Open Topic

As of May 13, 2024, the Human Subject Research pause has been lifted.

As a result of reconfiguration of internal government procedures and regulatory requirements associated with Human Subject Research (HSR), AFWERX experienced unanticipated delays with all awards that implicate HSR. AFWERX has now satisfied several internal and external audits and compliance concerns that were causing these delays. As such, the “HSR Pause” has been lifted and AFWERX will proceed with the award of those previously affected proposals.

The Contracting Team will shortly begin working though the process to award Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II and Direct to Phase II proposals from Small Business Concerns (SBCs) that were selected in July 2023 and January 2024.

The Department of the Air Force sincerely thanks you for your patience throughout this process.

The Open Topic is the front door to working with the Department of the Air Force. The Open Topic operates in a Phase I, followed by a Phase II and Direct to Phase II approach. Commercial industry submits their technology solutions in the proposal process and defines how they think their solution will benefit the warfighter. The Air Force then evaluates the proposal to determine if the project is something they would like to conduct a feasibility study on.

Phase I

The feasibility study is conducted during Phase I with a 3-month period of performance where the small business works to identify their Air Force end user (warfighter) and customer (program office) with the goal of getting that Air Force end user and customer to sign a Customer Memorandum verbalizing their intent to work with the small business on transitioning their technology to warfighters. Once the Customer Memorandum, a requirement for submitting for a Phase II proposal, is in hand, small businesses will compete to proceed to prototyping their solution.

Period of Performance: 3 months
A maximum award of $75K (SBIR) and $110K (STTR)
On contract to conduct Technical Feasibility
Two deliverables (preliminary & final reports)
Prepare for Phase II application
Work to get a DAF Customer & End User to sign a Customer Memorandum for Phase II proposal

Submit a Proposal

Phase II

The Phase II, or prototyping phase, sees the small business work directly with an Air Force Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) to conduct further R&D to build and adapt their dual-use proposed solution to fit Air Force needs. If a small business already has a solution that is ready for prototype and adaptation to Air Force needs, has identified an Air Force end user and customer, and has a signed Customer Memorandum in hand, they are able to skip the initial Phase I process and apply to a Direct to Phase II (D2P2) solicitation.

Traditional
- Period of Performance: Up to 21-months
- A maximum award of $1.25M (SBIR) and $1.8M (STTR)
- Milestone Deliverables in accordance with Proposal Milestone Schedule
- Work with the DAF Customer & End User who signed the Customer Memorandum

Direct to Phase II (D2P2)
- Period of Performance: Up to 21-months
- A maximum award of $1.25M (SBIR)
- Milestone Deliverables in accordance with Proposal Milestone Schedule
- Work with the DAF Customer & End User who signed the Customer Memorandum AND must demonstrate technical merit

How to get involved

Industry

Open Topic utilizes an out-of-cycle solicitation schedule offering two Phase I (with follow-on Phase II opportunities) and two Direct to Phase II (D2P2) opportunities a year.
A SBIR/STTR proposal for any DoD component must be submitted through the online DoD Submission website.
Check our website and social media channels

Customer Memorandum Resources

Customer Memorandum SAMPLE - For Reference Only Customer Memorandum Attachment 1.1 Customer Memorandum Attachment 1.2 Customer Memorandum Attachment 1.3 Customer Memorandum Purpose Letter

Resources

Direct to Phase 2 (D2P2) FAQs AFVentures Open Topic Overview Data Rights Assertions Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) FAQs