Liquid Surge

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Defense Sciences Office is soliciting innovative basic or applied research proposals for novel metrology to understand wave propagation in compressible fluids under the Liquid Surge Disruption Opportunity, with proposals due December 14, 2026, and mandatory abstracts due November 3, 2026. Awards will be made as Other Transaction agreements for Prototype projects, not subject to competitive set-aside.

Performers must address two coupled technical thrusts simultaneously: (1) Experimental Diagnostics and Validation, developing prototype wave diagnostic hardware to characterize transient phenomena in pressurized liquid media with precise state control and measurement fidelity; and (2) Physics-Based Predictive Modeling & Transient Fluid Behavior, developing a standalone computational prediction tool capturing coupled fluid mechanical and thermodynamic behavior across relevant spatial and temporal scales. Proposals must meet specific technical metrics evaluating quantitative agreement between experimental and numerical data across acoustic and shock limits, with progressive improvements from 9-month to 18-month milestones.

The combined Phase 1 base and Phase 2 option award ceiling is $995,000 (Phase 1: $550,000 maximum; Phase 2: $445,000 maximum), structured as a 9-month Phase 1 Feasibility Study base and 9-month Phase 2 Proof of Concept option, with planned program start February 15, 2027. The NAICS code is 541715, Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences. Submissions must be unclassified, uploaded as zip files through the DARPA BAA Portal, and comply with CMMC Level 1 certification for cybersecurity. DARPA anticipates Government Purpose Rights on all deliverables. Cost proposals must provide fully-burdened estimates broken down by seven milestones across both phases, with payments made only in specified milestone amounts.