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-02 / Research, innovation and experimentation
Fund external R&D through grants and cooperative agreements
Provide assistance for defense-relevant research; use a cooperative agreement when substantial federal involvement is expected, and a grant when it is not.
At a glance
Mission goalDevelop a technology
Possible toolACQ-02 · Grants & cooperative agreements
Legal basis10 U.S.C. §4001(b)
Responsible rolesPlanning · funds · approval · execution
Authority holder: Secretary of Defense or military-department Secretary
Grants & cooperative agreementsCooperation & exchanges
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
- Instrument selection follows 31 U.S.C. chapter 63: assistance for a public purpose versus acquiring for federal direct use.
- New research grants use merit-based selection; university awards obey §4141 competition rules.
Limits & exclusions
- Not a general-purpose economic-development grant power.
- University earmark exceptions require explicit statutory language and applicable notice/wait; grant and contract labels are not interchangeable.
Funding conditions
- Available funds for the authorized research purpose; research-security and award conditions remain applicable.
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
Research program manager → grants officer → university/company eligibility and security review → assistance award.
Legal basis
- 10 U.S.C. §4001(b)Primary statutory text; primary GovInfo baseline and amendment audit identified in research narrative.
- 10 U.S.C. §4024Primary statutory text; primary GovInfo baseline and amendment audit identified in research narrative.
- 10 U.S.C. §4141Primary statutory text; primary GovInfo baseline and amendment audit identified in research narrative.
- 31 U.S.C. §6304Primary statutory text; primary GovInfo baseline and amendment audit identified in research narrative.
- 31 U.S.C. §6305Primary statutory text; primary GovInfo baseline and amendment audit identified in research narrative.
- 31 U.S.C. §6303Instrument-selection rule, not the substantive grant authority; research authority is10 U.S.C. §4001.
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 recordedThe record states funding rules and conditions; no program amount is attributed to this action.
Assigned rolesRoles recordedPublic sources describe institutional authority. The instrument identifies approval and execution roles; a specific signature remains transaction-dependent.
EngagementRole recordedRecorded executing role: DARPA Contracts Management Office or Service contracting/grants/agreements office; Performing laboratory or external research performer. Use the responsible program’s process.
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.
Review scope: Original research target October 2, 2026; no record-specific last-review date supplied. Publication is not legal-currentness certification.