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-19 / Research, innovation and experimentation
Match outside capital with strategic breakthrough Phase II awards
Make milestone-linked SBIR strategic breakthrough awards up to $30m per small business including affiliates across up to 48 months, with matching resources and acquisition commitment.
At a glance
Mission goalDevelop a technologyBring a prototype into use
Possible toolACQ-19 · Other statutory tools
Legal basis15 U.S.C. §638(aa)(6), (ff)(3)
Responsible rolesPlanning · funds · approval · execution
Authority holder: Eligible federal agency; DoD acquisition and SBIR 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
- Prior Phase II SBIR/STTR award; at least 100% matching from new private capital and/or qualifying non-Phase I/II government funding.
- DoD: readiness, high-priority need, POM inclusion commitment by acquisition executive or higher; at least 20% of required match from new qualifying DoD funds.
Limits & exclusions
- No federal equity acquisition created; this is a funding agreement.
- Agency must satisfy eligibility and implement procedures; award deadline 90 days does not eliminate required findings.
Funding conditions
- Up to 0.50% of extramural R&D from agency SBIR allocation if required SBIR expenditure exceeds $100m; match and statutory ceilings are not available funds.
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
Mission customer → acquisition executive POM commitment → SBIR office and match verification → security/legal review → milestone agreement.
Legal basis
- 15 U.S.C. §638(aa)(6), (ff)(3)Primary statutory text; primary GovInfo baseline and amendment audit identified in research narrative.
- P.L. 119-83, §3Enacted public law, not a pending bill.
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: Service or Defense Agency SBIR-STTR office and award officer. Use the responsible program’s process.
Confidence: High on express authority and cited conditions; execution assignment is illustrative unless statute expressly names it.
Currentness: New authority read directly in P.L. 119-83 §3, enacted 2026-04-13; section/amendments cease effective 2031-09-30. Operational adoption and appropriated balances not verified.
Review scope: Original research target October 2, 2026; no record-specific last-review date supplied. Publication is not legal-currentness certification.