Defense Innovation Unit

Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) accelerates commercial technology for national security. Retweet does not imply endorsement

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

Yesterday’s historic @USNavy rescue in the Strait of Hormuz is a direct result of DIU’s Production-Ready, Inexpensive, Maritime Expeditionary (PRIME) Small Unmanned Surface Vehicle (sUSV) program.

The Saronic Corsair used in the operation was developed through DIU’s competitive PRIME sUSV solicitation, which successfully prototyped, validated and delivered mission-ready vehicles to the Navy in under 15 months. Validation of production readiness was executed in just four months. The delivery speed was 50% to 70% faster than legacy acquisition approaches, which previously took more than six years.

This vehicle is one of many that have been deployed by the Navy into real-world environments. DIU is committed to using autonomous technology across domains to get our warfighters out of harm’s way.

https://t.co/k4wVXiWKWg

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

DIU salutes @ENERGY and Idaho National Laboratory (@INL) for their completion of a zero-power criticality test of the Antares Nuclear Mark-0 demonstrator reactor.

We know that reliable energy systems are critical to reducing mission risk and disruption for the Services, whether from constrained systems, natural disasters or physical and cyber attacks. DIU is committed to working with our @DeptofWar and DoE partners to support energy resilience through advanced nuclear power.

“Projecting power abroad demands ensuring power at home and these on-base nuclear power initiatives aim to deliver that, ensuring that our installation commanders can remain focused on lethality,” said Dr. Andrew Higier, Energy Portfolio Director at DIU.

https://t.co/hyUcVMb7jj

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

The first batch of drones ordered under the Drone Dominance Program have been accepted, and we’re just getting started. Nearly 2,000 additional units have shipped. Many more are ramping up for fulfillment.

Next up is the Gauntlet Phase II qualifiers, set to begin at Camp Grayling, Michigan next week.

https://t.co/AoZwXDh2gO

#MayTheBestDroneWin

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

@NASA has selected @AalyriaTech to support the PExT mission, marking a successful transition of technology developed under DIU’s Hybrid Space Architecture program. Aalyria’s Spacetime platform will now provide AI backed network orchestration for the NASA SCaN Program.

Read the full announcement here: https://t.co/gnKpPjx7UE

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

NextMRO Prize Challenge winners announced!

In our charge to convert commercial innovation into combat power and support the modernization of naval logistics, DIU, in partnership with the @USNavy's Logistics Information Technology (LOG IT) Program Office, has announced the winners of the NextMRO Prize Challenge.

Following a rigorous multi-phase competition launched in September 2025, three companies have been selected to receive a total of $5.5 million in prize awards for demonstrating their ability to transform the Navy’s Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) workflows and capabilities.

"Our digital-native Sailors expect and deserve systems that move at the speed of the modern mission. By replacing cumbersome, siloed platforms with data-driven insights at the edge—directly on the flightline and at the pier—we are trading yard time for combat power and getting our critical ships and aircraft back to the fight,” said CAPT Evan Williams, Logistics IT MPM.

The selected vendors demonstrated a superior ability to ingest actual Navy use-case data and transform it into intuitive, Sailor-facing applications for both workstations and mobile devices.

1st Place: @Appian
2nd Place: Game Plan Tech
3rd Place: @Fathom5_co

The Project NextMRO challenge was launched to identify commercial-driven technologies capable of replacing the Navy’s antiquated logistics structures with integrated, real-time, data-driven solutions. By streamlining maintenance across the Navy’s enterprise, solutions tested in the NextMRO Prize Challenge aim to generate significant cost-savings related to the sustainment of legacy platforms, ensuring these critical assets are available for frontline lethality.

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

Our Hydra: Collaborative, Real-Time, Cross-System USSF Tactical Command and Control solicitation is now live.

The @USSpaceForce is currently constrained by a fragmented ground architecture that limits the agility of modern distributed space operations.

To achieve decision advantage and close the kill chains across all 13 United States Space Force (USSF) Mission Deltas, the Service requires a stable, high-availability commercial data fabric that unifies disparate ground segments into an integrated and resilient warfighting environment.

"By partnering with DIU, SSC BMC3I is rapidly modernizing the Space Force’s tactical C2 architecture. We are leveraging commercial software innovations to field a unified, integrated tactical C2 fabric at the speed of relevance. This collaboration allows us to tap into cutting-edge commercial technology, fundamentally changing how we deliver decision advantage to our Guardians," says Ms. Shannon Pallone, USSF Space Systems Command Battle Management, Command, Control, Communications, and Space Intelligence (BMC3I) PAE.

DIU is seeking comprehensive, end-to-end prototype software solutions that integrate existing hardware and software systems to provide a common data fabric.

Submissions due by June 15 at 23:59:59 Eastern Time.

https://t.co/9tA3kdshrg

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

DIU recently marked another milestone achievement in its pursuit of affordable and scalable group 5 UAS to deliver combat capability. We successfully completed the first supersonic flight of the Quarterhouse Mk 2.1 multi mach reusable aircraft (MMRA).

The supersonic flight demonstrates DIU’s unique ability to work with commercial industry to deliver real-world impact for the DoW at unmatched speed. Hermeus was awarded its first DIU prototype contract in November 2023 after selection under the HyCAT Hypersonics commercial solutions opening. Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 reached supersonic speeds less than three months after its first flight.

The MMRA serves primarily as a technology risk reduction for achieving Mach 3  flight and high-speed payload release. Attributes of the MMRA architecture align with the DoW’s priorities for speed, affordability, scale, and lethality, with designs that leverage commercially available components, resilient supply chains, abundant structural materials such as stainless steel, and existing aerospace maintenance ecosystems.

Photos courtesy of @hermeuscorp.

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

Our Project Spectrum Strike Prize Challenge is now live.

The DoW faces challenges in integrating modern technology into legacy spectrum management systems, putting American innovation, companies, and the military at a significant disadvantage compared to our adversaries.

DIU and its interagency partners seek a "ready-now" automated, software-driven spectrum deconfliction and authorization ecosystem. Run by DIU in partnership with the @USArmy, @USNavy, @USMC, @NTIAgov, @FCC, @FAANews, and @DHSgov, this Prize Challenge serves to dismantle "compliance-based bureaucracy."

Submissions due by June 15 at 23:59:59 Eastern Time.

https://t.co/GoejjBEJcg

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

Our Rising Smoke Prize Challenge is now live.

DIU, in partnership with Blue Horizons and Air Force Research Laboratory (@TeamAFRL) RF Seekers Branch, is offering a $250,000 prize challenge for a conceptual active RF radar seeker design and future use considerations for use in a 2.75-inch class munition.

The prize challenge is designed to identify top-performing solutions for potential prototyping and eventual transition into a $50M rapid acquisitions program using an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) vehicle.

We will host an "Ask Me Anything" info session on June 8, with the submission window open until July 2 at 23:59:59 Eastern Time.

Learn more and apply here: https://t.co/PEQDrgaDK1

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

The United States @DeptofWar's $1.1 billion Drone Dominance Program is putting operators in the driver’s seat – literally – to identify top-performing systems.

“Any drone that I have to train someone for a month on is less valuable than the drone that I don’t,” said DIU Deputy Director Travis Metz, in a recent interview with NBC news. “If I can put a soldier or a Marine flying the thing in a day, that’s a more valuable system from our point of view.”

Last week, 49 companies were invited to prove their capabilities in the Phase 2 Qualifier at Camp Grayling, MI. This event will put approximately 79 unique drones to the test in one — or both — critical mission areas: Long Range Strike and Tactical Assault in Close Quarters.

Read more here (paywall): https://t.co/5KldWQzYmP

#DroneDominance #MayTheBestDroneWin

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

Our Autonomous Resupply Vessel (ARV) solicitation is now live.

The @DeptofWar relies on the @USArmy for intra-theater logistics, creating a heavy dependence on supply chains to sustain joint operations at required speed and scale. Army Watercraft Systems (AWS) are critical to distributing supplies across dispersed littoral formations in the Indo-Pacific theater, but the current fleet is aging and reliant upon a limited cadre of Army senior enlisted mariners.

The DoW is looking toward unmanned systems to solve these challenges and is seeking solutions for a small, Autonomous Resupply Vehicle (ARV-S). The ARV-S’ primary job will be regularly resupplying containerized cargo to forward-deployed units in the form of Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs).

Submissions due by June 12 at 23:59:59 Eastern Time.

https://t.co/bw7ferUCgq

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

Our All Players - Modular & Scalable Architectures for Joint Simulation and Wargaming solicitation is now live.

The @DeptofWar lacks the ability to rehearse, validate and iterate Operational Plans (OPLANs) for contested, multi-domain conflict at the scale and speed required for modern warfare.

The government is constructing dedicated facilities to support the required scale of virtual training and mission rehearsal. However, these facilities impose strict constraints on physical footprint, power, cooling, and sustainment. They also require modularity and rapid reconfigurability across multiple mission platforms and classification levels, thereby limiting the utility of existing large, monolithic, and platform-specific simulators.

To address this gap, the DoW seeks modular and scalable simulation and training architectures for military platforms that enable 100+ players to exercise and rehearse within a shared synthetic battlespace.

Submissions due by June 8 at 23:59:59 Eastern Time.

https://t.co/moZTudqzQm

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

Air Education and Training Command (@AETCommand) in partnership with DIU, has fielded more than 200 virtual training devices for pilots.

More recently, AETC's Det 24 partnered with DIU under the Virtual Training For Air Dominance (VTRAD) project to field the next evolution of this technology, with upgrades like fully integrated and realistic cockpit controls, high-fidelity commercial simulation environments, and enhanced visualization systems.

Read more in Air & Space Forces Magazine (@ASForcesMag):

https://t.co/iFvGS1obFJ

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

Our Robotic Operation for Autonomous Delivery and Sustainment (ROADS) Prize Challenge is now live.

Over two decades ago, the @DeptofWar helped plant the seeds for the driverless car industry via the DARPA Grand Challenge. Driverless cars are now operational in cities across the country - increasing utilization, lowering accident rates, and improving efficiency.

It’s time for the DoW to harvest the benefits of those investments and advancements.

The Defense Innovation Unit and the @USArmy are launching a $30,000,000 prize challenge for Robotic Operation for Autonomous Delivery and Sustainment (ROADS) to bring the best of consumer driverless car technology to the Department’s non-tactical vehicle (NTV) fleet to support on-installation logistics.

“We’re looking for consumer-proven technology to help bring the benefits our Department personnel enjoy off-installation, onto the installation,” said David Payne, Acting Autonomy Portfolio Director at DIU.

Submissions open through June 8 at 23:59:59 Eastern Time.

Learn more and apply here: https://t.co/l1h424ehMa

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

The Road to the Gauntlet: Phase 2 Qualifier Invitees Announced

The Drone Dominance Program is challenging 48 companies to prove their capabilities in the Phase 2 Qualifier at Camp Grayling, Michigan. This event will put approximately 78 unique drones to the test in one -- or both -- critical mission areas: Long Range Strike and Tactical Assault in Close Quarters.

View the full list of companies here: https://t.co/ZEfJhnsc0p

#DroneDominance
#MayTheBestDroneWin

@usnda_org

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

We know that innovation is no longer enough. It must be matched with production.

Speaking at @AUVSI Xponential yesterday, DIU Deputy Director Travis Metz highlighted the rapid success of our Drone Dominance Program. We have ordered 30,000 warfighter-tested drones in a matter of months, and that’s just the start.

We are acting quickly – and decisively – to overmatch our adversaries. The slow way of doing business doesn’t stand a chance in today’s Department.

https://t.co/2k8T0zBZzF

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

Congratulations to the winners of the Drone Dominance Program Lethality Challenge:

Bravo Ordnance (@warheadco)

Kela Technologies (@kela_tech)

Kraken Kinetics

Mountain Horse Solutions

@northropgrumman

The Lethality Prize Challenge addresses the critical need for cost-effective, mass-producible, and easily integrated lethal payloads for small drones.

Winners will receive a cash prize of $10,000 and be presented to all Gauntlet II applicants as a part of a preferred munitions solutions list.

[Defense Innovation Unit @DIU_x]

DIU Military Deputy Joseph “Solo” Kunkel at last week’s @scsp_ai AI+ expo to talk about Drone Dominance, the future of warfare and how DIU is committed to leveraging commercial markets and a wide-range of companies to solve military problems.

“The key to success in combat is going to be the team that can adapt and scale most quickly,” he said. “If you limit yourself to a small number of companies, you’re not going to be able to adapt quickly, you’re not going to be able to scale quickly. So, this growth in the industrial base is absolutely essential.”