Pentagon Relaunches SBIR/STTR With ART Funding to Speed Tech to Troops

Overview

• Following new federal authority, the Defense Department unveiled a redesigned Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer program focused on faster transition to the field.
• The Office for Small Business Innovation created the Accelerated Research for Transition program, which matches service funds to Phase II projects to push them into Phase III commercialization or programs of record.
• The Pentagon opened fresh solicitations reported as more than 90 topics, and it directed proposals to its designated critical technology areas.
• The redesign ties awards to three stated outcomes—differentiated technology, scalable products, and new ways of fighting—to support capabilities the services can adopt at scale.
• Congress reauthorized SBIR/STTR through September 30, 2031 and added tighter national‑security screening and agency limits on how many proposals a firm can submit, following a months‑long lapse that some companies said forced work pauses.