Defense Innovation Unit Counter-UAS Sensing for Homeland and Mobile Defense for AI-Enabled Small Drone Detection

Defense Innovation Unit Counter-UAS Sensing for Homeland and Mobile Defense for AI-Enabled Small Drone Detection is sponsored by Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), U.S. Department of Defense. The Defense Innovation Unit's Counter-UAS Sensing for Homeland and Mobile Defense solicitation seeks commercial sensor solutions that detect small drones threatening military installations across the United States, with potential civil-defense applications.

Tap Into a $100+ Billion Market If we think there’s a good match between your solution and our DoW partners, we’ll invite you to provide us with a full proposal — this is the beginning of negotiating all the terms and conditions of a proposed prototype contract. After a successful prototype, the relationship can continue and even grow, as your company and any interested DoW entity can easily enter into follow-on contracts.

We solicit commercial solutions that address current needs of our DoW partners. (View all open solicitations and challenges . You send us a short brief about your solution.

We’ll get back to you within 30 days if we’re interested in learning more through a pitch. If we're not interested, we'll strive to let you know ASAP. DIU helps minimize up-front costs for commercial tech companies interested in working with DoW.

Partner at Venrock Capital DIU is significantly moving the needle in helping venture-backed technology companies serve the DoD and in doing so is helping attract more innovation and capital to U.S. defense priorities. Who is eligible to submit solution briefs? Any individual or commercial entity is eligible to respond to a DIU solicitation.

Whether you are experienced with selling to government or this is your first time, we encourage all entities with applicable commercial solutions to submit to open DIU solicitations. What form will this agreement (contract) take? DIU principally leverages the flexibility of Other Transaction (OT) authority to award or prototype OT agreements.

OT procedures allow for successful prototypes to transition into large volume defense contracts. Please refer to the CSO Guide for more information. When can I communicate with DIU?

Any time! Please visit the Contact page to reach out. We encourage communication with DIU before, during, and after the CSO process.

How is intellectual property treated and protected? Virtually every aspect of an OT contract or agreement is negotiable, including IP. Prior to the start of a project, it is important that a company identify rights in pre-existing data.

In general, companies retain ownership of IP assets created during the effort. DoW usually licenses certain rights to use these assets in accordance with the OT contract terms and conditions. These rights control, inter alia, how DoW can use, disclose, or reproduce company-owned proprietary information.

Payment will be made by the Defense Finance and Accounting Services and will be based upon milestones agreed to by DoW and the company and incorporated into the OT contract or agreement. Your company will be responsible for submitting invoices into the Invoicing, Receiving, Acceptance and Property Transfer (iRAPT) module of the Wide Area Workflow (WAWF) application. More information on iRAPT can be found here .

Are there opportunities for future business and follow-on work? Yes! In accordance with 10 USC 4022, and upon a determination that the prototype project has successfully been completed, any competitively awarded prototype-OT contract or agreement may result in the award of a follow-on production contract or agreement without the use of additional competitive procedures.