DARPA - Tactical Technology Office · Department of Defense
TTO Office Wide (OW) BAA 2025
Key facts
- Deadline
- Due Dec 22, 2026 · 76 days left
- Award size
- Not stated: see the official notice
- Match ?
- Not required · Work out your budget and match
- Who can apply
- Set by the official notice: see Who can apply below
- Where
- Anywhere in the U.S., including Tennessee
How this fits you
- Available in Tennessee (nationwide program)
- No match required
- Past Tennessee awards on file: 21
Tell us who you are to see whether you're eligible.
Official notice: https://simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/de7207c4-980f-4dba-a286-e96db65fd55e · Printed from grantme.click/grants/a884872d-630c-485d-af59-8e2877ba5cdb
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About this grant
The DARPA Tactical Technology Office (TTO) creates technological surprise and provides new options for national security, by demonstrating revolutionary platforms and systems with cutting-edge technology. TTO demonstrates compelling hardware at scales that demonstrate disruptive capability, with designs that reduce risk and cost by managing complexity, and which can be manufactured responsively and affordably. TTO is soliciting innovative executive summaries and proposals that enhance the nation’s ability to rapidly build, adapt and sustain force structures with the following focus areas: Design/Build/Buy, Surge and Sustain, Long Range Effects, and Disruptive Innovation.
Who can apply, from the official notice
All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a proposal that shall be considered by DARPA. See the Eligibility Information section of the BAA for more information.
Your schedule, working back from the deadline
- Oct7
Check that your SAM.gov registration is active (or start it now)
Grants.gov: allow up to 10 business days for SAM registration, weeks or months if information isn't verified. It must be renewed every year. Grants.gov - Dec1
Ask partners for letters of support or commitment
Suggested: partners need about three weeks to write and sign letters. - Dec15
Finish a complete draft for a final review
Suggested: leave about a week for someone else to read the draft. - Dec20
Submit
Grants.gov: submit at least 24–48 hours before the deadline: uploads fail, systems slow down, errors need fixing. Grants.gov blog - Dec22
Deadline
From the funder.
Save this grant to put these dates in My grants and your private calendar.
What the official notice requires
Pulled from the official notice HR001125S0011-Amendment-02.pdf (12 pages) so you can see the requirements at a glance. Each item shows the notice's own words. Open the page to read it in context.
Registrations you need first (1)
SAM.gov · p. 9
“Any “Pitch Day” established under this BAA would be advertised via a separate Special Notice announcement linked to this BAA and posted on SAM.gov, and will include specific instructions and evaluation. 4.” Open page 9
Registration is free but can take weeks, so start now, not when the deadline is close. Get-ready checklist
What to submit
Project abstract or summary · p. 11
“To comply with this requirement, proposers requesting grant awards must submit a maximum one (1) page abstract that may be publicly posted and explains the program or project to the public.” Open page 11
Dates in the notice
August 4, 2025 · p. 3
“October 1-2, 2025 Special Notice (SN) anticipated to be posted by August 4, 2025 oExecutive Summary Due Date:” Open page 3
April 17, 2026 · p. 3
“April 17, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. oQuestion Submittal Closed:” Open page 3
Mistakes that get applications rejected (2)
Could get your application rejected: Submissions including profane, racially charged, or other similarly inappropriate language will not be reviewed. · p. 7
“Submissions including profane, racially charged, or other similarly inappropriate language will not be reviewed.” Open page 7
Could get your application rejected: If a proposer submits a Full Proposal without a signed “Encourage Full Proposal” letter, that submission... · p. 9
“If a proposer submits a Full Proposal without a signed “Encourage Full Proposal” letter, that submission will be considered non-conforming, and will not be reviewed.” Open page 9
Who in Tennessee has won this program
10 awards to Tennessee groups in 2 counties since 2017. Largest shown:
| Past winner | Where | Amount | Fiscal year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vanderbilt University Medical Center | Nashville, Davidson County | $33.9M | 2018 |
| University of Tennessee | Knoxville, Knox County | $9.6M | 2018 |
| State of Tennessee | Nashville | $4.7M spent that year | 2025 |
| Vanderbilt University Medical Center | Nashville, Davidson County | $3.5M spent that year | 2025 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Davidson County | $1.8M | 2021 |
| University of Tennessee | Knoxville, Knox County | $1.7M | 2024 |
| University of Tennessee | Knoxville, Knox County | $930K | 2020 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Davidson County | $828K | 2020 |
| University of Tennessee | Knoxville, Knox County | $500K | 2023 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville | — spent that year | 2025 |
Source: USAspending.gov, Federal Audit Clearinghouse. Past awards show who this program funds. They don't guarantee future awards.
Tennessee groups that got this money through a state agency or another organization
This federal money also reaches local groups as pass-through grants. 11 pass-through grants on file. Largest shown:
| Past winner | Where | Through | Amount | Fiscal year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanderbilt University Medical Center | Nashville, Davidson County | The Johns Hopkins University | $2M | 2026 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville | Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency | $1.7M spent that year | 2025 |
| Vanderbilt University Medical Center | Nashville, Davidson County | Johns Hopkins | $678K spent that year | 2025 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Davidson County | University of California, Davis | $228K | 2024 |
| The Pom Group, LLC | Oak Ridge, Anderson County | University of Central Florida Board of Trustees, the | $195K | 2024 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville | University of California Davis | $138K spent that year | 2025 |
| The Pom Group, LLC | Oak Ridge, Anderson County | University of Central Florida Board of Trustees, the | $74K | 2023 |
| Edulis Therapeutics Inc. | Nashville, Davidson County | Carnegie Mellon University | $69K | 2026 |
| Vanderbilt University Medical Center | Nashville, Davidson County | Vanderbilt University | $38K spent that year | 2023 |
| Vanderbilt University Medical Center | Nashville, Davidson County | Vanderbilt University, the | $29K | 2023 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville | Loughborough University | — spent that year | 2024 |
Source: USAspending.gov pass-through reports (the first recipient reports each one of $30,000 or more).
About the federal program
Research and Technology Development
Program number 12.910 (the federal Assistance Listing number) · U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) · Cooperative agreement (a grant with close agency involvement)
How applications are judged
Evaluation criteria will be as specified in the solicitation announcement. Typical evaluation criteria, listed in descending order of relative importance, are as follows: (1) Overall scientific and technical merit; (2) potential contribution and relevance to DARPA mission; (3) offeror's capabilities and related experience; (4) plans and capability to accomplish technology transition; and (5) cost realism.
Match
None required (federal program listing).
Examples of funded projects
Fiscal year 2025: Some examples of 2025 funded projects:
? Harnessing Dataless Neural Networks for Large-Scale Combinatorial Optimization and Signal Processing.
? Structures Uniquely Resolved to Guarantee Endurance.
? Multi-octave and narrow-linewidth 5-mW THz chip-sources for precision Rydberg sensing.
? Complex-Structured Optimization Algorithms for Non-Learning Neural Networks.
? Periodically-poled Ultrawide-bandgap Material Platform for Efficient UV Production.
? Quantum Sensing of Phonons for Enhanced Neutrino Detection.
? Harnessing Artificial Intelligence and Language Modeling for Enhancing Innovation and Evaluating Research Claims.
? Protein Design with AI models of quantitative traits.
? Automated Prediction Aided by Quantized Simulators.
? Rapid Advancement for Munitions Production.
? Self-Assembling Biohybrid Robots Using Metamorphic Insect Cells and Electrically Conducting Biopolymers.
? Multiscale Stochastic Dynamics on Evolving Networks in Random Environments.
? Large-scale gene annotation through machine learning-driven data science.
? Manipulations that Instigate Strategic Complexity and Havoc to Influence Exploitable Fragility.