What is the DoD Looking For?

The DoD SBIR Program consists of solicitations from the Army, Navy, Air Force, CBD, DHA, DLA, OSD and USSOCOM (more details will be provided on the specific agencies later). The DoD’s objective for the SBIR program is to stimulate small business technological innovation within the DoD’s science and technology emphasis areas.  These areas, from the DoD’s “Defense Technology Area Plan” include:

• Air Platforms - Fixed-Wing; Rotary-Wing; Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology/Versatile Affordable Advanced Turbine Engines; Aircraft Power; High-Speed Propulsion.
• Chemical/Biological Defense – Pretreatments; Diagnostics; Therapeutics; Emerging Threats and Special Projects; CB Modeling and Simulation/Battlespace Management; CB Detection; CB Protection; CB Decontamination; CB Supporting Science and Technology.
• Information Systems Technology – Knowledge and Information Management; Information Security; Communications and Networking; Modeling and Simulation Technology; Computing and Software Technology.
• Ground and Sea Vehicles – Ground Vehicles; Surface Ship Combatants; Submarines.
• Materials / Processes – Materials and Processes for Survivability, Life Extension, and Affordability; Manufacturing Technology; Civil Engineering; Environmental Quality.
• Biomedical – Infectious Diseases of Military Importance; Combat Casualty Care; Military Operational Medicine; Medical Radiological Defense.
• Sensors, Electronics and Electronic Warfare – Radar Sensors; Electro-Optical Sensors; Acoustic Sensors; Automatic Target Recognition; Integrated Platform Electronics; RF Components; Electro-Optical Technology; Microelectronics; Electronic Materials; Electronics Integration Technology; EW RF; EW EO/IR; EW Integrated Technologies.
• Space Platforms – Space and Launch Vehicles; Space Propulsion
• Human Systems – System Interfaces and Cognitive Processing; Protection, Sustainment, and Physical Performance; Personnel, Training and Leader Development.
• Weapons – Countermine/Mines; Guidance and Control; Guns; Missiles; Ordnance; Undersea Weapons; Weapons Lethality/Vulnerability; Lasers; High-Power Microwave.
• Nuclear Technology – Warfighter Consequences Management Technology; Systems Effects and Survivability Technology; Test and Simulation Technology; Lethality and Effects; Threat Reduction and Detection Technology.
• Battlespace Environments – Terrestrial Environments; Ocean Battlespace Environments; Lower Atmosphere Environments; Space/Upper Atmosphere Environments.

The DoD has also released their top-13 list of technology focus areas and state that more than half of the SBIR topics fall within these focus areas.  These include:

• 5G
• Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning
• Autonomy
• Biotechnology
• Cybersecurity
• Directed Energy
• Hypersonics
• Microelectronics
• Command, Control and Communications (C3)
• Nuclear Modernization
• Quantum Science and Computing
• Space 
• General Warfighting Requirements (GWR)