Discovery tool, not advice. Every figure is the published rule, not a decision on your case.

Grants

Department of War SBIR/STTR Program

Department of War (formerly Department of Defense) SBIR/STTR Program

Status

Status not published

Multiple Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) releases per fiscal year, plus rolling Commercial Solutions Openings and open topics. FY2026 solicitation schedule published at defensesbirsttr.mil.

Check with the funder

Amount

Not published

Award sizes are set per Service/Component, not centrally. The FY2026 Phase I release instructions state 'The Phase I period of performance is generally between six to twelve months' and that 'Contract value varies among the DoW Services/Components; it is important for proposing SBCs to review Service/Component-specific instructions regarding award size.' As a concrete example, Army publishes SBIR Phase I up to $250K over 3-6 months, STTR Phase I up to $204K over 6 months, SBIR Phase II up to $2M over 12-18 months and STTR Phase II up to $1.36M over 24 months. All sit within the SBA guideline ceilings ($323,090 Phase I / $2,153,927 Phase II as of April 2026).

Funder

U.S. Department of War (formerly Department of Defense)

public · national

Deadline: annual_call — Multiple Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) releases per fiscal year, plus rolling Commercial Solutions Openings and open topics. FY2026 solicitation schedule published at defensesbirsttr.mil.

Your odds

18.0%

Published by the funder, FY2022. This rate is measured unstated, so the odds from a standing start are lower.

Source

Effort

moderate

Moderate — a form and supporting documents.

Who can apply

Up to 500 employees
Sectors: deeptech, ai, manufacturing
Stage: idea, pre_seed, seed, series_a
R&D activity required
Locally registered entity required

Largest SBIR/STTR agency by dollar volume. Standard eligibility: US for-profit small business concern with 500 or fewer employees including affiliates, majority US-owned and controlled. Additional foreign-ownership and malign-influence screening applies to defence awards. SAM.gov registration with a UEI and CAGE code is explicitly mandatory: 'Proposing SBCs must register in SAM here. Registration in SAM will generate the Unique Entity ID (UEI) number and the Commercial and Government Entry (CAGE) code. The UEI is required for registration in the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Company Registry.'

How to apply

Register in SAM.gov - 'Registration in SAM will generate the Unique Entity ID (UEI) number and the Commercial and Government Entry (CAGE) code.' — link
Register in the SBA Company Registry using the UEI, and create an account on the Defense SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal (DSIP). — link
Select a topic from an open BAA release and submit the proposal through DSIP before the closing date.
Optionally pursue a Direct to Phase II award where offered - 15 U.S.C. 638(cc) allows a Phase II award without a prior Phase I, though DoW 'does not guarantee Direct to Phase II opportunities will be offered in future solicitations'.

What you will need

Technical volume responding to a specific topic
Cost volume
Company commercialization report
SAM.gov registration producing UEI and CAGE code, plus SBA Company Registry registration

Apply on the funder's site

Source. https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/submissions/api/public/download/solicitationDocuments?solicitation=DOD_SBIR_2026_P1_CBZ&release=1&documentType=RELEASE_INSTRUCTIONS — checked 2026-08-14

"Contract value varies among the DoW Services/Components; it is important for proposing SBCs to review Service/Component-specific instructions regarding award size."