DARPA ANCILLARY Program

DARPA ANCILLARY Program is sponsored by DARPA. Seeks robust AI/ML for autonomous collaborative swarms in uncertain environments, applicable to wildfire drone operations. This program should be reviewed carefully against your organization's mission, staffing capacity, timeline, and compliance readiness before you commit resources to a full application. Strong submissions usually translate sponsor priorities into concrete objectives, clear implementation milestones, and measurable public benefit.

For planning purposes, treat rolling deadlines or periodic funding windows as your working submission target unless the sponsor publishes an updated notice. A competitive project plan should include a documented need statement, implementation approach, evaluation framework, risk controls, and a realistic budget narrative. Even when a grant allows broad program design, reviewers still expect credible evidence that the proposed work can be executed within the grant period and with appropriate accountability.

Current published award information indicates Varies, multimillion contracts Organizations should verify the final funding range, matching requirements, and allowability rules directly in the official opportunity materials before preparing a budget. Finance and program teams should align early so direct costs, indirect costs, staffing assumptions, procurement timelines, and reporting obligations all remain consistent throughout drafting and post-award administration.

Eligibility guidance for this opportunity is: US organizations, universities, companies If your organization has partnerships, subrecipients, or collaborators, define responsibilities and compliance ownership before submission. Reviewers often look for implementation credibility, so letters of commitment, prior performance evidence, and a clear governance model can materially strengthen the application narrative and reduce concerns about delivery risk.

A practical approach is to begin with a focused readiness review, then build a workback schedule from the sponsor deadline. Confirm required attachments, registration dependencies, and internal approval checkpoints early. This reduces last-minute issues and improves submission quality. For the most accurate requirements, always rely on the official notice and primary source links associated with DARPA ANCILLARY Program.

Additional Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements An official website of the United States Government **Official websites use . mil** A **. mil** website belongs to an official U.

S. Department of War organization. **Secure .

mil websites use HTTPS** A **lock** ( ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the . mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

* [](https://www. darpa. mil/search) [](https://www.

darpa. mil/search) [](https://www. darpa.

mil/about/offices/contracts-management/grants-agreements) 4. Contracts Management Office 5.

Grants and Cooperative Agreements Grants and cooperative agreements Grants and cooperative agreements with non-profit and educational institutions will be subject to the DoD Research and Development general terms and conditions, which can be found at: DoD Research and Development General Terms and Conditions Additionally, the following DARPA-specific terms and conditions will apply: DARPA Agency-specific Terms and Conditions. **Grants.

gov Submission Information** DARPA encourages grant and cooperative agreement proposers to submit their proposals via electronic upload. Proposers that plan to submit through Grants. gov must be aware of the following procedures and the potential time it may take to complete them.

Proposers electing to use Grants. gov must complete a one-time registration process on Grants. gov before a proposal can be electronically submitted.

However, before you can register as an applicant with Grants. gov, you will need to obtain a DUNS number and complete registration in SAM. These processes can take up to four weeks.

Once your DUNS number has been verified, you can submit your registration to Grants. gov. For more information, see http://www.

grants. gov/web/grants/register. html.

**2. Submit an Application** Submit your proposal via electronic upload at: https://www. grants.

gov/applicants/grant-applications/how-to-apply-for-grants For more information on submitting proposals to Grants. gov, see: http://www. grants.

gov/web/grants/applicants/applicant-faqs. html. Technical support for Grants.

gov submissions may be reached at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants. gov. **3.

Track an Application** Once Grants. gov has received a proposal submission, Grants. gov will send two email messages to advise proposers as to whether or not their proposals have been validated or rejected by the system.

It may take up to two days to receive these emails. The first email will confirm receipt of the proposal by the Grants. gov system, but this email only confirms receipt, not acceptance, of the proposal.

The second email will indicate that the application has been successfully validated by the system prior to transmission to the grantor agency or that it has been rejected due to errors. If the proposal is validated, then the proposer has successfully submitted their proposal. If the proposal is rejected, the proposed must be corrected and resubmitted before DARPA can retrieve it.

If the solicitation is no longer open, the rejected proposal cannot be resubmitted. Once the proposal is retrieved by DARPA, the proposer will receive a third email from Grants. gov.

For more information on tracking your proposal submission, see: http://www. grants. gov/web/grants/applicants/track-my-application.

html Grants. gov recommends that proposers submit their proposals to Grants. gov 24-28 hours in advance of the proposal due date specified in the BAA to provide sufficient time to complete the registration and submission process, receive email notifications and correct errors, as applicable.

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