTDR), while rapidly generating easily read quality assurance reports.

Description:

While a DDG 51 Class Ship is undergoing modernization, significant time is spent testing continuity, resistance, and isolation on large numbers of Copper, RF cables, and impedance of Fiber Optic cables. For example, within the combat systems alone, there are over 2,900 interfaces that require such testing. With the numerous amounts of cables needed to be tested on board a ship, manual testing of each cable can take several hours compared to several minutes or less with utilization of an automatic tester.

While approximately 175 adapters and kits are available for automatic cable testing, there are no universal devices capable of testing Copper, RF, or Fiber cables. The automatic tester must be equipped with low-cost software and adapter kits for both the “local” and the “remote” sides of the varieties of copper cables and connectors under test. The Navy needs a cable analyzer that can perform a variety of multi-pin connections along with a Fiber Optical Loss Test Set (OLTS)/ OTDR tester capable of utilizing the existing and approved testing standards or featuring an innovative unconventional low-cost means of examining each cable and loopback.

The Navy seeks an automatic cable tester capable of testing the connectivity, continuity, and isolation of both Copper, RF and Fiber Optic cables. The development of an inexpensive, portable, universal cable tester system, able to portray data in real time is desired. The tester must be able to easily connect to the variety of connectors on the cables previously mentioned and reduce both the number of test-connectors necessary to operate as well as the overall cost of the prototype/production system. The software used by the tester should be able to be either Microsoft-based software or one easily convertible into an Excel format for recording test data. The solution should be easily transported by one sailor to allow for convenient movement through tight hatchways and spaces found within a DDG 51 Class Ship. The prototype developer should also document specifics of a life cycle management program both for the tester and all components. The developed solution should shorten the length of time required to test all connections on a ship undergoing modernization.

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-Proximate Chemical Analysis by Field Portable Mass Spectrometry and Robotics - STTR Topic DON26TZ01-NV004

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, build, and operate a portable mass spectrometer outfitted for proximal detection with a flexible inlet on a land-based robot, to collect real time mass spectra and chemical data at the source.

Description:

Mass spectrometers provide unparalleled chemical detection and identification, specifically by use of high-resolution system or tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Field portable mass spectrometers have been commercialized for decades and have led to the ability to detect chemicals of concern at the source. Unlike traditional mass spectrometry where sample preparation is required to get analytes into a form factor amenable for analysis, ambient ionization mass spectrometry has demonstrated proximate detection, with no sample preparation, if the test subject can be placed in front of the mass spectrometer inlet. A plethora of ambient ionization sources for drug, chemical warfare, explosive, and environmental detections of bulk objects in their original form factors with no sample preparation.

Not every test subject however will fit in front of the mass spectrometer’s inlet, nor can the ionization source be positioned in such a way to accommodate the test subject. Other ionization sources such as swabs and contact transfer touch sprays have been developed to sample an area and bring the sample to the mass spectrometer. This requires a trained user and sampling error can often be the largest challenge in these samplings.

Non-proximate methods, essentially changing the inlet of the mass spectrometer, have been developed and demonstrated. For example, sampling explosives and chemical warfare agents from ambient surfaces at distances of up to 3 meters from the mass spectrometer has been demonstrated [Ref 9]. However, this method was performed with a rigid inlet and while non-proximate distances were achieved, the flexibility of the sampling was limited, and it would be difficult to adapt to a robotic arm on a rover such as those used by Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD).

The objective of this STTR topic is to demonstrate a portable mass spectrometer that has a flexible inlet that could be brought to the test subject and manipulated by a robotic arm platform to collect chemical data at the source. The inlet and the subsequent ionization source combination must be ruggedized and manipulated by a robotic arm to move both to position for sampling. The mass spectrometer must provide remote red light / green light results to the operator from a standoff distance. It must be operational in varying levels of humidity, temperature, and ability to detect a wide array of chemicals.

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:

Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) Maneuver Improvements - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV001

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:

Improve the Human-Machine Interface for operator control in the transition from water to land and improve water mobility in the surf zone for Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACVs).

Description:

The ACV is an adaptation of an Italian Combat Vehicle with enough changes to weight and buoyancy that water mobility has been negatively impacted. Improvements are needed to the operator’s controls and water propulsion hardware to reduce operator workload and improve maneuverability in the water and surf zone.

The new design shall make the transition between land and water operations easier for the operator by simplifying the human-machine interface (i.e., having to monitor and actuate fewer controls). The focus should be on determining innovative functional capability and controls which will reduce cognitive load on the operator when entering and exiting the surf zone and traversing through water. The new design should also make the vehicle more responsive to the operator’s input. The new design needs to consider maintenance and corrosion control. The design needs to maintain or, if possible, improve water speed, bollard pull, and water operation fuel economy. The new design shall not result in degraded performance as baselined by the current propulsion system.

The ACV powerpack currently provides a maximum of 690hp at 1,800rpm (490kW) with maximum torque of 2,036 ft-lb (2,761 N-m) at 1,500rpm. The size of the area that an improved water propulsion device MUST FIT is 28 inches by 26 inches by 26 inches not including potential bracketry. The propulsion device must operate in shallow water where it will be exposed to sand, mud and small rocks in the water flow.

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:

CHORD - Collaborative Human Autonomy Operational Review - SBIR Topic DAF26BZ01-DV007

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. $140,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Future Autonomous Collaborative Platforms (ACPs) will introduce AI-enabled uncrewed aircraft into the fleet. These platforms will assume significant tactical decision-making responsibilities and operate alongside traditional crewed aircraft. This paradigm shift complicates knowledge elicitation for post-mission debriefing, as it necessitates understanding both human and autonomous aircraft decision-making processes. This introduces a new research challenge: effectively logging the necessary information from human and ACP decision-actions for debriefing and presenting it to warfighters through innovative human-machine interfaces (HMIs). The primary objective of this topic is to prototype and develop debriefing approaches that effectively fuse the decision-making chains of both human operators and multiple autonomous ACPs, presenting that information clearly and concisely.

Description:

Mission debriefing for manned and remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) and crewed aircraft in military operations is currently conducted manually by warfighters. This typically involves verbal communication and classroom-style discussions, with little to no AI or software assistance for reflecting on missions, identifying lessons learned, or pinpointing areas for improvement. As pilots are the primary tactical decision-makers, verbal communication sessions are essential for eliciting and understanding their decision-making processes. As teams of ACPs begin making tactical decisions with a high level of autonomy, it is unknown what information needs to be logged during mission and how that information should be displayed so that the warfighter can audit and understand after mission debriefing, what decisions, tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) the autonomous systems acted on. This topic looks to advance existing debriefing tools for replaying mission execution and enhance them with additional functionality targeting debriefing of autonomous ACPs.

A secondary focus of this topic is to identify data input requirements from autonomy that would be necessary for support debriefing of autonomy. Modern methods for autonomous decision-making tend to employ black-box deep learning algorithms with limited transparency, leading to lack of trust and assurance that autonomous agent decisions comply with the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC). XAI (Explainable Artificial Intelligence) is actively researching techniques to make black box models more understandable while other areas are using more transparent symbolic methods that are rooted in explicit rules to perform reasoning and problem-solving. An ACP will likely include a combination of inherently explainable and low transparency algorithms for different decision-making processes. Information needs for debriefing that will be identified in this topic should guide autonomy development with regards to autonomy logging/reporting for debriefing and algorithm practicality.

A consideration for DP2 participation is the demonstration of an existing debriefing tool that the proposer has developed that is used in military operations or that it is being developed under a recognized US DoD program. This will allow for a solid foundation for which CHORD can build upon that focuses specifically on debriefing of human machine teaming for ACPs. An expectation of common debriefing functionality such as data playback, a digital map display, timeline, event logs, and data visualization of vehicle fuel, health, and status will be necessary for DP2 consideration. It is not essential that the existing debriefing tool has been applied to unmanned systems, and debriefing tools in non-air or crewed vehicle domains will be considered.

While logging and video playback of ACP mission execution are critical components of debriefing functionality, they will likely be inadequate for truly understanding ACP decision-making. Software analytics, AI tools, and novel HMI designs will be necessary to answer key questions, such as: What tactical decisions did the ACP make? When were these decisions made? What was the rationale or considerations behind the ACP's decisions? As ACPs assume greater responsibility in tactical decision-making, it is crucial to conduct research and develop software tools that enable warfighters to understand and trust these autonomous systems.

Core Research Questions:

 What types of information must be logged and exchanged between ACPs and the warfighter during post-mission debriefing to support transparency and trust in autonomous operations?

 Do current government reference architectures and standards adequately support the information exchange requirements for debriefing ACP teams?

 How should information from ACPs be structured and visualized within the HMI to align with warfighter cognitive models and situational awareness needs?

 What HMI features for debriefing best support comprehension of ACP autonomy decision chains, contextual reasoning, and deviations from expected behavior?

 What types of software or AI-enabled analytics tools would be most useful to summarize, explain, and visualize autonomous decision-making by ACPs?

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:

Autonomous Leader-Follower UAS Formation for Enhanced Mission Resilience and Reduced Operator Workload - SBIR Topic DAF26BZ01-DV002

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. $140,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

The objective of this topic is to develop and demonstrate an affordable robust and reliable autonomous leader-follower UAS formation capability, enabling a single First-Person View (FPV) pilot to command and control multiple UAS effectively. This system should incorporate: seamless pilot reassignment in case of lead UAS failure, synchronized terminal guidance capabilities, and an innovative stasis mode for follower units to conserve energy and maintain position. Furthermore, the system must include advanced target designation features, allowing the lead UAS to mark targets for autonomous execution by follower units.

Description:

The increasing complexity and scale of modern military operations demand unmanned aerial systems (UAS) capable of operating autonomously and collaboratively. Current UAS deployments often require dedicated operators for each platform, resulting in high personnel costs and increased cognitive burden on the warfighter. There is a critical need for UAS technologies that can significantly reduce operator workload while enhancing mission effectiveness and resilience, particularly in contested environments where communication and control links may be degraded or disrupted. The ability for a single pilot to effectively manage multiple autonomous UAS in a coordinated formation, with built-in redundancy and adaptive control, represents a significant advancement in UAS capabilities.

Offerors are encouraged to explore innovative approaches to autonomous UAS formation control, incorporating advanced AI algorithms, resilient communication networks (e.g., Neuron Mesh Networks), and robust sensor fusion techniques. The proposed solution should address challenges related to maintaining formation integrity, adapting to dynamic environments, and operating in GPS-denied or contested environments. Innovative approaches to stasis mode are encouraged, optimizing power consumption while maintaining situational awareness. Development should include:

AI-based Autonomous Control Algorithms: For leader-follower formation flight, obstacle avoidance, and target engagement.

Resilient Communication Network: A robust and secure communication network enabling seamless data sharing and control within the UAS formation (potentially leveraging Neuron Mesh Network technologies).

Synchronized Terminal Guidance: Algorithms for coordinated approach and landing of multiple UAS at designated targets.

Stasis Mode: An energy-efficient mode allowing follower UAS to maintain position and situational awareness while minimizing power consumption.

Target Designation System: A user-friendly interface for the pilot to designate targets for autonomous execution by follower units.

Pilot Reassignment Capability: A mechanism for automatic and seamless transfer of lead UAS control to a follower unit in case of failure or loss of communication

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 3.5 of the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws.

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:

Intelligent Threat Aware Autonomy - SBIR Topic DAF26BZ01-NV006

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. $140,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

The objectives are to do: 1. Weapon Engagement Zone (WEZ) Modeling: Develop models to represent the area where a weapon can effectively engage targets. This involves considering factors like weapon range, vehicle movement, and threat trajectories, to provide risk measures for path planning and weapons employment.2. WEZ Avoidance: Develop path planning algorithms for ACPs to navigate safely through dynamic WEZs, minimizing risk while reaching objectives efficiently. This requires real-time solutions that can handle multiple static and moving threats.3. Advanced Weaponeering: Optimize weapon usage for ACPs to maximize target capture and neutralization. This includes assigning appropriate weapons to targets, considering target movement and the overall mission context.4. Mutual Support: Investigate how multiple ACPs can cooperate effectively in adversarial situations. This includes coordinated movement to avoid threats and collaborative weapon engagement for increased effectiveness.

Description:

To address future Air Force strategic needs, an increasing number of advanced systems with intelligent autonomy are being envisioned. Intelligent autonomy is central to systems involving advanced automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, adaptive control architectures, and heightened performance compared to the state of the art. A critical need for enabling these future autonomous systems are behaviors that can be leveraged by higher level cognition or mission managers to achieve collaborative mission execution for ACPs. The question that needs to be asked is, “Provided that systems have all the data available to them from sensors and mission objectives, what is it that the systems actually have to do to be successful in their mission?” It is clear that the sensing and available of data is a critical requirement for making informed decisions, this may entail a deep investigation on coupling behaviors with sensing capability; but, the focus of this effort is more toward the thinking and action than the sensing of the sense-think-act process flow. Near term objectives of this work are to invest in basic and applied research to building on the accomplished R&D, address specific identified technical challenges and tools for solving Intelligent Threat Aware Autonomy (ITA2) objectives. Far term objectives involve advanced technology development to constrict ITA2 avionics packages, perform real-time hardware and flight testing of ITA2 products, manufacture vehicles capable of performing ITA2 or hardware that interfaces with current ACPs, and flight test on Air Force / DoD commercial platforms.

Intelligent Threat Aware Autonomy (ITA2) is aimed at finding ways to take measured risks and enable autonomous systems to achieve air superiority in threat laden environments. Multiple facets of this project are to be investigated including: ways of measuring risk from ensuing threats, leveraging own-ship weapon models for capturing targets of interest, avoiding adversarial threats, addressing limited communication range and navigational error, quantifying mutual support and types of mutual support, and measures of force through collaboration and teaming. Lastly, the addressing of uncertainty of own-ship(s) states, target vehicle(s) states, operations boundaries, target vehicle capability, and other forms of uncertainties such as communication delay and environmental disturbances (wind) are important for obtaining reliable and robust behaviors.

Vehicle control is performed by providing the vehicles desired aim-points or waypoint plans in three-dimensional space. The inner loop control systems of aircraft is out of scope of this work; rather, interfacing with current / existing vehicle control technologies is expected though the use of aim-points. This reduces the burden of developing the necessary vehicle control commands such as normal acceleration, roll-rate, and throttle. Furthermore, it leverages the most state of the art methods for performing vehicle control and AI enabling technologies.

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 3.5 of the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws.

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:

Runtime Assured Autonomy - SBIR Topic DAF26BZ01-NV008

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. $140,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

The Need for Advanced Autonomy: The Air Force has gained wide interest in fully autonomous, unmanned air platforms operating in teams making collaborative decisions to successfully complete missions. Highest level, real-time decision making will be the responsibility of advanced autonomy. This autonomy will include both flight-level autonomy and mission-level autonomy. Flight-level autonomy functions will generate local commands that keep the vehicle operating safely. Mission-level autonomy functions will continuously deliver courses of action (COAs) to each platform in the fleet, commanding mission progress in real time. Although all vehicles in the fleet will have instantiations of the mission-level autonomy functions, COAs will typically be generated by a chosen fleet leader.

Description:

The Need for Runtime Assured Autonomy: Autonomy approaches under current development can be highly complex and nondeterministic in their behaviors. AFRL is currently developing approaches for autonomously executed missions using complex event processing techniques. This class of autonomy will be difficult, if not impossible, to fully certify from an airworthiness perspective, and therefore cannot be trusted to correctly operate under all mission conditions. Further, the capabilities of artificial intelligence and autonomy are rapidly increasing with continually updated versions and design iterations expected to occur throughout the operational lifecycles of unmanned systems. Such protocols are clearly not amenable to the time consuming and expensive airworthiness certification process.

To address this hurdle, Runtime assured autonomy (RTAA) functions will be needed to perform runtime monitoring of the autonomy and enact procedures to mitigate any adverse effects due to errors in the autonomy design. The safety and performance protections provided by RTAA will lessen the certification burden, allowing rapid fielding of autonomy functions.

Topic Objective: The objective of this topic is to develop innovative approaches to RTAA systems that protect the individual platform and the fleet against undiscovered design errors in the autonomy functions. The focus should be on use cases in which the RTAA determines whether the autonomy is generating infeasible, incorrect, and/or non-optimal solutions (e.g., commanded paths or task allocation) that may affect mission progress and effectiveness.

Several of the Air Force’s Operational Imperatives call for unmanned platforms to support manned platforms. The Advanced Battle Management System, Moving Target Engagement, Tactical Air Dominance and Global Strike imperatives all call for less expensive, attritable uncrewed platforms to aid in executing complex battle missions. These uncrewed systems cannot always be guaranteed to be controlled by remote human operators due to loss of radio communications or saturated operator workload. Full autonomy will need to fill the gap when human command/control cannot. To address future Air Force tactical and strategic needs, an increasing number of advanced systems with intelligent autonomy are being envisioned. Intelligent autonomy is central to systems involving a wide range of advanced adaptation, reconfiguration, autonomous decision making and contingency management.

Assured autonomy is the requirement that the autonomy operates safely and correctly under all circumstances and mission scenarios. RTAA fulfills this Air Force technology need, providing continuous monitoring/mitigation of autonomy functions to deliver required assurances of safe flight and correct mission execution. There are considerable challenges to developing a working RTAA system. The two key functions of the RTAA are:

1. Fault detection & isolation: The RTAA system must be able to determine if the autonomy is correctly producing COAs and other commands, which is especially difficult if agnostic of the autonomy function details. Developing strategies that can indirectly detect and isolate autonomy design faults in dynamic environments will be key to developing the RTAA system. Faults within the autonomy will need to be determined through the effects those faults have on the platform’s safety, performance, and/or mission effectiveness. RTAA fault determination may come from comparing the current actions of the autonomy with nominal functional or performance requirements (e.g., what defines correct behavior), sanity checks, rubrics, rule sets, etc.

2. Mitigation response: If the RTAA determines that errors in the design of the autonomy functions are adversely affecting flight and mission decisions, it must then activate proper recovery or reversionary protocols. This may include first commanding the vehicle to a failsafe loiter point, then clearing functional states and restarting the autonomy functions. As a last resort, the RTAA may activate return-to base or ditch procedures. If available, the RTAA may switch to simpler, reversionary autonomy functions that can continue the mission either temporarily until the advanced autonomy is back online, or to mission completion, if capable.

The two main functional levels of an RTAA system are:

1. Platform/fleet safety: Here, the RTAA typically treats the autonomy functions as a black box and simply monitors the platform and fleet for safety violations. The RTAA will monitor, for example, 1) flight envelope parameters such as angle of attack, angular rates, g-loading, etc., determining if their values remain within prescribed limits, 2) flight corridor values, determining if the vehicles are within their prescribed airspace and location for path deconfliction, and 3) path commands generated by the autonomy functions to determine if the vehicle’s maneuvering capabilities can fly the commanded path. If it is determined that safety violations are ensuing, (and assuming no hardware faults or other contingencies are causing unsafe conditions), then the RTAA will deactivate the autonomy functions and activate simpler reversionary controllers or procedures designed to bring the vehicle/fleet back to a safe state.

2. Autonomy function performance: Here, the RTAA is monitoring for correct and/or optimal performance of the autonomy itself. The RTAA must determine if the autonomy functions are, for example, 1) generating correct COAs, including safe, optimal and deconflicted paths, 2) commanding proper asset allocation and reassignment of platform roles, if necessary (e.g., send the vehicle with the most fuel to the furthest mission point, or use the fastest vehicle for the most time-critical objective, etc.), 3) replanning mission objectives accordingly due to unforeseen changes in the environment (inclement weather, observed adversarial threats, etc.), changes in the commander’s intent (uploaded changes to mission objectives, etc.) or other unforeseen contingencies, and 4) addressing other relevant mission aspects to maximize mission effectiveness.

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:

AI Framework for Multimodal Scene Construction and Data Generation - SBIR Topic DAF26BZ01-DV005

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. $140,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

The objective is to develop a capability for generating geo-specific, sensor-independent scenes for multimodal (RF and EO/IR) synthetic data generation by leveraging geo-spatial information, time-of-day, seasonal data, and measured databases, overcoming limitations in existing models and radiometric data.

Description:

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 3.5 of the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws.

The objective is to develop a capability for generating geo-specific, sensor-independent scenes for multimodal (RF and EO/IR) synthetic data generation by leveraging geo-spatial information, time-of-day, seasonal data, and measured databases, overcoming limitations in existing models and radiometric data.

The DoD requires large-scale, high-fidelity background scenes to advance autonomous systems and Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) capabilities. These scenes are critical for providing realistic, context-rich environments that enable AI/ML and/or autonomous systems to learn, adapt, and perform effectively in real-world, dynamic conditions. A critical component of this effort is the ability to generate dynamic, high-fidelity background scenes that realistically model operational environments. Unlike traditional synthetic data generation, which often focuses on isolated sensor outputs, scene generation must create a coherent, interactive world where autonomous agents can navigate, perceive, and process imagery based on their movement and decision-making.

This presents several challenges. First, scene generation requires accurate modeling of complex environmental factors such as terrain variation, urban structures, vegetation, weather conditions, and electromagnetic propagation—all of which impact sensor performance. Additionally, ensuring spatial and temporal consistency across multimodal data (e.g., RF and EO/IR) is far more demanding than simply generating independent synthetic datasets. Autonomous systems rely on their ability to interpret changes in the environment dynamically, requiring realistic physics-based interactions between sensors and the scene. Further, aligning RF and EO/IR perspectives within the same scenario for sensor fusion introduces an added layer of complexity, demanding precise calibration of sensor viewpoints, occlusions, and atmospheric effects.

To accurately model such complex environments, scene generation tools must not only produce synthetic RF and EO/IR data but also ensure that these representations align with real-world sensor measurements. When the underlying environment is well-characterized, scene generation tools can generate multimodal imagery alongside ground truth labels, providing ready-made datasets for AI/ML models and autonomous agents. However, their effectiveness is often constrained by the availability of accurate models and measured databases that capture the necessary radiometric and electromagnetic characteristics of the environment. Addressing these limitations requires the development of software that integrates geospatial data, time-of-day, seasonal variations, measured databases, and land cover data to generate detailed representations of the environment. Furthermore, this software must support standardized scene formats compatible with existing simulation tools such as FLITES (EO/IR) and Xpatch (RF), allowing for flexible resolution and fidelity adjustments based on scenario requirements. Finally, a structured approach should be proposed to refine synthetic scene renderings as real-world measurements become available, improving realism and scene fidelity over time.

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:

Low-Cost Modular Payload Vehicle for Agile Electronic Warfare Swarms with Ground Launch Capability - SBIR Topic DAF26BZ01-NV003

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. $140,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop a low-cost, versatile sUAS platform (Group 3 and below) specifically designed to accommodate modular payloads and capable of ground launch. This platform should enable agile electronic warfare applications in swarms. This topic is intended to develop a standalone solution that can be integrated with a variety of payloads, either by modifying an existing sUAS platform or by developing a new platform from the ground up.

Description:

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 3.5 of the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws.

Develop a low-cost, versatile sUAS platform (Group 3 and below) specifically designed to accommodate modular payloads and capable of ground launch. This platform should enable agile electronic warfare applications in swarms. This topic is intended to develop a standalone solution that can be integrated with a variety of payloads, either by modifying an existing sUAS platform or by developing a new platform from the ground up.

The effective deployment of electronic warfare (EW) capabilities relies on agile and adaptable platforms that can rapidly integrate and deploy a variety of payloads. Current sUAS platforms often lack the modularity and flexibility required to support the rapid evolution of EW technology. This topic addresses the need for a low-cost, versatile sUAS platform specifically designed to accommodate modular payloads and designed for ground launch, enabling rapid deployment in diverse operational environments. Proposals may consider either modifying an existing, commercially available sUAS platform to meet the requirements of this topic, or developing a new platform optimized for modularity and ground launch.

The key innovation is the development of a sUAS platform (either new or modified) with a standardized payload interface that allows for rapid integration and swapping of different payloads. This modular design, combined with ground launch capability, will enable:

 Rapid Payload Integration: Simplified and standardized interfaces for connecting power, data, and control signals to the payload.

 Payload Agnosticism: The ability to accommodate a wide range of payload sizes, weights, and power requirements.

 Enhanced Mission Flexibility: The ability to quickly reconfigure the sUAS for different missions by swapping payloads.

 Simplified Logistics: Reduced maintenance and support costs through standardized components and interfaces.

 Ground Launch Compatibility: Robust design specifically for compatibility with ground launch systems, enabling rapid deployment from ground-based platforms, even in challenging terrain.

The sUAS platform should be optimized for operation in low to medium sized swarms (3-10 units), allowing for coordinated EW effects. The design should also prioritize low cost, ease of use, reliability, and the following Key Performance Parameters (KPPs):

 Payload Capacity: Minimum of 5 lbs

 Endurance: Minimum flight time of 45 minutes with a 5 lb payload.

 Range: Minimum operational range of 100 kilometers.

 Ground Launch System Compatibility: Compatible with a readily available ground launch system (e.g., pneumatic launcher, rail system).

 Deployment Time: Capable of being launched and operational within 5 minutes of arrival at the launch site.

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:

Environmental Exposure Detection Technologies and/or Decontamination Treatments for Military Working Dogs - SBIR DHA26BZ01-NV003

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. $250,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop decontamination treatments for military working dogs that have been exposed to toxic industrial chemicals and materials through the performance of their duties.

Description:

This topic is in support of the DoD Working Dog Strategic Research Plan concerning mitigation, countermeasures and treatments for toxin/toxic exposures1. In modern military operations, military working dogs (MWDs) are at risk of exposure by many different types of hazardous materials. These include toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) and materials (TIMs) such as hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, glycols, hazardous metals, gases (hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulfide, freon, carbon monoxide, etc.), acids and alkali substances. Techniques for the decontamination of hazardous material exposures to the surface of the MWD are well defined2,3,4. Although there are useful treatment options for external decontamination, there are few treatment options for toxic exposures that have been absorbed into the body of the MWD.

The objective of this topic is to develop new treatments for MWDs against hazardous materials that have been absorbed into the body either through the skin or mucous membranes, by inhalation, or ingestion. Current systemic treatments employed to care for MWDs include supportive antibiotic therapy for sulfur mustard, atropine injections for nerve agents, and Narcan for narcotics, but there are limited treatment options available for TIC/TIM exposures4,5,6. Systemic treatments for the MWD should be able to be performed by veterinarians and their support personnel (trained animal care specialists (68T) in Role 1 and/or veterinary medical and surgical teams (VMST) in Role 2). Potential MWD systemic treatments could include but are not limited to kits containing indicators or detectors of TIC/TIM exposure with easily identifiable injectable treatments for the identified contaminant (indicator/detector) and/or hemoperfusion systems and filters that can be used to remove contaminants from the blood (systemic). This research topic does not support the use of canines for testing purposes. Any animal testing would require use of a suitable animal model that would approximate the response of a canine.

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:

Development of Wearable Device for Detecting Biomarkers and Treating Viral and Bacterial Infections - SBIR DHA26BZ01-NV004

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. $250,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Develop a non-invasive wearable device that can discretely detect biomarkers for and provide initial broad-spectrum treatment for pan-viral and pan-bacterial infections. If fielded for military use, it may require additional security measures.

Description:

The DHA Strategic Research Plan (SRP): Environmental Exposures (June 2024) lists two capability requirements under the “Assess” and “Treat” capability areas that align with this proposal: Environmental Detection and Health Risk Assessments under Assess and Environmental Exposures Treatment under Treat. In addition, the DHA SRP: Military Infectious Diseases (May 2024) lists three capability requirements under the “Prevent”, “Treat”, and “Enable” capability areas that align with this proposal: Prevention of Military Relevant Endemic and Emerging Infectious Diseases under Prevent, Treatment of Military Relevant Endemic and Emerging Infectious Diseases under Treat, and Core Competencies under Enable.

The Department of the Air Force (DAF) is looking for an advanced, non-invasive (does not break the skin or physically enter the body) wearable device (i.e., flash/continuous glucose style monitoring) capable of qualitatively detecting all-viral and all-bacterial infections using discrete biomarkers for such infections: TRAIL, MxA, CD46, IP-10, PTX3, or other non-blood based biomarkers (saliva, sweat, etc.) for viral infections and CRP, PCT, IL-6, IL-8, CD35, CD55, CD64, pro-ADM, or other non-blood based biomarkers (saliva, sweat, etc.) for bacterial infections. The end goal is a wearable device that discretely detects viral and bacterial infections and renders initial, broad-spectrum anti-viral or anti-bacterial treatment(s) at austere operational environments where no immediate medical countermeasures and no other detection capabilities are available until casualties are evacuated to locations with more robust medical resources for additional and specific differentiation and treatment. At a higher echelon of care, medical personnel must be able to receive data from the device to find out what category of threats (viral or bacterial) has triggered a biomarker detection and what corresponding treatments have been rendered to the affected force before providing more advanced care.

By continuously monitoring validated biomarkers, this device will empower warfighters to detect and respond to biological threats early, enhancing their survivability and operational effectiveness in high-threat theaters and mitigating risks to mission and force. This Air Force Medical Command initiative improves force health protection and ensures mission success. Dual-use functionality of this technology will focus on civilian healthcare systems.

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:

Detection and Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury in Military Working Dogs - SBIR DHA26BZ01-NV002

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. $250,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

Evaluate previously developed traumatic brain injury (TBI) detection and treatments methods that can be repurposed for use in military working dogs (MWDs) after suffering from battlefield injuries.

Description:

This topic is in support of the DoD Working Dog Strategic Research Plan concerning mitigation, strategies, and treatments for the detection and treatment of TBI.1 Due to the high-risk nature of MWD operations, TBI is a common injury. TBI in the MWD carries an extremely high mortality rate with a prehospital mortality of over 40% for severe TBI cases. It is estimated that 25-40% of all MWD trauma cases are accompanied by TBI, but there is limited data concerning the short- and long-term effects of TBI on the performance and health of the MWD. Current clinical detection methods for TBI in the MWD are by the observation of altered mentation (coma, stupor, depression, lethargy, inappropriate behavior or responses) of the MWD and by use of the modified veterinary Glasgow coma scale or with physical evidence of head trauma (e.g., lacerations, abrasions, bruising, swelling, pain, bleeding from the nose or ears). Current treatment guidelines for TBI in MWDs are largely based on treatment recommendations for humans and are primarily supportive measures to maintain blood pressure, oxygen levels, proper ventilation, and body temperature to mitigate secondary injuries2,3,4. There have been many TBI detection methods and treatment strategies developed for humans that have shown promising results in rodent and large animal models5. The objective of this SBIR is to review research that was performed in rodents, canines, or other large animal models that could be repurposed for the detection and treatment of TBI specifically in MWDs. This research topic does not support the use of canines for testing purposes. Any animal testing would require use of suitable animal model that would approximate the response of a canine.

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: