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-18 / Research, innovation and experimentation
Purchase SBIR/STTR-derived technology through Phase III awards
Make follow-on awards, including qualifying sole-source awards, for development, testing, production or services derived from prior SBIR/STTR work using non-SBIR/STTR funding.
At a glance
Mission goalDevelop a technologyBring a prototype into use
Possible toolACQ-18 · Contracts & purchases
Responsible rolesPlanning · funds · approval · execution
Authority holder: Federal acquiring agency; DoD contracting/award officials and acquisition customers
Contracts & purchases
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
- Demonstrable connection to SBIR/STTR-funded technology and award recipient.
- Prior program competition and Phase III statutory rules; assess ownership/data rights and commercialization readiness.
Limits & exclusions
- Phase III is not funded from Phase I/II set-aside; not a blanket sole-source award for unrelated offerings.
- Statutory preference is to greatest extent practicable, with reporting/appeal safeguards.
Funding conditions
- Acquisition customer supplies appropriate non-SBIR/STTR funds; no separate Phase III funding entitlement.
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
- Warranted contracting officer and program manager
Office profile
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
SBIR/STTR office documents lineage → program/requirements office sponsors adoption → contracting officer confirms Phase III and funds → award.
Legal basis
- 15 U.S.C. §638(e)(4), (e)(6), (e)(13), (r), (y)Primary statutory text; primary GovInfo baseline and amendment audit identified in research narrative.
- P.L. 119-83, §3(b), 6Enacted 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 adds training and customer-access/commercialization changes; Phase III lineage must be verified per action.
Research target: October 2, 2026. A record-specific last-review date is not supplied. Publication date is not legal-currentness certification.