DARPA-PS-25-27.pdf

Program Solicitation (PS) Rads to Watts Program Solicitation

DEFENSE SCIENCES OFFICE

DARPA-PS-25-27

June 20, 2025

OVERVIEW INFORMATION:

Federal Agency Name: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Defense

Sciences Office

Funding Opportunity Title: Rads to Watts Program Solicitation

Solicitation Type: Initial Solicitation

Funding Opportunity Number: DARPA-PS-25-27

Assistance Listing Number: Not applicable

Dates/Time - All Times are Eastern Time Zone (ET):

o Proposers Day: June 20, 2025 o Posting Date: June 20, 2025 o Proposal Abstract Due Date: July 10, 2025, at 4:00 p.m.

o Question Submittal Closed: August 11, 2025, at 4:00 p.m.

o Proposal Due Date: August 20, 2025 at 4:00 PM o Estimated Period of Performance Start: December 1, 2025

Anticipated individual awards: Multiple awards are anticipated

Period of Performance: The total period of performance is anticipated to be 30 months. The program will be broken into three “periods”. The first 15 months will be a Base period.

Months 16-24 will be Option Period 1. Months 25-30 will be Option Period 2, also referred to as the “Bonus Period”.

o Types of instruments that may be awarded: Other Transaction Agreements for Prototype

NAICS Code: 541715

Agency contact:

The PS Coordinator for this effort may be reached at:

RadsToWatts@darpa.mil

DARPA/ DSO

ATTN: DARPA-PS-25-27

675 North Randolph Street Arlington, VA 22203-2114

SECTION I: FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

INTRODUCTION

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative proposals for directly converting radiation energy into electricity, focusing on radiation voltaics (also known as radiovoltaics). Typical radiovoltaic unit cell configured devices can produce power at the milliwatt-level. Rads to Watts seeks approaches that can scale unit cells to broad-area collection volumes to produce power at kilowatt-levels over relevant timescales. Proposed work should include innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in high fluence1-resilient, radiation-hardened, charge-carrying materials and techniques that specifically apply to radiovoltaics. Specifically excluded from Rads to Watts is research that primarily results in incremental improvements to the existing state of practice and research that applies to direct conversion methods other than radiovoltaics.

If successful, the Rads to Watts program will produce proof-of-concept radiovoltaic unit cells that could be scalable to high-power form factors (i.e., radiovoltaic array, stack of unit cells, etc.). The program is designed so that different performers can explore a range of unique, mission-relevant solutions, so that the program as a whole will identify the most promising application areas for further development. By allowing performers to choose different combinations of power density and lifetime for a unit cell2, DARPA intends to characterize the performance limits of radiovoltaics derived with different materials, mechanisms, and architectures through this program3.

BACKGROUND

Operations in power-starved and/or harsh, radiation-heavy environments, such as those in space, underseas, and isolated terrestrial locations, are limited by power systems with low specific power (less than 5 W/kg) and/or short lifetimes (less than days). For example, radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) today generate on the order of 100’s of Watts with 50-100 kg devices, but cannot provide kW-scale power needed for a variety of operations that promote national security. Moreover, solar arrays cannot be hardened sufficiently to function for long durations in harsh radiation environments and are inoperable where there is no light source.

Consequently, there are a limited number of power systems that can enable persistent, higher-power operations in these challenging environments. DARPA is interested in exploring how radiovoltaics could provide a 10 to 100-fold improvement in output power per unit mass as compared to current state of the art RTGs. If successful, this capability would enable operations in those domains for which reliable, high-power sources are currently unavailable.

1 Fluence is defined as flux of the radiation source in particles/cm2/second multiplied by duration of time in seconds.

2 Power density is defined as the output power per unit area of the radiovoltaic device (which includes the radioactive source which has its own intrinsic power density) 3 For the purposes of the program, we define a unit cell as the smallest viable radiovoltaic, scalable for a given power density (W/cm2), and consisting of at least one of each of the most fundamental sections of a radiovoltaic: the charge generation region (CGR), the charge collection region (CCR), and the source or radiation-emitting region.

The unit cell must have the potential to scale to a form factor which can generate high-power electrical current when exposed to kilowatts of source radiation.

Early efforts and successes at low power levels (<1 W) have led to commercialized radiovoltaics that convert radiation directly into electricity.4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 Radiovoltaics take advantage of freed electrons generated due to ionization energy losses imparted into the material as part of the Coulombic interactions between the radiation particle and the radiovoltaic. The radiovoltaic material slows keV- and MeV-level radiation particles, kinetically freeing thousands of electrons for electrical current. Some fraction of that energy also generates phonons and, in some cases, induces secondary radiation effects (e.g., Bremsstrahlung radiation in the case of MeV beta particles).

Several challenges prevent state-of-the-art, low-power radiovoltaic architectures and materials from being viable solutions for high-power, long-duration applications. These include radiation-induced degradation, environmental degradation, and chemical incompatibility. Of these, rapid radiation-induced material damage under high energy exposure (> MeV/particle) is consistently the most fundamental and difficult challenge. Overcoming this challenge is the primary focus of Rads to Watts.

Notably, in high-radiation energy environments, current radiovoltaic semiconductor materials (i.e., III-V semiconductors, pure silicon, gallium arsenide) are easily damaged and are subject to form defects that limit their life expectancy. Recent findings on radiation-hardened capabilities for alternative materials and device architectures provide indications that it may be possible to gain orders of magnitude of improvement in performance in these extreme environments. There are several potentially viable approaches, e.g.:

New materials with high radiation energy damage thresholds that could enable radiovoltaics to exceed their current capability with a negligible degree of performance degradation under high radiation fluence and high energy particles 13.

4 Gao, Runlong, et al. "Isoelectronic aluminum-doped gallium nitride alpha-voltaic cell with efficiency exceeding 4.5%." Communications Materials 4.1 (2023): 50.

5 Zhou, Chunlin, et al. "Betavoltaic cell: The past, present, and future." ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology 10.2 (2021): 027005.

6 Gao, Runlong, et al. "High-performance alpha-voltaic cell based on a 4H-SiC PIN junction diode." Energy Conversion and Management 252 (2022): 115090.

7 Langley, John, et al. "Design of alpha-voltaic power source using Americium-241 (241Am) and diamond with a power density of 10 mW/cm3." US Army Research Laboratory ARL-TR-8189 (2017).

8 Khan, Muhammad, et al. "Alpha-Photovoltaics for Milliwatt Applications." International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference. Vol. 86298. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2022 9 Náfrádi, Gábor, et al. "Radiation detection and energy conversion in nuclear reactor environments by hybrid photovoltaic perovskites." Energy conversion and management 205 (2020): 112423.

10 Okuno, Yasuki, et al. "Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Perovskite Semiconductor-Based High-Flux Neutron Detector with BN Converter." ACS Applied Electronic Materials 4.7 (2022): 3411-3420.

11 Litz, Marc. Isotope Beta-battery approaches for long-lived sensors: Technology Review. Army Research Laboratory, 2014.

12 https://citylabs.net/technology-overview/ 13 Kato, Naruhide, and Mutsumi Sugiyama. "Electron irradiation resistance of NiO/ZnO visible-light-transparent solar cells." Japanese Journal of Applied Physics 59.10 (2020): 101004.

https://citylabs.net/technology-overview/

Self-healing and annealing materials which have been shown to recover operations after being heated by high radiation fluence14,15,16 and may offer a unique approach that could be applicable to radiovoltaics.

Advances in thin film fabrication leading to new concepts for minimizing radiation damage to materials while maximizing the capture of radiation flux. Hence, thin film techniques may enable multi-layered or stacked devices to capture higher radiation fluence17, an approach that could be exploited in Rads to Watts for high-power radiovoltaics.

Rads to Watts is also open to any other innovative approach that can meet the performance metrics within the constraints of the program.

DARPA seeks performers with the requisite multi-disciplinary subject matter expertise and capability to combine new developments in rad-hard materials with new architectures for radiovoltaics that will lay the groundwork for unprecedented high-power, long-life systems that have the radiation degradation tolerance necessary to achieve kW-scale power.

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

The following subsections provide details on Rads to Watts’s mandatory program metrics, notional program schedule, and expected milestones and deliverables. The total period of performance is anticipated to be 30 months. The program will be broken into three periods. The first 15 months will be a Base Period. Months 16-24 will be Option Period 1. Months 25-30 will be Option Period 2, also referred to as the Bonus Period.

Program Metrics

The primary challenge of the Rads to Watts program is achieving high power density and high specific power with minimum degradation after simultaneously accruing a cumulative radiation dose over time. Because the performance limits of radiovoltaics for high-power applications are not yet known, it is too early to prescribe a single point metric and target use case for the program. Rather, the program is designed to explore different designs and determine if there are multiple opportunities across a range of trades between power density and resistance to cumulative radiation dose.

DARPA will use a figure of merit (FOM) as a metric to assess performer solutions throughout the program. The FOM will be the power density multiplied by operating time of the solution and is intended to capture the trade-off between power density and lifetime of the proposed system. DARPA will also track as metrics the minimum expected performance thresholds for

14 Yang, Guixia, et al. "High-dose electron radiation and unexpected room-temperature self-healing of epitaxial SiC Schottky barrier diodes." Nanomaterials 9.2 (2019): 194.

15 Ceratti, Davide Raffaele, et al. "Self‐healing inside APbBr3 halide perovskite crystals." Advanced Materials 30.10 (2018): 1706273.

16 Afshari, Hadi, et al. "Radiation tolerance and self-healing in triple halide perovskite solar cells." APL Energy 1.2 (2023).

17 Xue, Sha, et al. "Methods for improving the power conversion efficiency of nuclear-voltaic batteries." Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment 927 (2019): 133-139.

specific power, and degradation at fluence (see metrics Table 1 below). DARPA will use these metrics to competitively assess performers to determine if they may proceed to subsequent performance Periods. Since the FOM accommodates a range of power densities and operating times, proposers must define in their proposals the following:

o Their own objective operating time “t” as the time they expect the output power of their radiovoltaic device to have diminished by no more than 20% o Their own objective power density (output power per cell unit area) Pd(0) in W/cm2 at time approximately zero o Their preferred radiation source and particle type The product of power density and time (defined above and tied to a use case) must adhere to the FOM value >8E+4Ws/cm2 and also be compatible with exceeding the minimum fluence metrics specified in Table 1. Performers are expected (but not required) to use an MeV-energy source in their operational system (lower energy is acceptable if performers can show that they still meet the specific power and power density metrics).

DARPA’s IV&V partner will use a linear accelerator (linac) electron beam to conduct accelerated lifetime testing of performer-submitted samples. All performer solutions will be tested against the same radiation dose (i.e., the same energy level and particle type for all performers). The linac test will generate a lifetime-equivalent dose of radiation to verify the sample’s tolerance against the fluence target for each phase. Despite the use of the linac, a performer’s unit cell is not required to also operate on high-energy beta (i.e., electron) radiation if performers wish to specify a different source type. The performers’ unit cells will be exposed to <~ 2MeV-level electrons in the linac at 1E+14/cm2 fluence to inform the 15-month down-select, and <~2 MeV-level electrons at 1E+17/cm2 fluence to inform the 24-month down-select.

Performers’ unit cells should indicate ~0% degradation at 1E+14/cm2 fluence and <20% degradation at 1E+17/cm2 fluence to qualify for proceeding beyond the respective down-selects.

In both cases, degradation is defined as the measured change in power density before and after radiation dosing.

The FOM value 8E+4Ws/cm2 encompasses a range of combinations of power density (W/cm2) multiplied by time, e.g.: 8E+4s (1 day) at 1W/cm2, or 8E+6s (months) at 0.01W/cm2, or 8E+7s (years) at 0.001W/cm2. Power density is a value that can be immediately quantified throughout the course of the program with measurements on a unit cell. Performers must estimate specific power (W/kg) using modeling and simulation, and since building this hardware is not within scope of Rads to Watts uncertainties on the mass are acceptable. Performers must also show how their proposed architecture will scale to accommodate kilowatt-level total output power.

Table 1: Rads to Watts Metrics*

* Top performers, assessed using data from linac and unit cell tests by month 15, may move forward into Option Period 1. Following this capstone and survivability optimization, a second down-selection occurs at month 24. After down-select, performers advance to the bonus Option Period 2 to perform a scalability study. The capstone test is described in the Program Schedule section.

Proposals MUST explicitly address each of these metrics, with a detailed justification for how the proposers will meet the metrics stated in the table above, using calculations, theory, and data.

Additional Required Information In addition to a thorough proposed approach to meet each of the metrics stated in the previous section, proposals must include the following additional information.

Proposers must have a clear description of their innovative materials, architectures, and approaches that have the potential to survive high radiation flux. For example, a proposal might describe a radiovoltaic approach that uses materials with high energy damage thresholds which could enable radiovoltaics to operate with a negligible degree of performance degradation under high radiation fluence, and/or self-healing and annealing materials that have been shown to recover operations after being heated by high radiation fluence.18,19,20,21

Proposals must include how their solution will fit within a power and radiation performance trade-space to meet a particular mission application. This will inform the future scalability study and potential transition partner involvement. For example, performers must provide an estimate of power level and duration for an example mission that their radiovoltaic could support. Some example power levels and time durations could be: durations of days at 3,000 W to support terrestrial operations; durations of weeks or months at 2,000 W to support underwater or Arctic operations; or durations of years at 1,000 W to support various space operations.

Proposers must include a thorough and informed plan of experimental and theoretical methods (e.g., ab initio modeling, probes to measure carrier mobility, experimental methods to take data to calculate power density, etc.) to meet the metrics, supported by sufficient evidence that their unit cell approach is viable.

Proposals that do not have sufficient data, analyses, referenced proof, or other forms of evidence to support their plans to meet the metrics will not be considered selectable.

18 Ibid, Kato 19 Ibid, Yang 20 Ibid, Ceratti 21 Ibid, Afshari

Program Schedule The program structure is designed to allow performers to push the limits of radiovoltaic performance, and to explore a range of operationally relevant possibilities in high performance radiovoltaics. Rads to Watts will be a 30-month competitive program with three periods. The first period (Base Period) will have a down-select at 15 months; the second period (Option Period 1) will have a down-select at 24 months; and the Bonus Period (Option 2) will run from month 24 to month 30.

The metrics listed in the previous section (Table 1) provide a minimum threshold of values for the FOM, degradation under fluence, and power density that performers must meet in order to be eligible to proceed to the next period of the program.

The schedule of major events is show in Figure 1. Performers should include these events in their proposed schedule, along with any other events relevant to the development of their proposed solution.

Figure 1: Program Schedule (M&S denotes modeling and simulation) In addition to the primary program metrics, and because accelerated radiation testing with a linac may not capture all forms of degradation, after the first down-select unit cells will be evaluated for stability over real-time. This will be done by placing the unit cells into a capstone time capsule22 in an experiment to expose the unit cells to a continuous dose of real-time radiation fluence for a period of 9 months. The time capsule will be opened at the end of Option Period 1 (month 24) to examine how the accumulated radiation fluence and other degradation effects (i.e., radiation plus environmental, thermal, etc. modes) have affected the unit cell’s performance.

As further augmentation to the required capstone time capsule, we encourage performers to incorporate additional evaluations at intermediate times of their own choosing prior to month 24.

It is expected that the combination of the required capstone and intermediate tests will generate data points to populate a radiation degradation trendline as a function of fluence (at 1E+15/cm2, 1E+16/cm2, etc.) which should predictively indicate if the unit cell encapsulated for 9 months will be capable of surviving the real-time dose to be examined at month 24. Data gathered by the

22 The “time capsule” is defined to be a container in which a unit cell is housed and continuously exposed to a radiation source for a defined period of time.

performers intermediate evaluations may also be used to inform down-select decisions. Results from the capstone and intermediate time capsule evaluations will be combined with those from the linac experiment to determine which team(s) proceed to the final “Bonus Period” option.

DARPA is also interested in understanding the ultimate theoretical performance limits for radiovoltaics. Performers should examine this via modeling and simulation using data from experiments (e.g., intermediary time capsule tests, charge carrier mobility and lifetime measurements, current and voltage measurements on the unit cell as a function of radiation flux, etc.). DARPA expects performers to use ab-initio modeling, such as time-dependent density functional theory, and/or high-performance multi-physics radiation transport codes to inform performance degradation, bandgap engineering, and other important elements necessary to understand and improve carrier mobility and lifetime.

The Option Period 2 spanning months 24 through 30 is for a scalability study to create the design of an operational system23. The performers will strive to put more fidelity on the high-power system design, using many unit cells in an array or stacked formation, with refined power output and weight estimates for specific power, in order to inform potential follow-on expansion or transition efforts.

Milestones and Deliverables The Other Transactions Agreement approach for Rads to Watts is based on a fixed schedule of payable milestones and deliverables. Examples of the expected milestones are listed below. The schedule for providing each of these deliverables to the government will be left up to the proposer. Proposers must complete the Schedule of Milestones and Payments (Attachment I) and include Milestones 1-11 (below) with their proposal submission. Proposers are at liberty to propose/schedule additional performer-defined milestones that are structured to work towards completing program goals, as required to meet the specific performance metrics. Milestones represent technically relevant, tangible items/events/accomplishments (a report, completion of a critical test or task, reaching an intermediate or final metric, etc.) on the program critical path for which payment is rendered by DARPA.

Base Period:

Milestone 1: Report on documented, modeling- and simulation-supported experimental plans for reaching performer-specified fluence and power density objectives prior to month 15

Milestone 2: Report on real time unit cell test on unit cell Rev 1.0 with constantly emitting radiation source to acquire fluence and degradation data

Milestone 3: Report on real time unit cell test on unit cell Rev 2.0 with constantly emitting radiation source to acquire fluence and degradation data

Milestone 4: Report documenting the verification of unit cell’s ability to withstand >1E+14/cm2 fluence at approximately 0% degradation

23 An “operational system” is defined as the full-sized vision concept that will likely contain hundreds or thousands of unit cells which can provide on the order of kilowatts of electrical power. This is analogous to a full-sized solar array comprised of hundreds of thousands of solar cells.

Milestone 5: Report on proposed operational system power and mass estimate to calculate specific power for reaching the >10 W/kg metric

Option Period 1:

Milestone 6: Report on modeling and simulation to support experimental plans validating performer-specified fluence and power density objectives prior to month 24

Milestone 7: Report on real-time test on unit cell Rev N.0 with constantly emitting radiation source to acquire fluence and degradation data

Milestone 8: Report on real-time test on unit cell Rev N.N with constantly emitting radiation source to acquire fluence and degradation data

Milestone 9: Report on the ability of unit cell to withstand >1E+17/cm2 fluence at <20% degradation

Milestone 10: Performer report on IV&V team’s post-irradiation examination of the unit cell used in linac test, and the unit cell used in time capsule test, with a comparison of the degradation of each cell

Option Period 2:

Milestone 11: Final report transmitted with results of scalability study for transition partner

Performers will be expected to provide at a minimum the following deliverables:

A unit cell for testing in the linac before 15 months for exposure to >1E+14/cm2 fluence by MeV-level electrons

A unit cell at month 15 to place in a “time capsule” experiment for opening at 24 months

Data to support the government team to calculate specific power (W/kg) to support the performer’s own estimates of operational system performance

A unit cell for testing in the linac before 24 months that will be dosed to 1E+17/cm2 fluence by MeV-level electrons

Report which summarizes recommended design, performance, and mission utility of the operational system for a transition partner in domain of interest as a result of the 6-month bonus period (Option Period 2)

Performers will be expected to include the following meetings:

Virtual kick-off meeting with DARPA

Monthly teleconferences with DARPA team via presentation

Virtual PI meeting (1 per year)

In-person PI meeting from DARPA Program Manager at performer site

Unit Cell Source Region Efficiency Approximation Performers must design the unit cell to incorporate a radioactive source of their choice, to satisfy the requirement of incorporating a source region to meet DARPA’s metrics. Due to the simplicity of the unit cell, DARPA will allow performers to make further approximations for source collection efficiency through modeling and simulation. The source collection efficiency should be maximized to nearly 100% in an actual, operational system. For example, in a conceptual operational system that is layered with thousands of unit cells to fully capture all radiation coming from a given radioisotope region, a single unit cell will likely have a source region efficiency of less than 25% when tested in Rads to Watts, since there is only one CCR and one CGR in the unit cell. But computationally, the source region can be shown to be 100% with multiple stacked CCRs and CGRs to capture source radiation normally lost out of the top and sides of the source. This calculation assuming 100% source radiation collection may be used to complete calculations for the metrics at the 15-month and 24-month down-selects, as shown by reasonable computational analysis supported by data collected in the program on a CGR and CCR with comparable, relevant geometries.

Radioactive Source Safety, Licensing, and Government-Furnished Resources Proposer teams are expected to have their own in-house licensing and handling capabilities to conduct unit cell development experiments using radiation-induced ionization. The size of a small unit cell should alleviate the burden of a highly radioactive source, such that unit cell testing is within licensing limits of potential performers.

Proposals for activities in facilities which do not have the capacity to perform in-house irradiation experiments and radioactive handling activities, or proposals which request DARPA support to acquire these licenses, will not be considered for funding under Rads to Watts.

DARPA’s Government support team anticipates providing testing via a linac, which will be used as an unbiased, fail-safe way to acquire the fluence data for all performers to inform both down-select points. The time capsule that will be encapsulated at month 15 may be considered for storage by DARPA’s government support partner for safe keeping, to be opened at 24 months to inform the second down-select.

SECTION II: EVALUATION CRITERIA

Proposals will be evaluated using the following criteria listed in descending order of importance. Overall Scientific and Technical Merit; Potential Contribution and Relevance to the DARPA Mission; Cost and Schedule Realism; and Proposer’s Capabilities or Related Experience.

Overall Scientific and Technical Merit: The proposed technical approach is innovative, feasible, achievable, and complete. Detailed technical rationale is provided delineating why the proposed approach can achieve the program goals and metrics. Task descriptions and associated technical elements provided are complete and logically sequenced with all proposed deliverables clearly defined so the final outcome of the award’s work achieves the program’s goal. The proposal identifies major technical risks and planned mitigation efforts that are clearly defined and feasible.

Potential Contribution and Relevance to the DARPA Mission: The potential contributions of the proposed effort bolster the national security technology base and support DARPA’s mission to make pivotal early technology investments that create or prevent technological surprise.

Cost and Schedule Realism: The proposed costs are realistic for the technical and management approach and accurately reflect the technical goals and objectives of the solicitation. The proposed costs are consistent with the proposer's Statement of Work and reflect a sufficient understanding of the costs and level of effort needed to successfully accomplish the proposed technical approach. The costs for the prime proposer and proposed sub-awardees are substantiated by the details provided in the proposal (e.g., the type and number of labor hours proposed per task, the types and quantities of materials, equipment and fabrication costs, travel and any other applicable costs and the basis for the estimates). It is expected that the effort will leverage all available relevant prior research in order to obtain the maximum benefit from the available funding. For efforts with a likelihood of commercial application, appropriate direct cost sharing may be a positive factor in the evaluation. DARPA recognizes that undue emphasis on cost may motivate proposers to offer low-risk ideas with minimum uncertainty and to staff the effort with junior personnel in order to be in a more competitive posture. DARPA discourages such cost strategies.

Proposer’s Capabilities or Related Experience: The proposer's prior experience in similar efforts clearly demonstrates an ability to deliver products that meet the proposed technical performance within the proposed budget and schedule. The proposed team has the expertise to manage the cost and schedule. Similar efforts completed or ongoing by the proposer in this area are fully described including identification of other Government sponsors

Unless otherwise specified in this announcement, for additional information on how DARPA reviews and evaluates proposals through the Scientific Review Process, please visit: Proposer Instructions: General Terms and Conditions.

https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/proposer-instructions

SECTION III: SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

MODEL OTHER TRANSACTION FOR PROTOTYPE: This solicitation allows for

Other Transaction for Prototype award type only. Proposers must complete and submit the Model Other Transaction (OT) for Prototype provided as Attachment G. DARPA has provided the model OT to expediate the negotiation and award process. The model OT for Prototype is representative of the terms and conditions that DARPA intends to award for the Rads to Watts Program. Proposers must edit the blue text/complete/redline the text within the model OT to the best of their knowledge to reflect their negotiation position.

Proposers must review the following links:

o Proposer Instructions: General Terms and Conditions:

https://www.darpa.mil/about/offices/contracts-management/proposer-general-terms o Other Transaction Agreements: https://www.darpa.mil/about/offices/contracts-management/proposer-transactions

ABSTRACT: This solicitation contains an abstract phase. Abstracts are strongly encouraged but not required. DARPA will review the abstracts and provide feedback as to whether a full proposal submission is encouraged (see Attachment B for more details). Abstracts are due July 10, 2025, at 4:00 p.m. as stated in the Overview section. Additional instructions for abstract submission are contained within Attachments A and B.

PROPOSALS: Full proposals are due: August 20, 2025as stated in the Overview section.

Attachments C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J contain specific instructions and templates and constitute a full proposal submission. Please visit Proposer Instructions: General Terms and Conditions for specific information regarding submission methods through the Broad Agency Announcement Tool (BAAT). for specific information regarding submission methods through the Broad Agency Announcement Tool (BAAT).

COST SHARING: Cost sharing is not required unless the proposer is a traditional defense contractor, who is not working with a non-traditional defense contractor to a significant extent.

o Proposers must include a statement that identifies and substantiates which of the following condition(s) are met to permit use of OTs for Prototypes in accordance with 10 U.S.C. § 4022(d)(1): (A) There is at least one nontraditional defense contractor or nonprofit research institution participating to a significant extent in the prototype project; (B) All significant participants in the transaction other than the Federal Government are small businesses (15 U.S.C. § 638) or nontraditional defense contractors; (C) At least one third of the total cost of the prototype project is to be paid out of funds provided by sources other than the Federal Government;

or (D) The senior procurement executive for the agency determines in writing that exceptional circumstances justify the use of a transaction that provides for innovative business arrangements or structures that would not be feasible or appropriate under a contract, or would provide an opportunity to expand the defense supply base in a manner that would not be practical or feasible under a contract.

MILESTONES: Fixed payable milestones are payments based on successful completion of the milestone accomplishments agreed to within the milestone plan. Proposals may suggest https://www.darpa.mil/about/offices/contracts-management/proposer-general-terms https://www.darpa.mil/about/offices/contracts-management/proposer-transactions https://www.darpa.mil/about/offices/contracts-management/proposer-transactions modifications or additions to the Schedule of Milestones and Payments; please note that a suggested edits may not be accepted by DARPA. A Schedule of Milestones and Payments is included as Attachment I. Payments are triggered by completed performance of observable technical events (milestones).

Representations and Certifications: All proposers are required to submit the DARPA-specific representations and certifications for Prototype OT awards (Attachment J) to be eligible to receive an OT award. See https://www.darpa.mil/research/opportunities/reps-certs for further information on required representations and certifications for Prototype OT awards.

Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) on Non-DOD Information Systems: This program is subject to (Attachment K): Rads to Watts Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) Guide signed June 17, 2025. The CUI Guide is established to help proposers determine CUI thresholds for information relevant to, and technologies developed under the program.

All individuals accessing CUI agree to protect CUI in accordance with DoD Instruction

5200.48 CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFORMATION (CUI) and NIST Special Publication 800-171 Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems and Organizations. Additional resources can be found here:

https://www.darpa.mil/about/offices/contracts-management/proposer-general-terms/.

All technical, contractual, and administrative questions regarding this notice must be emailed to RadsToWatts@darpa.mil. Emails sent directly to the Program Manager, or any other address, may result in a delayed or no response. DARPA will attempt to answer all questions in a timely manner and post a “Frequently Asked Questions” document on the DARPA website. This will be updated on an ongoing basis until the closing date listed above.

PS Attachments:

o (required if submitted an abstract) Attachment A: Abstract Summary Slide Template o (required if submitted an abstract) Attachment B: Abstract Instructions and Template o (required) Attachment C: Proposal Summary Slide Template o (required) Attachment D: Proposal Instructions and Volume I Template (Technical and

Management) o (required) Attachment E: Proposal Instructions and Volume II Template (Cost) o (required) Attachment F: MS ExcelTM DARPA Standard Cost Proposal Spreadsheet o (required) Attachment G: Model Other Transaction for Prototype o (required) Attachment H: Task Description Document (TDD) Template o (required) Attachment I: Schedule of Milestones and Payments o (required) Attachment J: Other Transaction Certification Template o (informational) Attachment K: Rads to Watts Controlled Unclassified Information

(CUI) Guide signed June 17, 2025 http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/reps-certs https://www.darpa.mil/about/offices/contracts-management/proposer-general-terms/ mailto:RadsToWatts@darpa.mil

SECTION IV: SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

This announcement, stated attachments, and websites incorporated by reference constitute the entire solicitation. In the event of a discrepancy between the announcement, attachments, or websites, the announcement takes precedence.

All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs, including both U.S.

and non-U.S. sources, may submit a proposal that shall be considered by DARPA.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Small Businesses, Small Disadvantaged Businesses and Minority Institutions are encouraged to submit proposals and join others in submitting proposals; however, no portion of this announcement will be set aside for these organizations’ participation due to the impracticality of reserving discrete or severable areas of this research for exclusive competition among these entities. Non-U.S. organizations and/or individuals may participate to the extent that such participants comply with any necessary nondisclosure agreements, security regulations, export control laws, and other governing statutes applicable under the circumstances.

As of the time of publication of this solicitation, all proposal submissions are anticipated to be unclassified but may contain CUI. See SECTION III: SUBMISSION GUIDELINES and Rads to Watts Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) Guide (Attachment K) for additional information.

Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC), University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs), and Government Entities to include National Laboratories are not eligible to propose to this solicitation as prime contractors. Should prime proposers require national laboratory support for their efforts, to include the provision of radioisotopes, they must clearly define the proposed supporting role in their technical proposal and ensure that proposed costs are segregable in the cost proposal, as DARPA will fund those activities separately through those entities existing agreements should the proposer be selected for funding.

Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCI): An organization cannot simultaneously provide scientific, engineering, technical assistance (SETA), advisory and assistance services (A&AS), or similar support to DARPA and also be a performer on a DARPA research program. If a prospective proposer believes a conflict of interest exists or may exist (whether organizational or otherwise) or has questions on what constitutes a conflict of interest, the proposer must send their contact information and a summary of the potential conflict to the specific email address identified in this PS before time and effort are expended in preparing any submission documentation.

Proposers should indicate in their proposal whether they believe the scope of the research included in their proposal is fundamental or not. While proposers should clearly explain the intended results of their research, the Government shall have sole discretion to determine whether the proposed research shall be considered fundamental and to select the award instrument type. Appropriate language will be included in resultant awards for non-fundamental research to prescribe publication requirements and other restrictions, as appropriate. This language can be found at http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/additional-baa.

http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/additional-baa http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/additional-baa

For certain research projects, it may be possible that although the research to be performed by a potential awardee is non-fundamental research, its proposed sub-awardee’s effort may be fundamental research. It is also possible that the research performed by a potential awardee is fundamental research while its proposed sub-awardee’s effort may be non-fundamental research. In all cases, it is the potential awardee’s responsibility to explain in its proposal which proposed efforts are fundamental research and why the proposed efforts should be considered fundamental research.

The APEX Accelerators program, formerly known as the Procurement Technical Assistance Program (PTAP), focuses on building strong, sustainable, and resilient U.S. supply chains by assisting a wide range of businesses that pursue and perform under contracts with the DoD, other federal agencies, state and local governments, and government prime contractors. See www.apexaccelerators.us/ for more information.

APEX Accelerators helps businesses:

o Complete registration with a wide range of databases necessary for them to participate in the government marketplace (e.g., SAM).

o Identify which agencies and offices may need their products or services and how to connect with buying agencies and offices.

o Determine whether they are ready for government opportunities and how to position themselves to succeed.

o Navigate solicitations and potential funding opportunities.

o Receive notifications of government contract opportunities on a regular basis.

o Network with buying officers, prime contractors, and other businesses.

o Resolve performance issues and prepare for audit, only if the service is needed, after receiving an award.

Project Spectrum is a nonprofit effort funded by the DoD Office of Small Business Programs to help educate the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) on compliance. Project Spectrum is vendor-neutral and available to assist businesses with their cybersecurity and compliance needs. Their mission is to improve cybersecurity readiness, resilience, and compliance for small/medium-sized businesses and the federal manufacturing supply chain. Project Spectrum events and programs will enhance awareness of cybersecurity threats within the manufacturing, research and development, and knowledge-based services sectors of the industrial base. Project Spectrum will leverage strategic partnerships within and outside of the DoD to accelerate the overall cybersecurity compliance of the DIB.

www.projectspectrum.io is a web portal that will provide resources such as individualized dashboards, a marketplace, and Pilot Program to help accelerate cybersecurity compliance.

DARPAConnect offers free resources to potential performers to help them navigate DARPA, including “Understanding DARPA Award Vehicles and Solicitations”, “Making the Most of Proposers Days”, and “Tips for DARPA Proposal Success”. Join DARPAConnect at www.DARPAConnect.us to leverage on-demand learning and networking resources.

https://www.apexaccelerators.us/ https://www.projectspectrum.io/ http://www.darpaconnect.us/