Strategic Technology Office-wide Innovation Solutions Opening Announcement
Solicitation from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (darpa). Due Dec 18, 2026, 61 days left.
| Solicitation number | DARPA-PS-26-09 |
|---|---|
| Agency | Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (darpa) |
| Office | Def Advanced Research Projects Agcy |
| Notice type | Solicitation |
| Set-aside | None |
| Trade (NAICS) | Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) (541715) |
| Product or service code | AC13 |
| Posted | Dec 19, 2025 |
| Response deadline | Dec 18, 2026 (61 days left) |
Official notice and attachments
Description
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) anticipates funding a limited number of proposals under this solicitation. Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice. Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in science, devices, or systems.
The Strategic Technology Office (STO) at DARPA regularly publishes solicitations requesting responses to specific program topics. This announcement seeks revolutionary research ideas for topics not addressed by ongoing STO programs or other published DARPA solicitations. To avoid proposals that duplicate existing activities or are responsive to other published STO solicitations, potential proposers are highly encouraged to review current STO programs and solicitations, respectively listed at http://www.darpa.mil/about-us/offices/sto and http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities.
Contacting STO program managers to discuss their research interests is also encouraged. A current list of program managers is available at http://www.darpa.mil/about-us/people. This Innovation Solutions Opening solicits under the procurement authorities of 10 U.S. Code § 4001, 10 U.S.C. § 4021, 10 U.S.C. § 4022, and 10 U.S.C. § 4023, that allow procurement activities authority to enter into agreements with industry, academia, and other organizations to fund research and development through cooperative agreements, Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs) for research, OTAs for prototypes, and procurement for experimental purposes.
Proposals received as a result of this Innovation Solutions Opening will be evaluated by the Government in accordance with the evaluation criteria specified herein through a scientific review process. DARPA solicitations are posted on the SAM website under the Contract Opportunities link at https://sam.gov/. The following information is for those wishing to respond to the Innovation Solutions Opening.
1.1. STO MISSION AND THRUST AREAS DARPA's STO is a systems warfare office that seeks innovative and disruptive technologies for existing and future battlespaces. STO programs deliver solutions at speed and scale for today's warfighters while developing the resilient "breakthrough" systems and technologies across all physical domains (Air, Space, Sea, and Land) and across the spectrum of competition.
STO does not focus on one area of responsibility or phenomenology. Instead, STO programs capture the strategic, logistical, and tactical complexity of today's national security environments. STO seeks to create new "proof-of-concept" mission systems.
1.2. TOPIC AREAS OF INTEREST Research areas of current interest to STO include, but are not limited to, the following topics: • Acoustic communication and sensing • Adaptability • Advanced computing • Additive manufacturing • Architecture and advanced systems engineering • Artificial intelligence • Autonomy and control algorithms • Combat identification • Command and control (C2) • Communications and networking, virtual and adaptive • Complexity management • Critical infrastructure defense • Decision aids and C2 technology • DevOps and novel software development and integration • Directed energy (DE) • Distributed autonomy and teaming (machine-machine, human-machine) • Economic security • Effects chain functions (disaggregated find, fix, track, target, engage, assess) • Electro-optic/infrared sensors • Electromagnetic warfare (EW) • High-frequency (HF) communications and sensing • High voltage electric power systems and architecture • Human behavior modeling • Human-machine symbiosis • Industrial engineering • Integration and reliability technologies • Interoperability • Logistics • Modeling and simulation • Microwave and millimeter wave communications and sensing • Novel kinetic effects • Non-kinetic effects (EW, DE, cyber) • Optical technologies • Photonics • Radio technologies (especially software-defined and novel waveforms and processing) • Radar and adaptive arrays • Resilient systems • Robotics • Seekers and other expendable sensors and processing • Sensors and analytics • Signal processing • Space sensors, communications, autonomy, and architectures (especially supporting proliferated low earth orbit constellations) • Strategy analysis technology • Supply chain analytics • System of systems • Undersea and seabed technology • Tactics development technology • Testing and data collection • Very low earth orbit (VLEO) technology • Very low frequency (VLF) technology
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.