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Unique Government Funding Opportunities

At NCMS, our goal is to help our member companies find opportunities to introduce their innovative technologies to government installations and match their technologies to gaps in the maintenance and sustainment realms. Our largest program to accomplish this goal is CTMA.

The DoD offers various funding opportunities to address areas of need critical to the maintenance and sustainment enterprise. Below is a list of a few unique funding options that can leverage the CTMA Cooperative Agreement.

OSD Corrosion Office

Corrosion is a critical issue when it comes to protecting equipment and assets. The DoD faces the challenge of maintaining a vast array of physical assets, ranging from materiel like aircraft, ground vehicles, and ships to infrastructure like buildings, airfields, and port facilities. Adding to the difficulty of that task, in order to perform its mission, DoD must train and fight in all environments, including some of the most aggressively corrosive on earth. Consequently, DoD assets are subject to significant degradation due to corrosion, which affects its operations in several ways:

  • Safety—A number of weapon system mishaps have been attributed to the effects of corrosion. Corroded electrical contacts on F-16s caused “uncommanded” fuel valve closures (with subsequent loss of aircraft), and corrosion-related cracking of F/A-18 landing gears resulted in failures during carrier operations.
  • Readiness—Weapon systems are routinely out of commission due to corrosion deficiencies. Corrosion has been identified as the reason for more than 50 percent of the maintenance needed on KC-135 aircraft.
  • Financial—The cost of corrosion to the DoD alone is estimated to be between $10-20 billion annually.

For these reasons, DoD has a long history of investment in corrosion prevention and control. The Department has been a leader in many areas of research (ranging from understanding the fundamentals of corrosion to applying advanced materials, coatings, inhibitors, and cathodic protection for corrosion control).

The OSD Corrosion Office actively seeks proposals for innovative technologies that will demonstrate a return on investment to protect and preserve critical equipment, assets, and infrastructure.

Rapid Innovation Fund (RIF)

The RIF was part of the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act and has been reauthorized until 2023. RIF provides a collaborative vehicle for small businesses to provide the Department with innovative technologies that can be rapidly inserted into acquisition programs if they meet specific defense needs. RIF is administered by the OSD Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (ASD R&E) and Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP).

To illustrate the need the RIF met, in response to a Broad Agency Announcement in 2016, the Services submitted 246 requirements from over 17 Defense Activities spanning over 50 program offices.

RIF requirements:

  • Satisfies an operational or national security need
  • Accelerate or enhance military capability
  • In support of major defense acquisition program
  • Stimulate innovative technologies
  • Reduce acquisition/lifecycle costs
  • Address technical risk
  • Improve timeliness and thoroughness of test and evaluation
  • Project must be completed within 24 months of award
  • Cost is not more than $3 million

There is a source selection preference for technologies from small businesses. Only UNCLASSIFIED White Papers will be accepted. White Papers should focus on one requirement per paper. There is no limit on the number of White Papers an offeror may submit.

Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP)

SERDP and ESTCP are the DoD’s environmental research programs, harnessing the latest science and technology to improve DoD’s environmental performance, reduce costs, and enhance and sustain mission capabilities. The programs respond to environmental technology requirements that are common to all of the Military Services, complementing the Services’ research programs. SERDP and ESTCP promote partnerships and collaboration among academia, industry, the Military Services, and other federal agencies. They are independent programs managed from a joint office to coordinate the full spectrum of efforts, from basic and applied research to field demonstration and validation.

SERDP planned and executed in partnership with DOE and EPA, with participation by numerous other federal and non-federal organizations. SERDP invests across a broad spectrum of basic and applied research, as well as advanced development. It issues an annual solicitation for proposals from the federal government, academia, and industry and employs a competitive selection process to ensure that SERDP funds the highest quality research.

ESTCP is a demonstration and validation program. It was established in 1995 to promote the transfer of technologies that have successfully established proof-of-concept to field or production use. ESTCP demonstrations collect cost and performance data to overcome the barriers to employing an innovative technology because of concerns regarding technical or programmatic risk, the so-called “valley of death.”

ESTCP issues an annual solicitation for proposals from the federal government, academia, and industry and employs a competitive selection process to ensure that ESTCP funds high-quality demonstrations. ESTCP requires each project to develop a formal test and evaluation plan. Demonstration results are subject to rigorous technical reviews to ensure that the conclusions are accurate and well supported by data.