Defense Innovation Unit (DIU)

Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), the United States Department of the Army and the United States Department of the Air Force launched the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI) program to provide fixed on-site microreactor nuclear power systems on select military installations across domains. Now, eight commercial companies have been approved as eligible to receive OT awards from across the United States Department of Defense. “Projecting power abroad demands ensuring power at home and this program aims to deliver that, ensuring that our defense leaders can remain focused on lethality,” said Dr. Andrew Higier Ph.D., Energy Portfolio Director at DIU. “Microreactors on installations are a critical first step in delivering energy dominance to the Force. The ANPI program directly supports recent Executive Orders recognizing the critical role that energy resilience plays in supporting our nation’s warfighters. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eZEAA4tP Antares Nuclear Consulting Incorporated, BWX Technologies, Inc., General Atomics, Kairos Power, Oklo Inc., Radiant, Westinghouse Electric Company, X-energy U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory Idaho National Laboratory Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Sandia National Laboratories Office of Nuclear Energy | U.S. Department of Energy

Today, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is launching the Blue Manufacturing Initiative. This initiative will connect cutting-edge defense technology developers with a trusted manufacturing innovation base to scale production quickly, securely, and globally. “The Blue Manufacturing Initiative will focus on pairing the very best hardware and software manufacturers in defense technology with the very best advanced manufacturing providers to help both strategically critical industries to scale," said DIU Director Doug Beck. Vendors seeking to be accepted to the Blue Manufacturing marketplace can submit their solutions through an assessment process leveraging DIU’s new multi-stakeholder partnership authority. The initial Blue Manufacturing Marketplace cohort assessment will identify trusted manufacturing partners in six categories for Department needs. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eVvcuYDv

The AUKUS Maritime Innovation Challenge 2025 is now open! As the second collaboration launched between the U.S.’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), Australia’s Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA), and the UK’s ’s Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), the tri-national solicitation is seeking commercial companies with solutions that will enhance the tactical and operational capabilities of undersea command, control and communications. Submissions close on April 28, and each nation will host a Q&A with industry on April 3. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/eyizcbkq

Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is always looking to learn about new solutions with the potential to address the DoD’s most critical strategic problems. If you’re a company with innovative technology and an interest in working with us, we want to know. We encourage commercial companies to visit our new web form and share details about your relevant technologies. This will also allow us to better share upcoming notifications and opportunities to submit for our solicitations. See full details here: https://lnkd.in/eh23pVHa For more, watch this short video for more information on the benefits of partnering with DIU as a commercial company.

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Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), together with the DoD’s Chemical and Biological Defense Program (CBD), has awarded prototype contracts to spearhead biosurveillance capabilities through cutting-edge artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced data analytics. This Biosurveillance initiative aims to overcome threats of biological hazards, whether natural, accidental or deliberate. It also seeks to improve on current detection methods, which rely heavily on predefined pathogen lists and manual data processing and limit the ability to detect novel or engineered threats. “DoD must provide the Joint Force with revolutionary capabilities to deter or prevail against our adversary’s biological weapons,” said Ian Watson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD), Ian Watson for CBD. “Leveraging AI, machine learning, and big data analytics will transform biosurveillance into a predictive and responsive capability during competition, crisis, and conflict.” Nearly 80 companies responded to DIU’s solicitation, and awards were given to Bana Solutions, LLC, Cyberhill Partners and Booz Allen Hamilton. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eU-XKf9n

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and U.S. Cyber Command launched the Joint Cyber Hunt Kit (JCHK) project in the fall of 2024 with the shared goal of leveraging the best of commercial technology to standardize cyber incident response kits. After evaluating a competitive pool of nearly 100 submissions, DIU and CYBERCOM selected three vendors to receive prototype contracts: Omni Federal, Sealing Technologies, a Parsons Company, and World Wide Technology (WWT). “Working with DIU accelerated US Cyber Command’s ability to reach small and large vendors to solve cyber’s most challenging problem sets,” said @Khoi Nguyen, Command Acquisition Executive and Director of the Cyber Acquisition and Technology Directorate (J9) at USCYBERCOM. The project team is also working with the United Kingdom’s Joint Cyber Defence Unit (JCDU) and Australia's Joint Capabilities Group to share requirements and mission essentials. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eY8uFh9F jHub Defence

Less than a year after receiving contract awards, two vendors have provided the first Hydrogen at the Tactical Edge of Contested Logistics (HyTEC) prototype systems to United States Marine Corps units in Hawaii and Arizona for operator testing and evaluation. The HyTEC project is a Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), Marine Corps Expeditionary Energy Office (E2O), and Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC PAC) partnership to produce hydrogen in austere environments, enabling mobile and disaggregated forces to persist. NovaSpark Energy Corporation and Zepher Flight Labs each provided one prototype for training and evaluation at Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH) and Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma. “These HyTEC prototypes are the first electrolysis based hydrogen generation systems within the DoD designed to operate in an expeditionary environment using electrical energy from renewable sources, tactical generators, or tactical vehicles,” said David Lorio, DIU HyTEC Program Manager and contractor. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ezUbZ7rP

Later this month, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), alongside Australia’s Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA) and the United Kingdom’s Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), will launch the 2nd AUKUS Innovation Challenge. The 2025 #AUKUS Maritime Innovation solicitation will focus on undersea communication and autonomy. Learn more about the upcoming opportunity here: Australia: https://lnkd.in/g9dZBY8c UK: https://lnkd.in/d9Aqq4JG

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has launched the Enterprise Workflow and Reporting Platform (eWARP) project to provide a faster, more comprehensive, and more intelligent budget execution and project management tool for improved leadership visibility. eWARP looks to address challenges in current project and financial management platforms, such as the need for better visibility and integration to track real-time organizational finances, track project milestones, manage vendor contracts, and monitor performance across multiple projects. “Our leadership needs accurate and on demand knowledge of the status of our projects to share with DoD leadership, our DoD partners, and Congress,” said Jaime Fitzgibbon, AI program manager and contractor. DIU has awarded three prototype contracts through its Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) process: CORAS, GovSignals, unstructured.io, and Pryzm