This is an Air Force SBIR contract (not a grant) for US for-profit small businesses with 500 or fewer employees to develop compact 2-micron thulium-doped fiber amplifiers for directed energy, sensing, and materials processing. It is for laser/photonics R&D firms positioned to move toward production and Air Force program transition. Nonprofits and businesses outside fiber laser development should not bother applying.
| Industry | Estimated fit |
|---|---|
| Technology & SoftwareMatches your industry (sbir, sttr) | 75 |
| Energy & Clean TechMatches your industry (energy) | 62 |
| Healthcare & BiotechMatches your industry (medical) | 60 |
| ManufacturingMatches your industry (production, industrial) | 59 |
| Transportation & LogisticsMatches your industry (transit) | 49 |
| Housing & Real EstateLimit: Primarily for minority-owned businesses | 46 |
| Industry | Estimated fit |
|---|---|
| Agriculture & FarmingLimit: Primarily for minority-owned businesses | 45 |
| Food & BeverageLimit: Primarily for minority-owned businesses | 45 |
| Construction & InfrastructureLimit: Primarily for minority-owned businesses | 44 |
| Finance & BankingLimit: Primarily for minority-owned businesses | 42 |
| Retail & E-CommerceLimit: Primarily for minority-owned businesses | 42 |
| Arts & CultureLimit: This program does not accept nonprofit applicants. | 0 |
| Education & TrainingLimit: This program does not accept nonprofit applicants. | 0 |
| Environment & ConservationLimit: This program does not accept nonprofit applicants. | 0 |
| Social Services & NonprofitLimit: This program does not accept nonprofit applicants. | 0 |
These are our matcher’s estimates for a typical business in each industry. A real match depends on your size, your state and what you need the money for — check your own fit.
SBIR Phase I/II contract for US small businesses (≤500 employees) to develop compact, low size-weight-and-power 2-micron thulium-doped fiber amplifiers for directed energy, sensing, and materials processing, leveraging Air Force lab architectures toward production and program transition.
High-power fiber lasers operating in the 2-micron regime offer critical advantages for defense, medical, and industrial applications, including eye-safer directed energy, advanced sensing, and precision materials processing. While kilowatt-class, narrow-linewidth thulium-doped fiber amplifiers have been demonstrated, the Department of the Air Force aims to reduce the size and weight of existing kilowatt-class 2-micron fiber amplifiers into a highly compact system with similar size, weight, and power metrics of existing 1-micron fiber amplifiers. This topic seeks to leverage existing Air Force laboratory architectures to prime industry for production of robust 2-micron fiber amplifiers, paving the way for transition into active directed energy programs.
Program: SBIR, Phase I and Phase II Agency: Department of War, Air Force Topic number: DAF27BZ01-DV010 Solicitation: 27.BZ Released October 7, 2026; proposals accepted from October 28, 2026 Closes November 25, 2026. Check the official solicitation for the exact due time. Award type: contract, not a grant. Official solicitation: https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/topics-app/ Listed on SBIR.gov: https://www.sbir.gov/topics/13034. SBIR.gov copies agency solicitations and can lag behind them; the official solicitation is the final word.
Small businesses only: a for-profit US business with 500 or fewer employees, including affiliates.
More than 50% owned and controlled by US citizens or permanent residents (some agencies also accept majority ownership by venture capital, hedge fund or private equity firms; the solicitation says).
SBIR: the principal investigator is primarily employed by the business. STTR: the business partners with a US nonprofit research institution or university, which does at least 30% of the work.
Registered in SAM.gov before submitting.
Check the official solicitation for its own conditions, proposal limits and security review.
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