EconDefense
ACQ-04 / Research, innovation and experimentation

Prototype technology, processes and business arrangements with flexible OTs

Carry out directly defense-relevant prototypes, including proofs of concept, business processes, reverse engineering for obsolescence, commercial-technology pilots and agile development.

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At a glance

Possible toolACQ-04 · Other transactions

Authority holder: DARPA Director, DIU Director, military-department Secretary, or official designated by Secretary of Defense

Other transactions

Mechanism tags describe the source text; they do not expand the authority.

Availability and verification

Express statutory pathway; award-specific appropriations, available balances, delegations, implementation and approvals not independently verified.

Requirements and limits

Eligibility & prerequisites

  • At least one eligibility path: significant nontraditional contractor/nonprofit participation; all significant nonfederal participants small/nontraditional; one-third nonfederal cost share; or senior-procurement-executive exceptional-circumstances finding.
  • Competition to maximum extent practicable.

Limits & exclusions

  • Above $100m through $500m: nondelegable written determination by specified contracting/agency head; above $500m: senior approval plus 30-day congressional advance notice.
  • Procurement-integrity law applies; agreement must address applicable audit access.

Funding conditions

  • Existing lawfully available project funds; prototype instrument does not supply an appropriation.

Read the funding and execution guide

Who contributes what

Need & planning

  • USD(R&E) and Service science-and-technology executives
    Office profile
  • DARPA or Service laboratory/program manager

Resources

  • Sponsoring component RDT&E budget owner; component comptroller
    Office profile

Approval

  • Secretary of Defense or military-department Secretary; valid delegate must be confirmed
    Office profile

Execution

  • DARPA Contracts Management Office or Service contracting/grants/agreements office
    Office profile
  • Performing laboratory or external research performer

Partners & review

  • Operational customer / acquiring program
  • Security, export-control, counsel and fiscal officials as applicable

Office links are editorial matches to the original role text, not verified delegations. Composite labels and unmatched actors are preserved.

Coordination pathway

Operational sponsor supplies need and funding → DIU/DARPA/Service agreements officer structures eligible prototype → threshold approver → technical success assessment.

Actor and execution-role sources

Legal basis

  • 10 U.S.C. §4022(a)-(e)Primary statutory text; primary GovInfo baseline and amendment audit identified in research narrative.
  • 10 U.S.C. §4021Primary statutory text; primary GovInfo baseline and amendment audit identified in research narrative.

What this research establishes

Legal powerSource and conditions recorded
EligibilityProject-specific check needed
Available fundsBalances not verified
DelegationValid signature authority must be checked
ExecutionOffice capacity and approvals must be checked

Confidence: High on express authority and cited conditions; execution assignment is illustrative unless statute expressly names it.

Currentness: GovInfo 2024 Code (includes FY2025 NDAA, P.L. 118-159) read in full for cited provision; targeted FY2026 NDAA P.L. 119-60 amendment/repeal sweep. No claim of complete legislative currency through 2026-10-02; remaining 2026 delta needs counsel validation. OLRC indexed current text dated 2026-09-15 cross-checked for key thresholds and eligibility.

Research target: October 2, 2026. A record-specific last-review date is not supplied. Publication date is not legal-currentness certification.

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