Funder · Federal agency

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

Funds DARPA, United States defence innovation agency creating high-impact technology programs for national missions.

United States

Key stats

Annual funding$4.9B

Programs16

Active grants7

Total grants15

About

DARPA, founded in 1958, sits under the Department of Defense (effective 2025 reorganized as Department of War in some communications) and operates as the model that NIH ARPA-H, DOE ARPA-E, and other ARPAs were modeled on. The FY2026 budget request is approximately $4.9 billion, a 12% increase from FY2025, with roughly $1.9 billion allocated to the Advanced Technology Development and Commercializat…

Programs & grants under this funder

RF Architectures Applying Photonic Timing and Routing (RAAPTR)

Funds three to five teams from a $58 million pool to build defense-grade RF systems that use optical timing instead of conventional microwave generation.

RF Architectures Applying Photonic Timing and Routing (RAAPTR)

DARPA Biological Technologies Office

Supports biology-inspired defense innovation in the United States by funding projects that turn biology into mission capability.

DARPA BTO Office-wide BAA

DARPA Defense Sciences Office

Supports United States advanced science and systems research for strategic security technologies and materials.

DARPA DSO Disruptioneering

$30M pool·Rolling submission

DARPA DSO Office-wide BAA

DARPA Information Innovation Office

Supports United States defense innovation in AI, cyber, and information domains through high-impact technology development.

DARPA I2O Office-wide BAA

DARPA Microsystems Technology Office

Funds advanced United States electronics, photonics, quantum, and sensing work for computing, communications, and security.

DARPA Multi X Office (MXO)

Funds work in quantum computing, materials, and cross-domain technologies aligned with mission priorities.

DARPA Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI)

DARPA SBIR/STTR

Funds United States small businesses tackling bold national security technologies through focused defense opportunities.

DARPA SBIR Phase I

DARPA SBIR Phase II

DARPA Strategic Technology Office

Supports strategic technology development in the United States for communications, sensing, and operational advantage.

DARPA ERIS (Expedited Research Implementation Series)

- pool·Rolling submission

DARPA Tactical Technology Office

Supports United States tactical technology development for air, sea, and space systems through rapid contracts.

DARPA TTO Office-wide BAA

Funds United States tactical technology development for aerospace, maritime, and ground systems with defense utility.

TTO Office Wide (OW) BAA 2025

DARPA Young Faculty Award (YFA)

Supports early-stage defense-relevant research by junior faculty at United States institutions.

Biological Technologies

Funds biological science pushed toward protecting warfighters, not incremental upgrades to existing methods.

Biological Technologies

Decentralized Artificial Intelligence through Controlled Emergence (DICE)

Funds theory and algorithms for large teams of AI agents that coordinate themselves while staying under human control.

Decentralized Artificial Intelligence through Controlled Emergence (DICE)

Information Processing Techniques Office Office-Wide

Funds ideas that do not fit any of DARPA's current information-processing programs or other open calls.

Information Processing Techniques Office Office-Wide

Multi Modal Materials Analysis (MMoMA)

Funds new ways to read a material's molecular make-up and composition without special sample preparation.

Multi Modal Materials Analysis (MMoMA)

Precision Inertial Navigation & Positioning On an Integrated Tesseract (PINPOINT)

Funds new physics for inertial sensors built to break a decade-long precision plateau.

Precision Inertial Navigation & Positioning On an Integrated Tesseract (PINPOINT)

Parent entityU.S. Department of Defense

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