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DARPA's SAFRON (Safe and Assured Foundation Robots for Open Environments) program addresses safety and assurance challenges for foundation-model-enabled robots operating in open-world environments. It focuses on mitigating risks such as hallucination, false confidence in reasoning, and manipulation via jailbreaking that could prevent successful task execution.
Research targets formal verification, runtime monitors, uncertainty-aware policies, and red-teaming for foundation-model robotic systems that take natural language commands in unstructured environments. Initial solicitation DARPA-EA-24-01-05 closed January 2025; follow-on Exploration Announcement DARPA-EA-25-02 continues the program.
SAFRON outputs are intended to enable assured deployment of LLM/VLM-driven robots in defense and dual-use civilian settings.
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Search similar grants →According to the current listing, eligibility includes: Open to U.S. universities, industry, FFRDCs, small businesses, and non-profit research organizations. Foreign performers may participate subject to export controls. Proposals submitted through DARPA I2O Exploration Announcements. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows phase 1 awards generally USD 500,000 to USD 1,500,000 over 12 to 18 months under DARPA Exploration Announcement structure. Multi-phase performers may receive aggregate awards exceeding USD 5,000,000. Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
Applications for DARPA SAFRON Safe and Assured Foundation Robots for Open Environments for Foundation Model Safety in Natural Language Robot Commands are due June 30, 2026. Build your timeline backwards from this date to cover registrations, approvals, and final submission checks.
DARPA SAFRON Safe and Assured Foundation Robots for Open Environments for Foundation Model Safety in Natural Language Robot Commands is funded by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Information Innovation Office (I2O). Verify program details on the funder's official page before applying.
Start from the official opportunity page linked in this listing — it carries the sponsor's submission instructions.
The Department of the Navy's NAVAIR and NAVSEA divisions are soliciting Phase I SBIR proposals under topic DON26BX03-NP002 for Counter-Unmanned Air Systems (C-UAS) technologies that detect, track, identify, and neutralize hostile drones and drone swarms threatening naval and shore-based assets. Priority AI capabilities include multi-sensor track fusion, RF/EO/IR classification, swarm intent prediction, and autonomous mitigation effector cueing. Phase I awards are approximately $315,000, with follow-on Phase II awards up to $1.8M and direct paths to operational deployment through Navy programs of record. The topic is part of the broader DoD push to scale counter-drone capability in response to growing UAV threats observed in recent conflicts. Submissions close July 22, 2026.
The Air Force AFWERX SBIR program is soliciting proposals under topic DAF26BZ03-DV020 to develop an AI-driven humanoid robotic fleet management platform that coordinates teams of humanoid maintenance robots performing depot, flightline, and base sustainment tasks. The topic targets the orchestration layer above individual humanoid platforms, including AI task allocation, fleet-level autonomy, predictive maintenance integration, human-robot teaming interfaces, and safety oversight. Awards are made under the AFWERX Open Topic SBIR process with typical Phase II ceilings of approximately $2 million and clear pathways to operational transition through AFWERX SBIR Phase III contracts. Submissions close July 22, 2026.
The Army Applications Lab's DevX Autonomy open call seeks commercial autonomous and unmanned system solutions that can address Army capability gaps in maneuver, sustainment, and force protection. The solicitation accepts proposals on a rolling monthly basis through August 31, 2026, and is targeted at non-traditional defense vendors with autonomy software, AI perception systems, and unmanned ground or aerial platforms. AAL provides early access to Army end users for problem refinement, prototype evaluation, and transition planning. Awards are structured as Other Transaction Agreements, with awards typically between $500K and $2M and a pathway to follow-on Army programs of record. AAL is part of the U.S. Army Futures Command innovation portfolio.
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