Request for Information (RFI): Verification and Compliance Checking for Natural-Language Network Requirements (FastVacc)
Updated
Special Notice from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Due Nov 13, 2026, 14 days left.
| Solicitation number | DARPA-SN-27-13 |
|---|---|
| Agency | Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) |
| Office | Def Advanced Research Projects Agcy |
| Notice type | Special Notice |
| Set-aside | None |
| Trade (NAICS) | Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) (541715) |
| Product or service code | AC12 |
| Posted | Oct 29, 2026 |
| Response deadline | Nov 13, 2026 (14 days left) |
| Add the deadline to | Google Calendar · Apple / Outlook (.ics) |
Bid documents (1)
- Bid document 120 KB
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Description
Modern networks need to be reconfigured quickly in response to mission changes or emerging threats, but checking compliance with security requirements can take months. This creates a window in which adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities introduced by those changes. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) seeks information on approaches, tools and practices for closing that window by reducing, by 2-3 orders of magnitude, the time and cost of verifiable compliance checking.
DARPA envisions a capability that would take as input two items: (a) a requirements document written in natural language and (b) the configurations in a concrete network. In an offline phase, it would reason about the requirements for inconsistency, redundancy and incompleteness, and output consistent, non-redundant and completed requirements. Then, it would check, in near real-time, whether the concrete configurations satisfy all of the requirements.
In all cases, its output would be understandable by a human.
Contracting contact
- RFI Coordinator · [email protected]
As published on the official notice. Ask questions in writing and before any questions deadline the notice sets.
Is your business small enough?
For NAICS 541715, a business counts as small if it has no more than 11 employees (SBA size standard, with exceptions in the notes). This notice is not set aside, but the size decides your small business status on it. SBA table, current as of Oct 15, 2026.
Companies that win this kind of work
Federal contractors paid for research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences work, who also hold DARPA contracts (last 12 months): possible competitors, or partners to team with.
- The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory LLC $1.9 billion in this trade
- Raytheon Company $1.7 billion in this trade
- The Pennsylvania State University $483.0 million in this trade
- Leidos, Inc. $420.8 million in this trade
- Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation $420.0 million in this trade
About the buyer
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded $1.2 billion in contracts in the last 12 months; its biggest suppliers were Lockheed Martin Corporation, Securigence LLC and The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory LLC. See what DARPA is buying now.
Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences contracts right now
There are 278 open government contract opportunities in this trade (NAICS 541715), 49 posted in the last 7 days; 32% are set aside for small businesses. The agencies buying the most are Department of the Air Force, Department of the Army and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Most of the work with a stated place is in Maryland, District of Columbia and New Mexico. A notice in this trade gives a median of 56 days from posting to deadline; this one gives 15 days.
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