Low Cost Malleable Metastructure Adherents for Maritime Environments - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV029

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is planned to be released once the SBIR program is reauthorized; however, this topic may ultimately be modified or withdrawn.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 material with the ability to rapidly and cost effectively produce metastructures or frequency selective surfaces which can be adhered to naval assets or similar systems (e.g., apertures, super-structures substructures, deployable, etc.).

Description:

Several industries and Department of War (DOW) systems rely on Frequency Selective Surfaces (FSS), metastructures, or comparable materials to protect critical assets, including communications, radar, and Electromagnetic Warfare (EW) systems. Similar materials are also used as protective coatings for Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) systems—particularly in airborne and maritime applications—where they are consistently challenged by harsh maritime environments. These coatings, covers, and materials are susceptible to degradation from salt, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and water intrusion due to their attachment to substructures, structures, or apertures.

Furthermore, the manufacturing and application of these materials are often considered expensive, time-consuming, and technically demanding due to platform-specific requirements. Recent constraints within the industrial base—such as the reduced availability of certain materials like CFC resins and polymers—have further exacerbated production challenges. These limitations have driven up costs, which have not benefited from economies of scale or broader adoption.

This SBIR topic seeks to develop alternative solutions that offer frequency selectivity, moldability (to conform to existing superstructures, substructures, or complex geometries), and resilience to maritime environments. In theory, such advancements would enable optimal dynamic performance across RF, microwave, or EO/IR domains, while maintaining durability in challenging conditions.

FSS remains the incumbent solution of choice, given its broadband frequency response, manufacturability, and superior durability in maritime conditions—advantages not matched by commercially available polymer-based fiberglass radomes, which typically lack frequency selectivity or the directive enhancements required by DOW systems. The reduction in availability and manufacturability of certain composites—due to regulatory restrictions or hazardous byproducts—has created an urgent need to pursue viable alternatives. Operating apertures across multiple frequency octaves remains a significant challenge for manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Addressing the outlined challenges while achieving required performance objectives will likely demand innovation across multiple technical disciplines, including:

Frequency Response – such as L, S, C, X and Ku Band and/or EOIR: Optical, midwave, longwave, others

Advanced high-performance materials (ceramics, polymers or superalloys)

Novel manufacturing or machining techniques

Advanced 3 D optimized material additive manufacturing

3D optimized structures, magnetics or similar (inductor/capacitive/parasitic imbedded circuits)

Highly resilient coatings, or new coating application techniques to existing materials

Highly flexible embedded thin film materials

While existing materials with modifications will be considered, alternative solutions are also welcomed. However, the potential impact of these alternative designs—relative to existing materials or coatings—will be a factor during the selection process. Proposers should clearly identify any necessary mitigation considerations (e.g., storage, handling, disposal, etc.) required to support a credible path to qualification and approval for shipboard or airborne use.

The primary objective of this SBIR effort is to develop a material capable of broadband performance—defined here as the ability to provide frequency response across multiple octaves compared to existing materials. However, the proposed material must also be operationally viable and capable of meeting several critical performance objectives. Specifically, the solution should:

demonstrate through-performance (S21) in a near-field environment across multiple frequency octaves.

operate effectively across multiple bands of the EO/IR spectrum.

adhere to materials with sharp angles and varied geometries.

be capable of long-term storage without degradation after manufacturing or adherence to a structure.

withstand at least five years in a maritime environment without significant performance degradation (defined as be rapidly applied to a surface with minimal preparation, achieving adherence in less than 24 hours.

demonstrate a reduction in abatement of signal return in multiple bands within the microwave and or the EO/IR energy regime radio frequency/midwave (RF/MW).

demonstrate that at scale the production cost can be lower than production of existing materials.

Acceptable solutions must also align with intended deployment scenarios, including shipboard/surface, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), and land-based applications. For demonstration purposes, a commercial broadband antenna or a commercially available EO/IR camera may serve as the interface to evaluate proposed materials as radomes, covers, or adapters under defined boundary conditions. Demonstrations must show functional performance across at least two frequency bands—within the L-band to Ku-band range (e.g., S-band and C-band).

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:

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

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

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

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

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

Description:

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

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

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

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

Who will win?

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

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

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

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

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

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

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

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

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

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

Description:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Who will win?

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

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

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

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

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

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

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

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

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

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

Description:

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

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

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

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

Who will win?

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

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

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

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

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

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

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

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

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

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

Description:

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

Who will win?

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

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

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

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

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

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

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

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

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

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

Description:

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

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

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

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

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

Critical AI technology components and developments are as follows:

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

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

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

Data quality, data interoperability, data generation.

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

Spatiotemporal synchronization methods for multimodal data across decentralized architectures.

Multimodal contextual signal processing and fusion.

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

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

Contextual reasoning, risk assessment, and risk reduction.

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

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

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

AI-assisted targeteer maneuvers and engagements.

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

Who will win?

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

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

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

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

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

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

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

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

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

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

Description:

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

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

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

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

Key requirements:

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

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

- Greater than 8 petabytes of data storage

- Must meet data at rest security requirements

- Must meet non-volatility certification requirements

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

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

- Compliance with shipboard installation environmental qualification requirements

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

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

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

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

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

Who will win?

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

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

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

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

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

Robocasting Ceramic Sensors - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV021

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

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

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

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

Description:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Who will win?

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

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

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

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

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

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

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

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

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

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

Description:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Who will win?

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

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

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

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

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

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

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

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

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

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

Description:

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

Who will win?

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

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

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

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

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

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

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

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

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

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

Description:

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

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

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

Who will win?

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

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

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

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

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

Production of Norbornadiene - STTR Topic DON26TZ01-NV018

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

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

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

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

Description:

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

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

Who will win?

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

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

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

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

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

Lightweight Beaching Ramp for Ships - SBIR Topic DON26BZ01-NV018

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

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

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

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

Description:

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

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

Who will win?

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

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

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

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

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

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

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

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

Funding Amount:

Est. $240,000

Deadline to Apply:

Est. April 29th, 2026.

Objective:

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

Description:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Who will win?

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

Who is eligible to apply?

Any company that meets the following criteria:

• For-profit company

• U.S.-owned and controlled.

• 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

How Can BW&CO Help?

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

2) Proposal strategy and review.

3) Administrative & compliance support.

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