DIU Area of Interest: Autonomous Low Profile Vessel (ALPV) Resupply is sponsored by Defense Innovation Unit. A solicitation for autonomous maritime vessels capable of navigating contested littoral environments to deliver vital supplies (cargo pallets and bulk liquids).

Application snapshot: target deadline March 16, 2026; published funding information See official notice; eligibility guidance Nontraditional defense contractors, small businesses, and foreign-owned companies permitted

Use the official notice and source links for final requirements, attachment checklists, allowable costs, and submission instructions before applying.

DIU Submission - Autonomous Low Profile Vessel (ALPV) The Department of War (DoW) faces a littoral contested logistics challenge. Increasingly distributed operations in austere, contested littoral environments are met with all-domain threats targeting logistics capabilities, locations, and activities. These threats limit the ability of warfighters to persist in contested environments and remain combat effective.

The DoW requires the ability to resupply units spread over wide distances in contested littoral environments. Desired Solution Attributes The DoW seeks innovative solutions that provide low-cost logistics transport and enable critical inter-theater resupply within littoral environments.

Proposed solutions should be demonstrable within 180 days of award and built upon principles of the Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) to ensure interoperability and future improvement. Solutions will be evaluated on their problem alignment, technical merit, and innovative approaches to support the delivery and sustainment of maritime autonomous resupply systems, at scale, for operations in contested littoral environments.

The Government will preference solutions that: A minimum of 18,000lbs of cargo; and All classes of supply including bulk liquids. Operate in NATO sea state 5 and survive in NATO sea state 6. Operate at a range of 1,000 to 2,000 nautical miles in NATO sea state 5 while fully laden.

Sustain speed of at least 12 knots in NATO sea state 4 while fully laden. Can loiter for up to 96 hours (assuming reduced speed below 12 knots). Support transloading of all classes of supply, including standard warehouse pallets, Pallet Containers (PALCONs), & Joint Modular Intermodal Containers (JMICs).

Payload dimensions must be capable of safely and reliably transporting: A minimum of six JMICs (JMIC dimensions are 43’’ tall, 51. 75’’ wide, 43. 75’’ long and weighing 3000 pounds); or Two containers each measuring 44” tall, 41.

5” wide, 166” long, and weighing 5100 pounds Capable of autonomous operation for transit, in congested waterways, and for port operations, to include perception, navigation, and operations (to include hazard avoidance) using: Active sensing / global positioning system (M-Code GPS); and Passive sensing during emissions control (EMCON) conditions or when communications are lost (i. e.

operating in Denied, Degraded, Intermittent, and Limited (DDIL) communications environments). Provide sufficient navigational accuracy in DDIL environments to assure reaching the objective location. Prior to completion of prototyping, companies will be expected to demonstrate assured Position, Navigation and Timing in DDIL and GPS-degraded and denied environments.

Employ a low-profile form factor to reduce chances of detection and interdiction by potential adversaries in a contested domain. Provide redundant line of sight and beyond line-of-sight communications capabilities on standard Navy and Marine Corps networks. Capable of manual human operations via remote control, particularly for first and last mile terminal guidance.

Ability to pass vessel control between operators (both for remote control and for autonomous operations). Capable of one human to multiple craft control. Ability to conduct dynamic re-tasking, including changing waypoints and transitioning to loitering operations.

Can conduct shore-to-shore (pier-to-pier), ship-to-ship, and ship-to-shore distribution, including Military Sealift Command vessels and other littoral connectors. Ship or shore-to-beach operations with self-withdrawal after cargo discharge desirable. Require minimal off-platform support (e.

g. , material handling equipment (MHE)) to discharge cargo. Provide over-the-road trailer compatible with both commercial tractor trailers and Marine Corps tactical prime movers.

Resistant to tampering while underway with the ability to remotely scuttle the vessel. Can provide a functional prototype and provide evidence of the ability to scale manufacturing to sustained production levels if selected, including indicators of company health and production readiness. Can provide high-level rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost estimates, to include the build and testing of prototype craft and production at scale.

Proposals for holistic solutions are preferred, and partnering with other companies to deliver solutions addressing all attributes is highly encouraged, e. g. , hardware-autonomy partnerships.

However, companies with compelling, demonstrable capability in one or more of these desired attributes are still encouraged to apply. The Government encourages submission of mature commercial designs and willingness to adopt government-owned designs for the physical platform to meet aggressive timelines and to properly allocate ample resources toward the prototyping of the autonomy portion of the solution.

Government Furnished Information (GFI) will be provided to companies awarded under the CSO process for use to speed integration, reduce redesign, and ensure interoperability.

GFI may include: Reference hardware designs for autonomous low-profile vessels (ALPVs) Baseline software architectures and orchestration frameworks Technical Data Packages (TDPs) Interface Control Documents (ICDs) Data/message protocol specifications and APIs Modeling and simulation environments This area of interest is open to U. S. and international companies.

Companies are reminded that in order to utilize an Other Transaction agreement, the requirements of 10 USC 4022 must be satisfied.

Specifically 10 USC 4022(d) requires significant contribution from a nontraditional defense contractor, all participants to be small business concerns or nontraditional defense contractors, or at least one third of the total cost of the prototype project is to be paid out of funds provided by sources other than the Federal Government.

This Area of Interest solicitation will be awarded in accordance with the Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) process detailed within HQ0845-20-S-C001 (DIU CSO), posted to SAM. gov on 23 March 2020. This document can be found at: https://sam.

gov/opp/e74c907a9220429d9ea995a4e9a2ede6/view . You can also click “View CSO Procedure” found on this webpage. Companies are advised that a prototype Other Transaction (OT) agreement awarded in response to this AOI can lead directly to a significantly larger follow-on production contract or transaction available for use by multiple organizations across the Department of Defense.

This potential follow-on award may occur without the use of further competitive procedures. All prototype OT agreements will include verbiage notifying the awardee that, upon the successful completion of the prototype project, this competitively awarded OT may result in the award of a follow-on production contract or transaction without the use of competitive procedures. What we recommend you include when you submit a solution brief.

When you submit to a DIU solicitation, we'll ask you to include a solution brief. Here's some guidance about what that entails.

Potential Follow-On Production Contract for Prototype Other Transaction Agreements Companies are advised that any Prototype Other Transaction (OT) agreement awarded in response to this solicitation may result in the direct award of a follow-on production contract or agreement without the use of further competitive procedures. Follow-on production activities will result from successful prototype completion.

The follow-on production contract or agreement will be available for use by one or more organizations within the Department of Defense. As a result, the magnitude of the follow-on production contract or agreement could be significantly larger than that of the Prototype OT agreement. All Prototype OT agreements will include the following statement relative to the potential for follow-on production: “In accordance with 10 U.

S. C. § 4022(f), and upon a determination that the prototype project for this transaction has successfully been completed, this competitively awarded Prototype OT agreement may result in the award of a follow-on production contract or transaction without the use of competitive procedures.

” 2023 Other Transaction Guide Common issues with submissions If you are having problems uploading your AOI submission to DIU, it may be one of these common issues with submitting, click here for solutions to common submission issues . Have a question about this solicitation? Need clarification?

Having technical issues? Please fill out the following form in its entirety. Company Contact Information Is your company headquarters address different from your company address?

Yes, a different address. Is your company a partially or wholly owned subsidiary of another company? Yes, partially or wholly owned.

Is your company currently operating in stealth mode? No, but the product or service described in my solution brief is being developed in stealth mode. Is this your company's first submission to a Defense Innovation Unit solicitation?

This applies to solution briefs submitted in response to project-specific solicitations. Yes, this is our first submission Is your company registered in Systems Award Management (SAM. gov) and assigned a current Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code?

Yes, We have a CAGE code. Solution briefs must be saved as a PDF that is 10MB or smaller . Papers should be approximately 5 or fewer pages and slide decks should be approximately 15 or fewer slides.

Upload (1) One Solution Brief Document* (max size 10mb) I certify that this submission contains no data designated higher than "Controlled Unclassified Information" (CUI). Submissions with CUI and "FOUO" material may be accepted. Any agreement awarded off of this solicitation will include language requiring your company to confirm compliance with Section 889 of the John S.

McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Pub. L. 115-232).

If you are not able to comply with the law, the Government may not be able to award the agreement. If we think there’s a good match between your solution and our DoD 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 DoD entity can easily enter into follow-on contracts. We solicit commercial solutions that address current needs of our DoD 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.