Conduct and purchase defense-relevant research and development
Conduct basic, applied and advanced research and development internally, through military departments, by contract, or by agreement with another federal agency.
Contracts & purchases
ACQ-16 / Research, innovation and experimentation
Fund small-business research and commercialization through SBIR
Set aside qualifying extramural R&D funding for phased competitive small-business innovation awards, including permitted direct-to-Phase II routes.
At a glance
Mission goalDevelop a technology
Possible toolACQ-16 · Other statutory tools
Legal basis15 U.S.C. §638(f), (g), (m), (cc)
Responsible rolesPlanning · funds · approval · execution
Authority holder: Participating federal agency; DoD and component SBIR program/award officials
Other statutory tools
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
- Eligible small business; competitive scientific/technical and commercialization evaluation.
- Research-security diligence and disclosure checks; beginning FY2027, the nondelegable agency program director must set a proposal cap, with the statutory topic-waiver process.
Limits & exclusions
- Neither a general small-business loan nor automatic entitlement to an award.
- Direct-to-Phase II requires qualifying feasibility showing and agency implementation; do not confuse stale 2025 expiry with current extension.
Funding conditions
- Required SBIR share generally at least 3.2% of eligible extramural R&D; actual appropriation, exclusions and balances still require validation.
- P.L. 119-83 allows remaining FY2026 required-expenditure funds to be used in FY2027.
Who contributes what
Need & planning
- DoD/component SBIR-STTR program office and technical topic owner
Resources
- Component extramural R&D budget owner
Approval
- Authorized component grants/contracting official; required research-security reviewers
Execution
- Service or Defense Agency SBIR-STTR office and award officer
Office profile
Partners & review
- SBA program-wide policy
- Eligible small business; acquisition customer; research-security and counterintelligence partners
Office links are editorial matches to the original role text, not verified delegations. Composite labels and unmatched actors are preserved.
Coordination pathway
Component requirement/topic owner → SBIR office → competitive/security evaluation → contracting/grants officer → acquisition transition sponsor.
Actor and execution-role sources
Legal basis
- 15 U.S.C. §638(f), (g), (m), (cc)Primary statutory text; primary GovInfo baseline and amendment audit identified in research narrative.
- P.L. 119-83, §2, 4, 9, 10Enacted public law, not a pending bill.
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. P.L. 119-83 enacted 2026-04-13 § §9–10 extends SBIR to 2031-09-30; OLRC indexed 15 U.S.C. §638 currency 2026-09-29.
Research target: October 2, 2026. A record-specific last-review date is not supplied. Publication date is not legal-currentness certification.