Advanced Reserve Power Source Technologies

Power source performance in terms of power and energy density is the major objective with affordability, safety, and reliability secondary objectives of Air Force Armament Directorate programs for advanced reserve power sources for weapon systems. Secondary objectives are not distant relative to the major objective, but power and energy density is emphasized in order to enable new concepts and integration strategies. Current reserve thermally activated battery technology is at risk of becoming obsolete due to increasing specific power and specific energy requirements, while other battery technologies with similar or greater specific energy suffer from multiple failure modes, have limited storage life, or have not been tailored to meet the unique requirements for Air Force weapon programs. An advanced reserve power source lasting 20+ years without the need for maintenance or significant energy loss while in storage, is reliable, and is inherently safe, e.g. is not susceptible to thermal runaway, is required. Weapons typically have storage lifetimes of 20+ years; and must maintain reliable operation at any point within this time period without the power source being inadvertently activated. When the power source is activated, it must rise to full voltage within 600 ms and have an activated life of 5+ minutes. The power source must be able to survive shock, vibration, and temperatures (MIL-HDBK-310 1% Hot/ 1% Cold Days, worldwide) associated with external and internal carriage, high speed free flight, and storage environments. The power source will be required to provide power for weapon avionics, guidance, and ordnance initiation events for the entire flight profile. The load on the power source must be capable of periods of pulse power with an average 2.5 kW/kg minimum and a goal to exceed 5 kW/kg load over 60 seconds. The goal of this technology development is to design, develop, and test an advanced design for a power source capable of 20+ years of storage, 5+ minutes of activated life, with a specific energy at a minimum of 40 Wh/kg and a goal to exceed 100 Wh/kg. The power source must be inherently safe during its entire lifetime. Due to the safety issues associated with lithium battery technologies and the process to receive certification through the Naval Ordnance Security and Safety Activity (NOSSA) for use on an ordnance system, lithium battery technologies will need to demonstrate no venting under NAVSEA S9310-AQ-SAF-010 test conditions.

Program: SBIR, Phase I and Phase II Agency: Department of War, Air Force Topic number: DAF27BZ01-DV013 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/13037. 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.