Department of the Air Force

Supports Department of the Air Force, the United States military department integrating air and space force technology needs.

The Department of the Air Force (DAF) is the US military department covering both the United States Air Force (USAF) and the United States Space Force (USSF), with a total force of more than 689,000 personnel. DAF does not directly administer most extramural grant programs — funding flows primarily through the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), a $7 billion annual portfolio employing approximately 12,500 staff headquartered at Wright-Patterson AFB.

AFRL's extramural research reach spans three main channels: AFOSR (Air Force Office of Scientific Research) funds basic university and industry research under rolling BAAs; the AFRL technology directorates (including Materials & Manufacturing/RX and Directed Energy/RD) run applied-research BAAs and Advanced Research Announcements; and AFWERX (the innovation arm, annual budget $1.4 billion) manages the DAF's SBIR/STTR program, which is the largest among the DoD Services by dollar volume.

Key live solicitations as of mid-2026: AFRL/RX Functional Materials Open BAA (FA8650-22-S-5002, ~$48M, rolling through 28 Oct 2026); AFRL/RD DETER ARA (FA9451-21-S-0001, rolling, no end date); AFRL/RD Tactical BAA (FA9451-24-S-0001, $499M ceiling, closing Nov 2028); HPEM Modeling & Effects BAA (Dec 2026). AFOSR's annual umbrella BAA (FA955025S0001) closed March 2026 under EO 14332 review; a successor is expected March/April 2027 per the standard annual update cycle.