Unison

DARPA is soliciting innovative proposals for the Unison collaborative-autonomy program, with CUI Addendum Request Forms due November 12, 2026 and TA-1 abstracts due November 23, 2026. No set-aside is used. The vehicle is an Other Transaction for Prototypes under 10 U.S.C. 4022, and DARPA anticipates multiple awards.

Unison develops and evaluates approaches that let autonomous teams of tens to hundreds of agents jointly adapt tactics, coordination relationships, and communications as mission complexity rises and communications become constrained or degraded. The program runs 30 months in two 15-month phases. TA-1 (Joint Co-Adaptation) covers collaborative-autonomy planning and execution software prototypes. TA-2 (Modeling and Simulation Environment) covers a Faster-Than-Real-Time modeling and simulation prototype environment to train, integrate, evaluate, and stress-test TA-1 approaches. TA-1 proposers submit a Base Phase 1 proposal with an option for Phase 2. TA-2 proposers submit a base proposal through Month 4, an option for the remainder of Phase 1, and an option for Phase 2.

Proposers must be CMMC Level 2 (Self-Assessment) compliant, cannot employ foreign nationals, and must handle CUI materials accordingly. All proposers must request the CUI Guide. TA-2 proposers must also request Government-furnished CODE software by the addendum request date to be eligible to submit abstracts.

The notice's listed due date is December 4, 2026, which corresponds to TA-2 abstracts. Oral presentations are approximately January 7, 2027. TA-2 written proposals and baseline test are late January 2027, and TA-1 written proposals are early February 2027.

Evaluation is a multi-gate selection process. Submissions include detailed technical approaches, team qualifications, cost proposals, and various attachments. The notice is coded NAICS 541715, Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology), and PSC AC13, National Defense R&D Services.