1,000+ Opportunities
Find the right grant
Search federal, foundation, and corporate grants with AI — or browse by agency, topic, and state.
The LUCAS Component Challenge funds components for the Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System family - the U.S. military's push toward cheap, mass-producible attritable air platforms - and it is one of the more accessible defence autonomy opportunities currently open because it is deliberately structured for companies with no prior DoD experience.
The Government is seeking prototypes and concepts that reduce cost, increase performance, improve manufacturability and strengthen mission adaptability, targeting aircraft already fielded, upcoming variants, and platform-agnostic interfaces for future LUCAS systems. Two of the focus areas are squarely AI.
The Artificial Intelligence category covers machine learning, perception, autonomy and decision aids that improve mission planning, predictive maintenance and autonomous performance while reducing operator workload. The Swarm and Collaborative Autonomy category covers distributed sensing, mesh networking, cooperative tasking and multi-vehicle behaviours.
A separate Mission Command Planner and Executor area seeks tools translating commander intent into executable tasking with rapid re-tasking and secure mission execution. Awards typically run 500,000 to 5,000,000 dollars under an Other Transaction Authority, and the solicitation operates on a rolling basis - open for 120 days from posting, with weekly reviews and down-selects anticipated within thirty to forty-five days of submission.
That cadence rewards submitting early rather than polishing to a deadline.
Get a weekly digest of new grants like this
A free weekly digest of new foundation and federal funding opportunities as they're added to Granted. Unsubscribe anytime.
Or search similar grants →According to the current listing, eligibility includes: Deliberately broad: small vendors, non-traditional suppliers, startups, early-stage companies, commercial dual-use developers and international partners are all eligible, and no prior Department of Defense experience is required. Awards are made under the One Nation Innovation (ONIX) Other Transaction Authority rather than as grants or FAR-based contracts, with coordination from OUSD R&E. Submissions should address components for the LUCAS family of low-cost uncrewed combat attack systems - either for aircraft already fielded, upcoming variants, or platform-agnostic interfaces for future systems - and should reduce cost, increase performance, improve manufacturability or strengthen mission adaptability. AI-relevant focus areas include Artificial Intelligence (machine learning, perception, autonomy and decision aids for mission planning, predictive maintenance and autonomous performance), Swarm and Collaborative Autonomy (distributed sensing, mesh networking, cooperative tasking, multi-vehicle behaviours), and Mission Command Planner and Executor tools. Awards typically range from 500,000 to 5,000,000 US dollars. The solicitation is open and rolling, running 120 days from posting with weekly reviews and rapid down-selects anticipated within thirty to forty-five days of submission; a stated submission date of 24 June 2026 applies to one review cycle rather than closing the solicitation. International participants should confirm export control, ITAR and foreign-ownership constraints before investing bid effort. Verify current status, cycle dates and submission requirements with the ONIX OTA challenge posting before submitting. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows awards typically range from 500,000 to 5,000,000 US dollars, which sets amount_min at 500,000 and amount_max at 5,000,000. The award mechanism is an Other Transaction rather than a grant or a FAR-based contract, which changes the calculus in two ways worth understanding before committing bid effort. First, OTs can move far faster than conventional procurement - the challenge runs weekly reviews with rapid down-selects anticipated within thirty to forty-five days of submission, so a company can go from submission to award inside two months rather than the nine to twelve typical of a BAA. Second, OTs frequently carry cost-share or non-traditional-participation requirements, and prototype OTs can lead directly to follow-on production awards without recompetition, which makes the ceiling on this opportunity considerably higher than the 5,000,000 dollar headline for a component that gets designed into the fielded platform. Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
LUCAS Component Challenge (ONIX OTA) for AI, Autonomy and Swarm Technologies in Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack Systems is funded by One Nation Innovation (ONIX) Other Transaction Authority on behalf of U.S. Government partners, with coordination from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD R&E). 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 NSF Computer and Information Science and Engineering: Future Computing Research (Future CoRe) program (NSF 25-543) supports foundational computing research and education with a strong emphasis on AI and machine learning. The program funds research that advances the foundations of computing including AI/ML theory, algorithms, systems, and applications. Future CoRe supports small to medium-sized research projects that can have significant impact on computing foundations. The program has target dates of February 5, 2026 and September 10, 2026 for proposal submissions (note: these are target dates, not deadlines, meaning proposals may be submitted at any time but will be reviewed in batches around these dates). Investigators may not serve as PI, co-PI, or Senior/Key Personnel on more than two proposals submitted within any consecutive 12-month period across all Future CoRe programs. This is one of NSF's primary mechanisms for funding fundamental AI and machine learning research at U.S. academic institutions, covering areas such as machine learning theory, natural language processing, computer vision, robotics foundations, and human-AI interaction.
The ONR Long Range Broad Agency Announcement (N00014-25-S-B001) is the Office of Naval Research's primary mechanism for soliciting research proposals across all naval science and technology priority areas. The BAA accepts proposals on a rolling basis through September 30, 2026 and covers ONR's full spectrum of research interests with particular emphasis on AI-related topics including autonomous maritime systems, human-machine teaming, machine learning for sensor fusion, cooperative autonomous swarm technology, undersea autonomy, and AI-enabled decision superiority. Proposals can be funded through multiple mechanisms including individual investigator grants, the Young Investigator Program (~$510K over 3 years for early-career faculty), and Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) awards ($1.5M/year for 3-5 years for research teams). ONR recommends contacting relevant program officers before submitting to discuss alignment with current research priorities. The BAA supports basic research (6.1), applied research (6.2), and advanced technology development (6.3) across the full range of naval-relevant science and engineering disciplines.
DE-FOA-0003600 is the DOE Office of Science's FY 2026 open, rolling solicitation for financial assistance, providing roughly $500 million across seven program areas: Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, and Isotope R&D and Production. AI and machine learning research is supported directly through Advanced Scientific Computing Research, while Biological and Environmental Research funds atmospheric process research, environmental systems process research, and earth-energy systems modeling — making this a major channel for AI-enhanced climate and earth system modeling work. DOE anticipates 200 to 350 new awards ranging from $5,000 to $5 million each, with project periods from six months to five years. The FOA opened September 30, 2025 and accepts applications on a rolling basis through the end of FY 2026.
DARPA transferred its first autonomous-ready H-60Mx Black Hawk to the Army on March 20, capping a decade of ALIAS research. Now the same technology underpins an SBIR XL opportunity for small businesses building wildfire autonomy.
Read articleThe DSO DPA26BZ03 drop pairs a wearable closed-loop sleep system and a host-pathogen interactome predictor with a brutal Rydberg-sensor manufacturing topic and air-independent high-density batteries. All four open June 24 and close July 22, 2026. Here is what each topic is really asking for, and which small businesses are positioned to win.
Read articleMTO opened six SBIR topics on May 27 with a single June 24 close: nanopore proteomics, compact wideband tunable RF filters, 800°C-rated integrated circuits, passive thermal spreaders, radiation-hardened codesign, and low-resource computing for legacy hardware reuse. Together they map the office's bet on where U.S. semiconductor advantage gets reasserted — and which small businesses get to ride along.
Read article