AFRL/RX Functional Materials Open BAA

AFRL/RX Functional Materials Open BAA sits under the Air Force Research Laboratory's Materials & Manufacturing Directorate within the Department of the Air Force. It is a two-step, rolling Broad Agency Announcement for functional materials research and development, and it is aimed at technologies that can improve warfighting capability while reducing size, weight, power, reliability, maintainability, and lifecycle cost. The total anticipated funding is about USD 48 million across FY22 through FY26, with roughly USD 8.5 million in FY26. White papers may be submitted until 28 October 2026 at 3:00 PM Wright-Patterson local time, and the call covers photonic materials, nanoelectronic materials, quantum semiconductor materials, and soft matter and biomaterials. Awards can come through FAR contracts, Other Transactions, grants, or cooperative agreements. Technical effort typically runs 12 to 60 months, plus three months of reporting, cost sharing is not required, and small businesses are encouraged. Foreign participation may be limited at the prime-contractor level. The strongest submissions will be tightly aligned to one of the four technical areas and to a concrete Air Force use case. The process favors concise white papers that can earn an invitation to a full proposal, so teams need a sharp technical story, a clear path to the next stage, and enough compliance discipline to handle a defense R&D environment that may reach SECRET. It is a good fit for groups that can move from materials science to fieldable capability without relying on cost share.

Each grant below is a distinct funding opportunity with its own eligibility, scope, and deliverables.