Future Program: National Security Economic Theory (NASCENT)

Close: Jan 23, 2026

The Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) issued an RFI (pre-solicitation) seeking advanced, secure AI capabilities for national security applications in classified environments, focusing on secure model development, data curation/management, model enhancement, partnership models, and cost considerations. Respondents must address Research, Technology and Economic Security (RTES) requirements and restrictions on foreign entity involvement; responses are limited in length (15 pages). The RFI is market research to inform future procurements; the response deadline is January 23, 2026 (12:00 PM Mountain Standard Time).

Close: Jan 23, 2026

Provide transformational AI capabilities for national security.

Close: Feb 4, 2026

Carbon Crunch aims to accelerate Carbon-Carbon (C-C) hypersonic aeroshell production by developing and applying cutting edge composite manufacturing methods that are inherently faster and more scalable. Performers will be asked to demonstrate an end-to-end manufacturing process (pre-form layup to near-net-shape densification) that demonstrates high quality, rapid production, and quick design-cycle turnaround. Once the process has demonstrated improved throughput at a reasonable cost hypersonic program of record at a production rate of 100 all-up-rounds (AURs) per month, the technology can be transitioned to programs of record in the future. By targeting the most constraining production bottlenecks, Carbon Crunch will enable scalable, fast, and agile production of hypersonic aeroshells.