Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) (DARPA)

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) (DARPA) is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA's SBIR program funds high-risk, high-reward scientific breakthroughs with the potential to transform national security. It focuses on disruptive engineering concepts and platform-level breakthroughs across various technologies, including AI and autonomy, with dual-use commercial and DoD applications.

Active funding areas include blockchain for federal applications, decentralized identity, AI safety, and quantum computing.

Department of War organization. As of April 13, 2026, the SBIR & STTR programs have been reauthorized. See the topic listings below for more information.

--> Active announcement topics Each year, we publish multiple topic opportunities under the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. All SBIR/STTR topics fall under the current Department of War (DoW) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for that program.

Objective: Develop and demonstrate critical subsystems for an integrated underwater 3D concrete printing system capable of producing structural objects and repairs using local sediments and seawater, with minimal binder content, for expeditionary and commercial applications. Tech office: Strategic Technology Pre-release: Aug. 5, 2026 Closes: Sept.

23, 2026 12:00 PM ET Objective: Develop and demonstrate a mission-aware semantic communications capability for low-SWaP tactical Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms that reduces transmitted multimodal ISR data while preserving mission-relevant context under degraded, disrupted, intermittent, and limited communications. Tech office: Strategic Technology Pre-release: Aug. 5, 2026 Closes: Sept.

23, 2026 12:00 PM ET Universal Cell Culture Platform for Rapid Establishment of Species-Agnostic Cell Lines and Autonomous Culture Operations Objective: Develop and demonstrate a universal, species-agnostic cell culture platform that (1) enables rapid establishment of viable, reproducible cell lines - including induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) where feasible - from diverse non-model species (vertebrate and invertebrate); (2) leverages autonomous, closed-loop culture automation to compress protocol development timelines and ensure cross-laboratory reproducibility; and (3) provides the cellular foundation required to develop and validate in vitro gene-drive and related genetic-biocontrol technologies in non-model species.

Tech office: Biological Technologies Pre-release: Aug. 5, 2026 Closes: Sept.

23, 2026 12:00 PM ET Open Architecture Platform for Underwater Vehicles for Rapid Adaptation, Collaborative Sensing, Navigation, and Autonomy Objective: Develop and demonstrate a modular, open-architecture autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) platform that enables rapid payload adaptation, scalable fleet deployment, advanced multi-vehicle collaboration, and resilient autonomous navigation.

By “open-architecture” we mean open/modular both for hardware reconfiguration as well adhering to open software standards for plug-and-play sensors/comms/nav/autonomy stacks. Tech office: Defense Sciences Pre-release: Aug. 5, 2026 Closes: Sept.

23, 2026 12:00 PM ET Commercialization of Ultra-High Payload-to-Weight UAS Subsystems Objective: The overarching objective is to mature and commercialize revolutionary Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) subsystem designs capable of breaking the 4:1 payload-to-weight ratio.

This topic aims to transition high-risk, high-reward prototype concepts, specifically, those demonstrating exceptional promise in recent heavy-lift prototype programs, into manufacturable, commercially viable solutions for military and industrial use. Tech office: Tactical Technology Pre-release: Aug. 5, 2026 Closes: Sept.

23, 2026 12:00 PM ET Novel Radio Frequency Sensing Technologies Objective: Develop, integrate, and flight-test a high-altitude (~40,000 ft), high-speed (~400 knots) airborne geologic sensing system. The system must be capable of providing rapid, stand-off 3D subsurface tomographic imaging to detect subterranean features such as metals and critical minerals. Tech office: Tactical Technology Pre-release: Sept.

2, 2026 New World Screwworm Networked Detection, Identification, and Surveillance System Objective: Develop and demonstrate a real-time, networked pest detection, identification, and surveillance technology that provides actionable New World Screwworm (NWS) detection and identification accuracy, system reliability, low maintenance, and long and unattended operation. Tech office: Biological Technologies Pre-release: Sept.

2, 2026 Noninvasive Detection and Localization of Occult Hemorrhage Objective: Demonstrate a capability that noninvasively detects and localizes occult (internal) non-compressible hemorrhage outside of a hospital. Tech office: Biological Technologies Pre-release: Sept. 2, 2026 Influence Benchmarks for AI Systems Objective: Develop a testbed utilizing economic frameworks to benchmark AI biases in dynamic environments.

This tool will evaluate how agents adapt, collaborate, or deceive within a simulated marketplace. Ultimately, these assessments will ensure safe and effective AI integration in high-stakes decision-making. Tech office: Biological Technologies Pre-release: Sept.

2, 2026 Casualty Operations & Resource Prediction Software (CORPS) Objective: A software tool to predict casualty/patient streams and needs following large scale medical emergencies in austere environments, and project the lifesaving potential of various response options with limited or no access to real-time data or communications. Tech office: Biological Technologies Pre-release: Sept.

2, 2026 TRIAGE-X: Autonomous Casualty Triage and Treatment in Chemically Contaminated Mass Casualty Events Objective: Develop and demonstrate capability with autonomous medical triage systems to recognize chemical toxidromes and physically deliver the corresponding antidote or life-saving intervention. Tech office: Biological Technologies Pre-release: Sept.

2, 2026 ICU-in-a-Box: Autonomous Extracorporeal Multiple-Organ Support Therapies Objective: Develop (large animal model testing) an autonomous, portable extracorporeal life support platform for prolonged field care that integrates resuscitation, cardiovascular and pulmonary support, and (optionally) electrolyte and medication delivery capabilities. Tech office: Biological Technologies Pre-release: Sept.

2, 2026 Scalable Platform for Enterprise Engineering and Deployment towards Mathematics for the Discovery of Algorithms and Architectures (SPEED DIAL) Objective: Develop and demonstrate a robust framework and tool suite building on automated algorithm discovery tools that will enable the seamless integration of discovered algorithms with the scientific and engineering workflow. Tech office: Defense Sciences Pre-release: Aug.

5, 2026 Closes: Sept.

23, 2026 12:00 PM ET Scalable Hard-mask materials with Improved Etch resistance and Low Degradation for Extreme-aspect-Ratio fabrication (SHIELDER) Objective: Develop and demonstrate novel nanofabrication hard-mask materials that exhibit substantially improved plasma etch resistance, enabling the implementation of extreme high-aspect-ratio structures with excellent pattern-transfer fidelity, minimal sidewall roughness, and precise dimensional control.

Proposed solutions should overcome the fundamental limitations of conventional lithography masks in a scalable fabrication environment by creating next-generation technologies capable of delivering high-resolution nanoscale features encountered across semiconductor, photonic, MEMS, and quantum device platforms. Tech office: Defense Sciences Pre-release: Sept.

2, 2026 Fuel-Flexible Spacecraft Electric Propulsion System Objective: Develop a fuel-flexible spacecraft electric propulsion system capable of operating efficiently on air, water, or mixtures of water/carbon dioxide or nitrogen/hydrogen at >30% electrical efficiency. Tech office: Defense Sciences Pre-release: Sept.

2, 2026 Localization, Characterization, and Modeling of Freestream Disturbances in Hypersonic Wind Tunnel Objective: Develop and demonstrate a robust methodology to localize, characterize and model upstream noise and flow disturbances in hypersonic wind tunnels, specifically targeting high-risk, hard-to-access regions upstream of the test section (e.g., driver, reservoir, nozzle throat and walls) where traditional optical access is restricted or unavailable.

Tech office: Defense Sciences Pre-release: Sept.

2, 2026 Closed announcement topics Smart Whole Blood Field Transfusion system (SWiFT) Objective: Develop and demonstrate a self-contained, autonomous device capable of blood collection, temporary storage (<4hr), diagnostic testing, and transfusion, with continuous donor/recipient monitoring and alerts to issues, revolutionize safe, efficient and effective blood collection and transfusion in both military and civilian settings.

Tech office: Biological Technologies Extremity Platform for On-demand Surgical Implantation and Tissue Integration with Osteochondral Neogenesis Objective: Develop an on-demand regenerative medicine platform for complete finger restoration following trauma, enabling full functional recovery and eliminating the need for traditional finger and joint repair surgeries.

Tech office: Biological Technologies Objective: This effort will develop commercially viable re-use of existing DoW assets in lieu of new hardware investments. Tech office: Microsystems Technology Broadening Availability of Regimens for K-9s (BARK) - Open Topic Objective: Develop medical products that are interoperable and compatible across humans and dogs to meet the health needs of both human warfighters and military working dogs.

Tech office: Biological Technologies Photonic-electronic Panels Integration (PEPI) Objective: Develop and demonstrate a prototype for photonic-electronic panel technology for the integration of photonic chips (PICs) that contain high-density three-dimensional chip-to-chip and intra-chip optical routing technology developed by the DARPA Heterogeneous Adaptively Produced Photonic Interfaces (HAPPI) program.

Tech office: Microsystems Technology Spreaders for Microsystems with Advanced Thermal Resilience (SMART) Objective: To develop passive thermal management technologies for extreme environment and high-power density systems, resulting in a conformal thin-film heat spreader technology with significant improvements compared to conventional copper heat spreaders.

Tech office: Microsystems Technology Nanopore Bioelectronics for Next Generation Proteomics Objective: To develop a next-generation single-molecule sensing and sequencing platform that delivers robust, high-accuracy, high-throughput, and scalable reading of biomolecules.

Tech office: Microsystems Technology Compact Wideband Tunable Filters Objective: Develop and demonstrate wideband, power-efficient and tunable radio frequency (RF) filter technologies that significantly improve spectrum access and signal integrity for Department of War (DoW) communications and electronic warfare (EW) systems Tech office: Microsystems Technology Temperature-Hardened Electronics for Reliable Mission-Critical Applications (THERMAL) Objective: To develop a manufacturable mixed-signal integrated circuit (IC) technology capable of reliable operation in harsh environments, specifically high-temperature conditions up to 800°C.

Tech office: Microsystems Technology Automated Process for Codesign of Radiation Hardening and Security Objective: To develop next generation microelectronics design and integration approaches that simultaneously result in resilience to ionizing radiation and enhanced security.

Tech office: Microsystems Technology Manufacturing Technologies for Ryberg-based Atomic Sensors (MANTRAS) - SBIR XL Objective: This effort will demonstrate a low-SWaP, ruggedized, and manufacturable platform for real-time measurement, data acquisition, and analysis of wideband RF signals using Rydberg-based atomic sensors.

Tech office: Defense Sciences Engineering Sleep for Cognitive Performance Objective: Develop and demonstrate a wearable, non-invasive, closed-loop system that enhances the restorative functions of sleep.

Tech office: Defense Sciences Pre-release: June 3, 2026 Expeditionary Closed and Air-Independent Power and Energy (ExCAIPE) Objective: To develop closed, electrically rechargeable, high-energy-density and high-power-density batteries that can operate independently of an external air source.

Tech office: Defense Sciences Real-Time Pathogen-Host Interactome Prediction Objective: To develop and demonstrate a capability to rapidly characterize host–pathogen interactions from pathogen protein sequence alone, enabling timely medical countermeasure prioritization and force health protection against novel or emerging biological threats.

Tech office: Biological Technologies Art of Novel Signals: Predicting and Forecasting with High Confidence Objective: To develop and demonstrate a predictive/forecasting model that leverages Temporal Knowledge Graph Forecasting using In-Context Learning from novel, multilingual, and multimodal data.

Tech office: Defense Sciences Fusion of Abstract Learning and Context-Optimized Neural-methods (FALCON) Objective: The goal of this effort is to combine advanced machine learning (ML) methods that can be computationally efficient in structured data with large language models (LLM) that are general and can extract context from data.

The aim is to derive powerful and efficient technology for interactive statistical analysis of large-scale data seen such as in enterprise or battlefield. Tech office: Information Processing Techniques Non-Volatile Memory for Extreme Environments (Amended) Objective: Develop and demonstrate a co-packaged temperature-hard (-250°C to +600°C) and radiation-tolerant NOR Flash memory system for extreme environment applications.

Medical Swarm Robotics for Extraction and Life-Saving Interventions Objective: Develop and demonstrate small-robotic swarms capable of autonomous battlefield medical assistance, including short casualty movement, hemorrhage control, fracture stabilization, and medication delivery.

Tech office: Biological Technologies Biomanufacturing of Hierarchical Biocomposites for High-Performance Thermal Interface Materials Objective: Develop and demonstrate a flexible, polymer-matrix thermal interface material with tunable thermal and mechanical properties, leveraging hierarchical, biocomposite-based microstructures for scalable, sustainable, low-cost thermal management of high-performance electronics and power applications.

Tech office: Biological Technologies Topic & Proposal Resources DARPA SBIR & STTR 2026 BAA: FAQ DARPA SBIR 25. 4 & STTR 25.

D BAA: FAQ DoW SBIR/STTR Interactive Participation Guide Phase I Template – Volume 2: Technical Volume Phase I Template – Volume 3: Cost Proposal Phase II & Enhancements --> Direct to Phase II Phase II Proposal Instructions Phase II Template – Volume 3: Cost Proposal Direct to Phase II Template – Volume 2: Feasibility Documentation and Technical Proposal Direct to Phase II Template – Volume 3: Cost Proposal HR0011SB20254-10 Direct to Phase II Cost Proposal HR0011SB20254-10 Other Transactions for Prototypes Agreement Template HR0011SB20254-14 Cost Proposal Template --> HR0011SB20254XL-01 Cost Proposal Template Other Transaction (OT) Certifications Enhancement Program Instructions Technical Summary Quad Chart Template Monthly Progress Report Template Monthly Financial Report Template Transition & commercialization support RSS feed for Opportunities