EconDefense
ACQ-05 / Research, innovation and experimentation

Award follow-on production or sustainment after a successful prototype OT

Implement or expand successful prototype results through a follow-on production contract or transaction, including sustainment; a successful consortium subproject need not await all other subprojects.

Action briefPDF dossier · original 168Download record
Authority / instrument · ACQ-05

Transition & scaling

Research, innovation and experimentation

Statute & instrument
Authority holder

Authorized §4022 awarding official; covered official approves follow-on awards above statutory threshold

What this does not authorize / hard limit

A noncompetitive prototype does not automatically create noncompetitive production eligibility.

Recorded executor

Warranted contracting officer and program manager

Continue to actor →

Recorded executing role; this record-specific route is not an additional institutional office.

Legal basisSources linkedLegal sources and instrument limits are recorded.
RequirementsGates recordedRead the requirements for this instrument; applicability depends on the proposed action.
Public fundingRules recordedProduction/sustainment funds appropriate to the deliverable; prototype dollars do not assure a funded transition. Office budget figures are separate institutional context, not an allocation to this instrument.
Assigned rolesRoles recordedPublic sources describe institutional authority. The instrument identifies approval and execution roles; a specific signature remains transaction-dependent.
EngagementProcess sourcedDIU publishes an operational Success Memo route for buyers considering follow-on production from successful competitively selected prototypes. Program check: 2026-10-04; see each route for intake status.

Public evidence describes the institution and instrument; it is not approval of an individual transaction.

At a glance

Possible toolACQ-05 · Other transactions

Authority holder: Authorized §4022 awarding official; covered official approves follow-on awards above statutory threshold

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.

Program process and intake

Checked 2026-10-04 · program documented. Program evidence is separate from legal authority, available funds and transaction approval.

DIU publishes an operational Success Memo route for buyers considering follow-on production from successful competitively selected prototypes.

DIU successful-prototype transition and Success Memo

Who this route serves
Government buyers and the successful prototype participants; not a fresh open call for unrelated vendors
Administering office / routing lead
DIU project team/Agreements Officer and the purchasing agency’s contracting or agreements office
Direct implementation

DIU’s walkthrough quotes § 4022(f) and explains the separate FAR-contract or production-OT routes.

What this evidence label means
Transition process and public catalog documented

DIU maintains a solutions catalog and offers Success Memo support to government customers.

Status reference date: 2026-10-04 · research checked 2026-10-04

DIU Solutions Catalog · Successful prototype solutions; government buyers may contact DIU for Success Memosofficial program guidance · Evidence record

Program eligibility

  • The statutory no-recompetition route depends on competitive selection of prototype participants and successful completion; the buyer must establish those predicates.

    DIU Success Memo Walkthrough, Winter 2025 · PDF pp. 3–7: statutory conditions, successful completion, production awardsofficial program guidance · Evidence record

Steps and preparation

  • Obtain the Success Memo and underlying scope from DIU; the project manager and Agreements Officer document completion. The purchasing office then negotiates its production award.

    DIU Success Memo Walkthrough, Winter 2025 · PDF pp. 3–7: statutory conditions, successful completion, production awardsofficial program guidance · Evidence record
Funding, limits and authority relationship

Funding and financial terms

  • Separate production contract or OT · Buyer/award-specific; Winter 2025 process guidance

    Production pricing is negotiated separately; the production award is not an automatic continuation of prototype money.

    DIU Success Memo Walkthrough, Winter 2025 · PDF pp. 3–7: statutory conditions, successful completion, production awardsofficial program guidance · Evidence record

Exclusions and limits

  • A memo supports the procurement record; it is not an appropriation, purchase order, universal sole-source entitlement or transferable qualification for unrelated technology.

    DIU Success Memo Walkthrough, Winter 2025 · PDF pp. 3–7: statutory conditions, successful completion, production awardsofficial program guidance · Evidence record

Authority relationship source

DIU Success Memo Walkthrough, Winter 2025 · PDF pp. 3–7: statutory conditions, successful completion, production awardsofficial program guidance · Evidence record

DIU solutions catalog →

government buyer routing: Identify a completed solution and contact DIU for the relevant Success Memo and scope.

Research scope and sources checked

The first program-depth pass checked the cited program pages, notices and legal framework. Evidence is limited to the named routes and source-access notes; it does not establish every implementation of the statute.

What remains unverified

  • No particular catalog solution’s completion file, production scope, funding or proposed purchaser was audited.

A dated source check is not continuing monitoring. Recheck the linked official notice before preparing a submission. Browse program research →

Requirements and limits

Eligibility & prerequisites

  • Noncompetitive follow-on requires competitive selection of prototype participants and successful completion of the relevant prototype.
  • Award to participants and documentation tying production to successful result.

Limits & exclusions

  • A noncompetitive prototype does not automatically create noncompetitive production eligibility.
  • Follow-ons above $100m require covered-official findings and notice when exercised; paragraph(d) participation/cost-share tests do not reapply to production.

Funding conditions

  • Production/sustainment funds appropriate to the deliverable; prototype dollars do not assure a funded transition.

Read the funding and execution guide

Who contributes what

Need & planning

  • Operational requirement owner; Service/component portfolio acquisition executive and program manager

Resources

  • Sponsoring Service/component appropriations manager and comptroller

Approval

  • Service/component acquisition executive and authorized contracting authority, at applicable threshold

Execution

Partners & review

  • User command
  • Counsel, fiscal, engineering, testing, logistics and security staff as applicable

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

Coordination pathway

User and program office agree success and adoption → budget owner provides production/sustainment funding → covered official if needed → authorized contracting/agreements officer.

Actor and execution-role sources

Legal basis

What this research establishes

Legal basisSources linkedLegal sources and instrument limits are recorded.
RequirementsGates recordedRead the requirements for this instrument; applicability depends on the proposed action.
Public fundingRules recordedProduction/sustainment funds appropriate to the deliverable; prototype dollars do not assure a funded transition. Office budget figures are separate institutional context, not an allocation to this instrument.
Assigned rolesRoles recordedPublic sources describe institutional authority. The instrument identifies approval and execution roles; a specific signature remains transaction-dependent.
EngagementProcess sourcedDIU publishes an operational Success Memo route for buyers considering follow-on production from successful competitively selected prototypes. Program check: 2026-10-04; see each route for intake status.

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 §4022 currency 2026-09-15; prototype source and success remain transaction-specific.

Review scope: Original research target October 2, 2026; no record-specific last-review date supplied. Publication is not legal-currentness certification.

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