Grants / Department of Defense / Office of Naval Research

Special Program Announcement for Office of Naval Research Research Opportunity: FY27 Communications and Networking Applied Research

Open Closes November 16, 2026 (16 days left) Opportunity N0001426SBC11

• Award ceiling$500,000
• Award floor$250,000
• Expected awards6
• Total fundingnot stated
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeGrant

Key dates

Add the deadline to your calendar

Who can apply

This opportunity is open to the applicants described in the notice.

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

All responsible sources from academia, industry and the research community worldwide may submit proposals under this BAA. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions (MIs) are encouraged to submit proposals and join others in submitting proposals; however, no portion of this BAA will be set aside for HBCUs/MIs, small businesses or other socio-economic participation. All businesses, both small and large, are encouraged to submit proposals and compete for funding consideration. Federally Funded Research & Development Centers (FFRDCs), including Department of Energy National Laboratories, are not eligible to receive awards under this BAA. However, teaming arrangements between FFRDCs and eligible principal Offerors are allowed so long as such arrangements are permitted under the sponsoring agreement between the Government and the specific FFRDC. Navy laboratories, military universities and warfare centers as well as other Department of Defense and civilian agency laboratories are also not eligible to receive awards under this BAA and should not directly submit either white papers or full proposals in response to this BAA. If any such organization is interested in one or more of the programs described herein, the organization should contact an appropriate ONR Technical POC to discuss its area of interest. University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs) are eligible to submit proposals under this BAA unless precluded from doing so by their Department of Defense UARC contract. Teams are also encouraged and may submit proposals in any areas; however, Offerors must be willing to cooperate and exchange software, data and other information in an integrated program with other contractors, as well as with system integrators, selected by ONR. Disclosures of current and pending support made in this application may render an applicant ineligible for funding. Prior to award and throughout the period of performance, DoD may continue to request updated continuing and pending support information, which will be reviewed and may result in discontinuation of funding.

Is this a realistic fit?

• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

The proposed topic will develop and mature Communications and Networking technologies for Naval operations. Background: A Design for Maritime Superiority (2018) describes an operational architecture for distributed maritime operations (DMO) that "... will provide accurate, timely, and analyzed information to units, warfighting groups, and fleets." A critical component of this architecture is the Naval Tactical Grid (NTG) to connect distributed units into groups and distributed groups into fleets. Communications and networking technologies that can provide seamless, robust, connectivity are key enablers for the NTG. These technologies will be deployed on a variety of platforms, both manned and unmanned, operating under challenging environmental and operational warfare conditions (lack of infrastructure, mobility, spectrum limitations, interference, multipath, atmospherics, jamming, electronic intercept, size/weight/power constraint, etc.) in different domains (land, maritime [includes both surface and undersea], cyber, and space). Successful Command and Control (C2) and decision making, at all levels of command, for DMO is critically dependent on these communications and networking technologies

Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development.

How to apply

1. Read the full notice and attachments on Grants.gov and the agency's announcement. The notice is the official source for deadlines and requirements.
2. Make sure your organization has an active SAM.gov registration and Unique Entity ID; registration can take several weeks.
3. Register on Grants.gov and submit through Workspace before the deadline and time given in the notice. Our application guide walks through each step.

Questions go to Veronica Lacey, Grantor, stephen.t.hughes.civ@us.navy.mil, 703-696-2593.

Open the official notice