How to Respond to a DARPA BAA: A Guide for New Proposers

September 18, 2025 · 6 min read

Ethan Park

What Is a DARPA BAA and Why Should You Care?

A Broad Agency Announcement is DARPA's primary mechanism for soliciting innovative research proposals. Unlike traditional government contracts that specify exactly what the agency wants to buy, BAAs describe broad problem areas and invite proposers to pitch novel solutions. This open-ended structure is what makes DARPA unique and what makes responding to BAAs both an opportunity and a challenge.

Right now, every major DARPA office has an active office-wide BAA accepting proposals on a rolling basis. The Tactical Technology Office is funding research in rapid force structure adaptation, long-range effects, and disruptive innovation. The Microsystems Technology Office is pursuing advances in quantum circuits, photonic sensing, and secure communications. The Defense Sciences Office and Biological Technologies Office both have open BAAs running through mid-to-late 2026.

If you have technology that could advance national security, there has never been a better time to engage.

The Two-Stage Submission Process

Most DARPA BAAs follow a two-stage process that many first-time proposers misunderstand.

Stage 1: The Executive Summary

Your executive summary is a brief document, typically two to four pages, that outlines your proposed concept, technical approach, and team qualifications. This is not a formality. It is a screening mechanism. DARPA program managers use executive summaries to determine whether they want to see a full proposal from you.

A strong executive summary does three things in limited space. It clearly states the problem you are solving and why it matters to DARPA's mission. It describes your technical approach at a high enough level to demonstrate feasibility without drowning in detail. And it establishes your team's credibility to execute the proposed work.

A weak executive summary reads like a marketing brochure. Avoid superlatives, avoid vague claims about "revolutionary" or "game-changing" technology, and avoid describing your company's history at the expense of the technical concept.

Stage 2: The Full Proposal

If your executive summary generates interest, you will be invited to submit a full proposal. This is where the real work happens. Full proposals typically include a detailed technical approach, a management plan, a cost proposal, and supporting documentation such as resumes and organizational information.

The critical point that many proposers miss: your full proposal must be self-contained. Do not assume that the reviewer has read your executive summary or that the same person who reviewed your summary will evaluate your full proposal. Every claim, every technical assertion, and every milestone should be fully explained within the proposal document itself.

Understanding DARPA's Evaluation Criteria

DARPA evaluates proposals based on criteria published in each BAA. While specific criteria vary by program, most BAAs assess three dimensions.

Technical Merit and Innovation

This is the most heavily weighted criterion in nearly every DARPA BAA. Reviewers want to see a novel approach that goes beyond incremental improvements to existing technology. But novelty alone is insufficient. Your approach must be technically sound, with clear evidence that your proposed methods can achieve the stated objectives.

Include preliminary data or proof-of-concept results when available. Acknowledge the key technical risks in your approach and describe specific mitigation strategies. Reviewers are scientists and engineers who will recognize hand-waving immediately.

Team Qualifications and Relevant Experience

DARPA funds teams, not just ideas. Your proposal must demonstrate that your team has the specific expertise needed to execute the proposed work. This means more than listing credentials. Describe relevant prior work, reference specific publications or demonstrations, and explain how each team member's expertise maps to the technical challenges in your proposal.

For small businesses and university groups that may lack defense experience, this is where teaming arrangements become essential. Partnering with an organization that has relevant clearances, test infrastructure, or operational connections can make the difference between a credible proposal and one that reviewers dismiss as interesting but unexecutable.

Cost Realism and Schedule Feasibility

DARPA is not looking for the cheapest proposal. They are looking for realistic cost estimates that demonstrate you understand what it actually takes to do the proposed work. Underestimating costs signals either inexperience or a plan to cut corners.

Your schedule should include clear milestones with measurable deliverables at each stage. Program managers need to track progress against concrete metrics, not subjective assessments of completion percentage.

Five Mistakes That Kill DARPA Proposals

Drawing from years of leading proposal teams on DARPA contracts, these are the errors I see most frequently from otherwise strong technical teams.

1. Ignoring the BAA's Specific Language

Every BAA contains specific problem statements and areas of interest. Your proposal must respond directly to these stated needs, using the BAA's own terminology and framing. A technically brilliant proposal that does not map to the BAA's stated priorities will be evaluated as non-responsive.

2. Writing for Peers Instead of Program Managers

Your proposal will be reviewed by experts, but they may not be specialists in your exact subdomain. Write clearly enough that an intelligent non-specialist can follow your argument. Define acronyms, explain foundational assumptions, and avoid assuming shared knowledge that may not exist across disciplines.

3. Overpromising on Deliverables

Proposing to solve every aspect of a complex problem in a single contract period is a red flag. DARPA program managers would rather fund a focused effort that delivers meaningful results on a well-defined subset of the problem than a sprawling effort that risks delivering nothing useful.

4. Neglecting the Transition Plan

A proposal that ends with "we will publish our results" is not competitive. DARPA exists to create capabilities, not papers. Describe how your technology will move from the laboratory to operational use. Identify the transition partner, the follow-on acquisition pathway, and the operational end user.

5. Submitting at the Last Minute

DARPA's own guidance encourages early submission to avoid technical difficulties with the submission system. But beyond logistics, early submission gives you the opportunity to receive feedback on your executive summary and adjust your full proposal accordingly. Organizations that treat the deadline as a target rather than a limit are at a structural disadvantage.

Making the Most of DARPA's Open BAAs

The current set of office-wide BAAs from DARPA's Tactical Technology Office, Defense Sciences Office, Microsystems Technology Office, and Biological Technologies Office represent a broad aperture for innovative ideas. These BAAs accept proposals across a wide range of topics, which means your technology does not need to fit into a narrowly defined program to receive funding.

Start by reading each relevant BAA carefully, noting the specific technical areas and focus areas described. Then attend any scheduled Proposers Day events or industry days associated with the BAA. These events are the single best opportunity to understand what program managers are really looking for beyond what is written in the solicitation.

If you are new to DARPA, consider starting with an executive summary submission to gauge interest before investing the significant effort required for a full proposal. And do not underestimate the value of a pre-submission conversation with a program manager. DARPA encourages these discussions, and a brief exchange can save you weeks of work on a proposal that does not align with agency priorities.

Tools like Granted can help streamline your proposal development process, from analyzing solicitation requirements to generating compliant draft sections, so your team can focus on the technical substance that wins awards.

Keep Reading

Ready to write your next proposal? Granted AI analyzes your RFP, coaches you through the requirements, and drafts every section. Start your 7-day free trial today.