DARPA Defense Sciences Office

DARPA DSO Disruptioneering

Supports rapid United States exploratory defense research through fast-distributed projects and compact delivery agreements.

DARPA DSO's Disruptioneering vehicle is a fast-track Other Transaction mechanism under master solicitation DARPA-PA-25-07 that allows the Defense Sciences Office to issue targeted Delivery Orders on specific technical questions requiring short-duration, focused prototype demonstrations. Unlike the DSO Office-wide BAA, which covers broad scientific domains, Disruptioneering is designed for narrowly scoped, executable work where a defined prototype can validate or refute a key technical hypothesis within approximately 12 months. The FY25 cycle closes September 29, 2026.

Delivery Order awards are significantly smaller and faster than standard DARPA cooperative agreements: typical award size ranges from $500,000 to $2 million over 12 months, with a per-cycle pool estimated at $30 million. Eligible performers include US-registered for-profit companies, nonprofits, universities, and research organisations at TRL 2–5; individual applicants are not eligible. The Other Transaction instrument carries simplified contract terms compared with standard cooperative agreements, and the typical timeline from submission to award is approximately 12 weeks — substantially faster than the standard DARPA BAA process.

Disruptioneering Delivery Orders are issued on specific topics defined by DSO program managers; applicants respond to individual DO announcements rather than submitting unsolicited proposals against the master solicitation. The program is best suited for teams that already possess the core technical capability and equipment needed for the prototype — Disruptioneering funds execution of a focused demonstration, not development of a new capability from scratch. SAM.gov registration is required. Applicants should monitor the DARPA BAA search system for individual Delivery Order announcements issued under DARPA-PA-25-07.