- The Army has issued contract opportunities for advanced technologies, such as AI, command-and-control systems, air defense, autonomous and robotic systems, synthetic training, and drones
- The Army is also seeking industry partners to provide construction services at the Blue Grass Army Depot and oversee the VEDDER Prototype Accelerator
- Attendees can hear directly from Army acquisition, budget and technology leaders responsible for the service’s future investments and capability development at the 2026 Army Summit this Thursday
The U.S. Army is aggressively integrating new capabilities to strengthen the readiness, survivability and lethality of the American warfighter on the modern battlefield. Driven by the urgent need to achieve an advantage over adversaries, the service has launched new procurement initiatives spanning the entire spectrum of defense innovation, ranging from agentic artificial intelligence to air defense systems designed to neutralize evolving drone threats.
The new capability requirements of the Department of War’s largest component will be a key topic at the 2026 Army Summit this Thursday, June 18. Acquisition leaders, such as Katie Thompson of the Army Contracting Command–Aberdeen Proving Ground and Lt. Gen. Robert Collins of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, will deliver keynotes at the event. Secure your tickets here!
What Contract Opportunities Has the Army Recently Issued?
User Interface Solution for Corps-Level Commanders RFI
Agency: Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground, Capability Program Executive Command and Control Information Network
Value: not listed
Status: Responses are due June 23.
ACC-APG is seeking a commercially available interface technology that can enhance how corps-level commanders visualize and interact with multi-domain battlefield information and to support decision-making. According to a request for information posted on SAM.gov Thursday, the interface must have an intuitive design, natural interaction modalities and form factors suited for use in command posts and mobile command platforms. The technology must also be integrable with the Army’s backend data, networks and services.
ACC-APG noted that the RFI does not cover backend capabilities, such as data management platforms, networking infrastructure, or modeling and simulation engines.
Validation Of Emerging Defense & Detection Equipment for Readiness RPP
Agency: Capability Program Executive for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense
Value: Up to $95 million
Status: Proposals are due June 24
CPE-CBRND is seeking non-profit organizations to establish and operate the VEDDER Prototype Accelerator, a program that aims to develop and demonstrate near-term AI use cases in biotechnology to strengthen national security.
In a request for project proposals issued June 11, CPE-CBRND said it will award up to three other transaction agreements to selected prototype accelerator partners. The selected partner organizations will be in charge of executing commercial-style business-to-business sub-agreements with portfolio prototyping companies. They will also provide domain-specific expertise to ensure that the program is applying the commercialization framework most suited to specific biotechnology capability areas.
Individual OT agreements have a ceiling of $95 million over a five-year period.
Synthetic Training Environment Virtual Collective Training Software Solution RFI
Agency: Army Materiel Command
Value: not listed
Status: Responses due June 25
The Army is conducting market research to identify existing, mature or near-mature software that can support or evolve into a unified Virtual Collective Training Software, VCTS, for battalion-and-below training within the Synthetic Training Environment, also known as STE, modernization initiative.
The service is prioritizing software with a Training Readiness Level 8 or near-TRL 8 that can support company- and platoon-level immersive, virtual collective training and future battalion-level constructive integration.
STE is intended to provide the Army with an interconnected system that will enable soldiers and squads to train together in live, virtual, constructive and gaming environments.
Construction Multiple-Award Task Orders Contract Blue Grass Army Depot RFI
Agency: Army Contracting Command – Rock Island
Value: $100 million
Status: Responses are due June 26
ACC-RI has issued an RFI for the construction services at Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky. The command intends to award multiple task orders with a total value of $100 million for design, engineering, architectural and technical services. Selected contractors can receive up to $15 million for individual task orders.
Sovereign Defense Cloud for High-Performance Computing CSO/Tech Challenge
Agency: Engineer Research and Development Center, Information Technology Laboratory
Value: not listed
Status: Submissions for the tech challenge are due on July 10, for the CSO on Aug. 7
ERDC has launched an effort to modernize the High Performance Computing Modernization Program, or HPCMP, to meet the rapidly evolving mission and technology demands of the Army. Interested parties may participate through two pathways:
- Tech challenge: Participation in the tech challenge may lead to Cooperative Research and Development Agreements.
- Commercial Solutions Opening: ERDC will review concept submissions and negotiate with downselected offerors for funded prototype development or other agreements.
Key focus areas include:
- Hybrid cloud models that integrate government-owned and commercially available systems
- AI-powered orchestration to automate workload and data management
- Secure, unified data fabric that enables discovery, tagging and utilization of data from disparate sources
- Portal to the Information Environment modernization to enhance user experience
- Unified service layer design for a consistent user experience
- Vendor lock-in prevention that prioritizes open standards and modular architectures
Agentic AI Platforms for Army Intelligence RFI
Agency: Army Materiel Command
Value: not listed
Status: Responses due July 3
The Army has issued an RFI for agentic AI building and management platforms that can be deployed on classified military networks, including the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System and SIPRNet at Impact Level 6.
The platform must enable intelligence analysts and personnel to develop, deploy, monitor and oversee AI agents that can retrieve information and conduct tasks in classified environments. The technology must also support edge and disconnected, intermittent, or limited bandwidth environments.
The 2026 Army Summit this Thursday will host a panel on service-wide AI implementation to achieve a decision advantage on the modern battlefield, featuring retired Col. Joel Babbitt, former program executive officer for Special Operations Forces Warrior and current vice president at Seekr; CW4 Reginald Oliver, chief digital transformation officer at the Capability Program Executive Aviation; and Chip Daniels, executive program director at Exiger. Join the conversation by signing up today.
Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense Increment 3, Next Generation Short Range Interceptor Production RFI
Agency: Portfolio Acquisition Executive Fires, Project Manager for Short and Intermediate Effectors for Layered Defense
Value: not listed
Status: Responses are due July 6
PAE Fires and PM SHIELD have issued a request for information on companies capable of manufacturing the Next Generation Short Range Interceptor, or NGSRI, for Increment 3 of Maneuver Short Range Air Defense, also known as M-SHORAD, air defense system.
NGSRI is a soldier-portable, fire-and-forget, surface-to-air missile capable of destroying rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft and Group 2 and Group 3 UAS. It is set to replace the aging FIM-92 Stinger air defense systems mounted on the M-SHORAD Increment 1, nicknamed SGT Stout.
The Army is asking for projected unit cost estimates for 11,000 NGSRI missiles and 2,200 control launch assemblies over a 10-year production period beginning in fiscal year 2028. The service also wants to know the cost per kit and approaches for retrofitting the SGT Stout to fire the new interceptor from the Stinger vehicle universal launcher.
Learn more about M-SHORAD and other air defense systems that the Army is pursuing to protect troops and military assets from aerial threats, such as drones, at the 2026 Army Summit. CPE Aviation’s CDTO Oliver will join Tony Garcia of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Science and Technology, Army Acting Deputy for Acquisition & Systems Management Martin Zybura and Mike Tomlinson of SAIC on the Emerging Technologies at Scale: Reconfigurable Air Defense and Cost-Effective Fires panel. Register here to secure your seat!
Robotic and Autonomous Construction Equipment RFI
Agency: Product Manager for Engineer, Maintenance and Support Equipment
Value: not listed
Status: Responses are due July 8
PdM EMSE is requesting commercial AI developers, autonomy software providers, robotics original equipment manufacturers, sensor and perception specialists, and systems integrators to submit information about mature and field-relevant technologies that can enhance combat engineering operations. The Army requires commercial capabilities that can be integrated into high mobility engineer excavators, medium dozers and skid steer loaders to enable remote and autonomous combat engineering operations.
The Army is also interested in UAS and unmanned ground vehicles capable of conducting site surveying and reconnaissance.
Aviation and Missile R&D BAA
Agency: Army Materiel Command
Value: Up to $29 million
Status: Offers are due July 3, 2029.
The Army is seeking technologies that enable unmanned aerial systems to operate autonomously or collaboratively with a human operator in complex littoral, maritime and urban settings with varying elevation and obscuration and in environments with denied and degraded communications and positioning. In a broad agency announcement, the service said it is specifically interested in capabilities that utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning to lay the foundation for next-generation learning-enabled autonomy.
The technologies are intended for deployment into the Launched Effects family of systems, Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, Future Tactical UAS, and other existing and future aviation and ground fleets.
The Army intends to award multiple contracts per year. The opportunity has an estimated $29 million budget over five years, including $5 million for fiscal 2026 and $8 million in FY27.
Uncrewed Aircraft System Marketplace CSO
Agency: Project Management Office UAS, Capability Program Executive Aviation
Value: not listed
Status: Open until March 11, 2031
PMO UAS has issued a CSO to invite companies to submit solution briefs for commercial technologies that can address gaps in mission-critical capabilities and give the Department of War a competitive edge over adversaries.
The CSO identified multiple areas of interest, including UAS and autonomous vehicles, tactical communication, supply chain and logistics, additive manufacturing, launched effects, command and control and autonomy software, and intelligence, electronic warfare and sensor.
Why Should GovCons Attend the 2026 Army Summit?
The Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Army Summit this Thursday, June 18, is a critical event where the top acquisition and capabilities leaders of the Army and innovators from the defense industry will discuss the service’s most pressing challenges and opportunities.
At the summit, attendees will:
- Hear from Marc Andersen, assistant secretary of the Army for financial management and comptroller, and other keynote speakers about the service’s planned technology investments and its $253 billion budget request for FY27
- Learn about how the Army is operationalizing AI from edge to enterprise to develop an AI-first warfighting force
- Explore how the service is expanding its use of loitering munitions to deliver scalable fires and strengthening air defenses to counter adversary drones
- Gain insights about upcoming acquisition initiatives and contract opportunities
- Network with some of the most influential figures in the Army and the defense industry
