Guidance

Open Call Innovation Focus Areas

Updated 14 December 2022

1. What are innovation focus areas?

Whilst the Open Call welcomes a wide range of innovative ideas to solve problems faced by our defence and security customers, DASA is keen to share insight on specific topics of interest. Innovative solutions for any innovation focus area should be channelled via the Open Call for Innovation.

Each innovation focus area has a unique identifier to help us ensure that your innovation is seen by the appropriate parts of Government. You will be able to choose this identifier when you submit your bid and should use it in all communications with DASA.

Details of past innovation focus areas are listed here.

1.1 What should be included in your proposal?

Find out about the Cyber Risk Assessment requirements, the Open Call Competition process and assessment and Open Call Cycle Dates.

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This page will be changed as new innovation focus areas are added, old ones amended or removed, in response to the evolving needs of our defence and security stakeholders. It is therefore recommended that you set up an alert for this page so you are aware of when such changes are made.

Open Call competition category ‘Emerging Innovations’ is currently not available for submission however we are accepting submissions for Security and Defence Rapid Impact and any Innovation Focus Area.

1.2 Advanced Materials for Defence

Unique Identifier: IFA038

Background

Advanced Materials is identified in the Defence Technology Framework as a critical technology family to drive innovation across defence. It is one of the seven technology families where the UK has globally competitive R&D and industrial strength as identified in the UK Innovation Strategy.

This IFA aims to harness the strengths of the UK innovation landscape to provide Advanced Materials solutions in support of defence’s generation-after-next capabilities.

The Advanced Materials Programme (AMP) is one of 25 S&T Programmes in the current MOD S&T portfolio. AMP is the successor to the Materials for Strategic Advantage (MSA) Programme and is the focal point for defence’s S&T investment in materials science and engineering. It exists to exploit global developments and innovation in materials science and engineering to enable UK defence and security to maintain strategic and operational technological advantage. This IFA will enable new opportunities under the Advanced Materials Programme to be addressed against specific challenges.

DASA competitions for Advanced Materials have a strong pedigree, for example ‘Take Cover!’, ‘A Joint Effort’ and ‘Metasurfaces for Defence and Security’ under the MSA Programme.

The Advanced Materials Programme has a strong level of engagement with International Allies. As such, for the specific purposes of considering additional funding for a competition and onward exploitation opportunities, DASA also reserves the right to share information in your proposal in-confidence with any UK and Five-Eyes (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, US) Defence Department. In providing your information, you consent to such disclosure. Provision of such information is protected under extant memoranda of understanding between the respective defence departments of each nation.

This Innovation Focus Area will run for at least two funding cycles of the Open Call (closure dates midday 22 February 2023 and midday 25 April 2023) and is seeking to fund multiple projects across a range of operating domains. Specific project duration and funding will depend on the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) to be achieved and are likely to range from 9 to 24 months and from £100K to £300K (dependent on domain and duration). Projects submitted into the second cycle are required to be a maximum of 18 months in duration owing to funding profiling. These constraints are summarised in Section 2.3 (Clarification).

DASA reserves the right to disclose on a confidential basis any information it receives from you during the procurement process to any Governmental third-party engaged by DASA for the specific purpose of evaluating or assisting DASA in the evaluation of your proposal.

Scope

This IFA is seeking innovative solutions against the following challenges:

• Challenge 1: Intelligent materials and structures
• Challenge 2: Materials for enhanced thermal management

Further details of each of these challenges, with specific links to problems in different operating domains, are provided in the following sections.

Challenge 1: Intelligent materials and structures

Background Information

This challenge is focused on materials and structures that can either sense changes in their environment, actuate a change under extreme environmental conditions, or a combination of both. This challenge is also concerned with assessing the aging and degradation of deployable and morphing structures and its impact on long-term performance.

Innovation is required to address the unique considerations associated with various operating environments as follows:

Complex weapons

Countering low cost/multiple/swarming threats and engaging targets with sufficient mass to overwhelm countermeasures will require affordable weapons. Operational demands will require modularity and prosecution of multiple target types with the same weapon. Affordability will be enhanced by the ability to rapidly adapt/reconfigure to provide flexibility in mission type.

Air

Through-life support of military air platforms continues to provide a significant maintenance and cost burden impacting platform availability. In order to realise a ‘paradigm shift in platform availability’ and minimise through-life support, a move towards condition based maintenance is required alongside the development and exploitation of advanced repair/manufacturing capabilities and materials/approaches that reduces the maintenance burden and resource use.

Space

Spacecraft materials have to withstand the unique, harsh and highly variable environment of space. The natural space environment consists of ultrahigh vacuum, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, ionising radiation, thermal cycling, atomic oxygen (AO), orbital debris and abnormalities in space weather. Synergistic or separate interactions of these effects cause spacecraft materials to suffer corrosion, erosion, structural modification and surface roughening; which can degrade optical, thermal, electrical and mechanical properties. The lack of accessibility of space and variable launch costs, means that there are limited opportunities for maintenance and repair. Defence needs confidence and assurance that the materials used within space assets can maintain their performance and durability over a mission’s life.

Deployable satellite antennas are of interest to defence space applications owing to their ability to provide lighter and more cost-competitive alternatives than those currently available commercially. They will be compact when folded for easy portability but unfurl to several metres when in space, providing an opportunity to increase the antenna aperture size and performance. This call focuses on the aging and degradation of materials used in next generation deployable satellite antennas.

Land

Army has the strategic objectives of operating a distributed, more self-sustaining force, whilst minimising the logistical burden. This will require maintaining and repairing the fleet further forward and taking advantage of manufacturing technologies that enable maintenance to be carried out at the point of need. Sustainment will also be achieved by ensuring that the fleet, and its constituent components, have maximum availability, terrain accessibility and range at the lightest mass to ensure that the required system level effect can be achieved.

Maritime

The role of the Royal Navy necessitates a widening global reach and persistence of naval vessels across a range of roles. This objective will be increasingly achieved by a mix of multi-role crewed, uncrewed and autonomous vessels which need to be adapted to fulfil different missions. They will be rapidly deployable and able to endure a range of operating environments.

Naval vessels and platforms will require the ability for rapid modification and adaptation depending on the needs of operations. This will include changes in equipment and systems deployed on a vessel, and may be necessary in a forward-deployed setting.

The requirement for persistent global reach means that vessels may have to undertake extended deployments in varied environments. Vessel availability, reliability and durability will be essential and necessitate advances in how the Royal Navy carry out monitoring and maintenance. Areas such as autonomy and data analytics will be important. The ability to carry out monitoring and inspection tasks, including in areas infrequently accessed by crew, will support an increase in the quality and breadth of data available for platforms. If these technologies can be effectively utilised, they will greatly improve understanding of the current health of capabilities, preventing unexpected failures and supporting an effective navy.

Functional, Animate and Metamaterials Exploration (FAME)

The FAME project sits within the Advanced Materials Programme. It focuses on the development of vital enabling materials knowledge, concepts and technologies for later exploitation into systems. FAME is a cross-cutting project that encompasses all operating environments.

Key challenges include the development of materials to aid:

• improvements in communications security, such as increased bandwidths, adaptability, agility, reduction of detection and identification
• platform self-sufficiency and autonomy
• global improvements in sensing capabilities beyond traditional approaches
• capability to deliver a range of electromagnetic effects
• exploration of the possible fabrication and application of morphing materials in multiple operating environments/scenarios

Miniaturisation and reduction in size, mass, power and cost (SWAP-C) are highly desirable across all of these.

Specific areas of interest

Challenge 1: is seeking innovative solutions covering:

Complex weapons:

Smart / functional structural materials, including:

• folding or morphing structures for new weapons concepts
• light mass, low inertia control surfaces
• miniaturisation of actuators, affordable actuators

For each Complex weapons proposal, a demonstration is required at TRL 3-4 together with a white paper proposing a route to scale up and exploitation

Air:

Materials to reduce maintenance requirements including:

• materials that provide condition based maintenance
• damage indicating, monitoring and self-repairing materials
• materials tolerant to damage and extreme Air environments

For each Air proposal, the output is required to be a demonstration at TRL 2-4 together with a white paper proposing a route to scale-up and exploitation.

Space:

Techniques to assess the aging and degradation of materials used in deployable antenna systems in the LEO environment. This should include consideration of:

• origami folding / the impact of high strain deformation on a material during stowage, e.g. initiation of damage, tangling
• material creep during long-term storage and over mission life
• thermal cycling, e.g. thermoelastic deformation of large structural members
• atomic oxygen, e.g. oxidation and erosion
• ultraviolet radiation (UV) e.g. discolouration and embrittlement
• vacuum, e.g. outgassing and mass loss

We are looking for proposals that use modelling approaches (including validation) and / or experimental techniques to assess and predict the long-term behaviour of materials used in deployable space assets.

The proposal should include consideration of a range of materials typically used in the construct of deployable satellite antennas, e.g. carbon-fibre composites, coatings, adhesives, materials used for mechanical deployment, antenna materials. Projects will finish at TRL 3-4.

Land:

New technologies for material condition self-diagnosis and repair and novel multi-functional materials to support survivability through improved concealment, including:

• material self-repair
• materials that provide Condition Based Maintenance (such as structural health monitoring) & predictive sustainment
• adaptive structures such as morphing applique systems
• adding new functionality to “known” materials
• materials that promote Camouflage Concealment and Deception
• adaptive (tuneable) structures for Active Protection Systems
• adaptive (tuneable) structures for drive – chain components

Within the Land domain, the output of these projects should be at TRL 2-3 through either (or a mixture of) physical or in-silico demonstration. The proposals should consider an adequate comparison to baseline materials and combinations thereof in order to determine the overall benefit to defence.

Maritime:

Development of technologies to support the rapid build, modification and deployment of naval vessels across different operating environments.

• integration of sensors for environmental and structural monitoring, including smart materials and structures where the functionalities are included as part of build
• novel approaches to integrating wiring and connectors into materials and structures (including during build)
• morphing materials allowing the rapid deployment of structures and equipment in marine environments (including temporary structures)
• novel approaches to integrating functionalities such as self-healing, anti-fouling, self-assembling and self-dismantling

The output of these projects will be a demonstration that provides a proof-of-concept for the desired functionalities (TRL 3)

FAME:

Exploring the art of the possible in novel materials technologies including, but not limited to:

• materials to facilitate body-worn and integrated communications and sensing
• reconfigurable metamaterials and meta-surfaces to enhance performance and capability
• meta atoms for the control and enhancement of scattering of electromagnetic radiation
• morphing and actuation materials that have one or more of the following properties: are robust to extended use, able to maintain their morphing properties in extreme environments, can facilitate pop-up/temporary structures, able to detect aspects of themselves and their performance e.g. ability to know its shape or if it has successfully grasped an object without visual confirmation

The output will be a demonstration that illustrates the functionality/functionalities of the technology at TRL 3 along with a report detailing the properties of material.

Challenge 2: Materials for enhanced thermal management

Background information

This challenge is focused on materials and structures that can withstand extremes of temperatures, including structural materials for high temperatures in oxidative, corrosive or/and erosive environments and materials to support the protection of people and equipment operating in extreme (high or low) temperatures. This challenge is also concerned with either limiting heat transfer to or providing effective routes to transfer heat rapidly away from critical components.

Innovation is required to address the unique considerations associated with various operating environments as follows:

Complex weapons

To improve survivability of platforms through greater standoff and increase weapon lethality, greater speed and range are required. To achieve these higher speeds for extended duration (range), materials must withstand the extreme high temperature oxidative and erosive environment. In addition, these materials must limit heat transfer to other parts of the weapon structure.

To prosecute dynamic moving targets, effectors must have even greater manoeuvrability. This is typically achieved through control surfaces and actuators. Owing to packaging constraints, these actuators are typically located close to the propulsion system, meaning they can be exposed to extremes of temperatures.

Air

Thermal management of military air platforms remains an important challenge to ensure operation in increasingly extreme environments and provide enhanced military air platform capability. Advanced materials S&T is required to provide more capable materials for thermal management systems with improved capability/capacity, efficiency and reliability, whilst reducing mass, volume and whole life cost.

Land

Management of thermal load and distribution is fundamental to how equipment operates in the Land environment across both mounted, dismounted and uncrewed systems. People and equipment operate less effectively at the highest and lowest extremes of temperatures. Hostile action and sudden environmental effects may also expose defence platforms to temperatures beyond the original design limits. Materials S&T could transform these effects through materials design, modelling and validation for adaptive thermal control via bulk materials or combinations of materials.

Maritime

The growing complexity of sensor systems has greatly increased the computing power on-board naval vessels. The area available for the computers and associated thermal management system has not increased, leading to a need to increase the efficiency of both the electronics and the associated cooling systems.

Specific areas of interest

Challenge 2 is therefore seeking innovative solutions covering:

Complex weapons:

Materials to enable increased endurance, range or operating temperatures:

• robust insulating materials able to transfer load
• joining and sealing of dissimilar materials with differing thermal expansions. Novel approaches to joining may include transient liquids, flash sintering and additive manufacturing of graded structures.
• affordable ceramic matrix composite materials.
• actuators able to operate at higher temperatures.
• topological materials not dependant on bulk material properties to manage temperature

For each Complex weapons project, a demonstration is required at TRL 3-4 for laboratory assessment together with a white paper proposing a route to scale up and exploitation.

Air:

Materials to help reduce mass, volume and cost of thermal management systems and enhance other areas of performance such as range or survivability, whilst enabling higher temperature performance to be achieved:

• additive manufacturing of high temperature materials
• light mass thermal insulation
• materials for reduced mass/volume and improved heat exchanger effectiveness
• affordable materials for hypersonic (non-weapon) platforms
• reduced mass/volume thermal storage (e.g. improved capability/capacity of phase change materials)

For each Air technology project, a laboratory proof of concept and/or laboratory assessment (TRL 3-4) is required together with a white paper proposing a route to scale-up and exploitation.

Land:

Materials to enhance the survivability and sustainment of platforms and Users through:

• materials to manage the frictional effects on external components
• materials to manage localised thermal loading of structures and people
• materials to manage heat dissipation within combat clothing
• materials to manage heat dissipation around structural components of land platforms
• materials to provide thermal management of external drive chain components

Within the Land domain, the output of these projects should be TRL 2-3 through either (or a mixture of) physical or in-silico demonstration. The proposals should consider adequate comparison to baseline materials and combinations thereof in order to determine the overall benefit to defence.

Maritime:

Materials to improve the effectiveness of thermal management systems for computing, allowing more heat transfer to take place in the same space.

Demonstrators are required at TRL 3-4, assessing the technologies in a laboratory environment.

Clarification

We are seeking proposals to meet the following requirements; recognising that low TRL (<TRL4) developments may be applicable to more than one area:

Domain	Technical areas of interest	TRL level to be achieved for each area of interest	Form of Output for each successful project	Typical project duration & funding level (per project)
Weapons	Folding or morphing structures for new weapon concepts. Miniaturisation of actuators, affordable actuators. Actuators able to operate at higher temperatures. Topological materials.	TRL 3	Characteristic proof of concept together with a white paper proposing a route to scale up and exploitation.	9-18 months, £100K-£150K
	Light mass, low inertia control surfaces. Joining and sealing of dissimilar materials with differing thermal expansions. Affordable ceramic matrix composite materials.	TRL 4	Laboratory assessment (technology basic validation) together with a white paper proposing a route to scale up and exploitation.	9-18 months, £100K-£250K
	Robust insulating materials able to transfer load.	TRL 3-4	Characteristic proof of concept and/or laboratory assessment (technology basic validation) together with a white paper proposing a route to scale up and exploitation.	9-18 months, £100K-£150K
Air	Materials that provide condition based maintenance. Damage indicating, monitoring and self-repairing materials. Materials tolerant to damage and extreme Air environments.	TRL 2-4	Laboratory proof of concept and/or laboratory assessment together with a white paper proposing a route to scale up and exploitation.	9-18 months, £100-250k
	Materials/ Manufacturing for Thermal Management.	TRL 3-4	Characteristic proof of concept and/or laboratory assessment (technology basic validation) together with a white paper proposing a route to scale up and exploitation.	9-18 months, £100K-£250K
Space	Degradation of deployable space assets.	TRL 3-4	Validated simulation or experimental techniques on a range of materials (CFRP, adhesives, coatings, antenna materials).	12-24 months, £100K-£250K
Land	Material options that contribute to enhancing platform durability and mission survivability via enhanced damage detection, tuneable failure mechanisms in order to provide better sustainment of effect.	TRL 2-3	Laboratory scale proof of principal/concept compared with baseline materials; an assessment of a technology via validated in-silico methods; or a combination of the above. A final report documenting the findings of the project.	12 months, £100K
	Material options that enable the management of thermal loads of structures and components to enable enhanced platform performance and survivability.	TRL 2-3	Laboratory scale proof of principal / concept compared with baseline materials; an assessment of a technology via validated in-silico methods; or a combination of the above. A final report documenting the findings of the project.	12 months, £100K
Maritime	Develop materials technologies to support the rapid build, modification and deployment of naval vessels across different operating environments.	TRL 3	Characteristic proof of concept at TRL 3 assessing the technologies in a laboratory environment against baseline technology options.	12-18 months, £100K-£300K
	Materials to improve the effectiveness of thermal management systems allowing more heat transfer to take place in the same space.	TRL 3-4	Proof of concept or technology validation required at TRL 3-4, assessing the technologies in a laboratory environment against baseline technology options.	12-18 months, £100K-£300K

FAME

The total available funding for FAME is £100K-£250K for 9–18 month projects.

Domain	Technical areas of interest	TRL level to be achieved for each area of interest	Form of Output for each successful project
FAME	Robust morphing materials for high and/or low temperature extremes.	TRL 3-4	Validated simulation of the concept. Report detailing materials and methods identified for lab demonstration and the testing that will be required.
	Self-sensing morphing materials with active control.	TRL 3-4	Validated simulation of the concept and proof of concept required. Report detailing how the material could be incorporated into an intelligent feedback loop.
	High speed, torsion and/or displacement solid state actuators.	TRL 4	Technology basic validation of actuation meeting one or more of the high performance requirements. Assessment of materials durability to repeated use and proposal for scale up.
	Use of meta atoms for the control of EM radiation.	TRL 2-3	Technology concept - analytical and experimental critical function proof of concept. Report detailing next steps and applicability.
	Reconfigurable metamaterials and metasurfaces to enhance performance.	TRL 4	Recognising previous DASA work in this area, the requirements are to push this technology up an additional TRL. Thus, technology validation with tangible links to applications are expected.
	Multifunctional materials that can be integrated as body worn sensors and communications	TRL 2-4	Technology concept - validation in laboratory environment and report.

• this IFA is open to both ‘conventional’ materials processing routes and bio-based approaches (e.g. engineering biology approaches to producing materials but excluding ‘living’ materials or solutions)
• the IFA may take a portfolio-based approach to deciding which projects to fund to ensure a balance across all requirements
• where small-scale (<30cm x 30cm x 30cm) artefacts are produced Dstl would like to retain a sample to assist with project exploitation and communication to key stakeholders

We are not seeking proposals that:

• provide solutions which are already commercial products
• literature reviews
• offer demonstrations of off-the-shelf products requiring no experimental development (unless applied in a novel way to the challenge)
• offer no real long-term prospect of integration into defence and security capabilities
• offer no real prospect of out-competing existing technological solutions (this would not include e.g. performance equivalent where a significant enhancement in other benefits could be achieved such as sustainability, reduced training burden etc.)
• replicate work already funded under relevant MOD S&T programmes, including but not limited to, Hypersonics, Future Kinetic Effects and Weapons (FKEWS), Air Systems, Maritime Systems, Space Systems, Future Sensing

Project ideas, limited to 500 word EOI may be submitted to an innovator’s Innovation Partner to determine whether the proposal is in scope for this competition.

Exploitation

The outcomes of your proposal may be exploited through one or more of the following, depending on the nature of the advance in S&T made and the challenge and domain to which the work is directed:

• furthering advances in fundamental S&T through the Advanced Materials Programme
• maturation of the S&T through one of Dstl’s applied research programmes
• incorporation into future technology demonstration activities
• exploitation through a focused MOD unit or Front Line Command

Additional funding beyond the IFA phase is not guaranteed.

Find out more about how to apply

Contact a DASA Innovation Partner if you have an idea but are not sure if it is what we are looking for

Submit a proposal

1.3 Beyond Line of Sight Communications

Unique Identifier: IFA036

This Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) IFA, run on behalf of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) Communication and Networks programme, is seeking Generation-After-Next (GAN)^{[footnote 1]} proposals, which explore and develop new / novel beyond line of sight (BLOS) communication options.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD)/Front Line Commands (FLCs) relies heavily on the same mature BLOS communication technologies, such as military High Frequency (HF), troposcatter or satellite communications. These technologies have existed within the military for many years, so developing novel and more efficient BLOS communication options is a continuous aim. It is crucial to build a pipeline of future technologies and have a diverse repertoire of communication approaches to overcome any threat and ensure that if one form of bearer is denied, there are alternatives available and communications remain robust.

This IFA is seeking GAN proposals that explore and develop new / novel BLOS communication options. Alternatives to traditional methods of military communications are sought to gain and maintain communication advantage in highly disruptive threat environments. This IFA is looking for suppliers with novel ideas, for Future Beyond Line Of Sight (FBLOS) capability. This IFA should focus on BLOS techniques that are not currently employed, although it will also consider alternative applications of current BLOS technologies.

We are interested in GAN technologies that include:

• system development
• approaches to understand the “Channel”
• signal processing for new approaches to BLOS communications
• waveforms
• solution hardware development

We are not interested in:

• Solutions which are already commercial products
• Literature reviews
• Offer demonstrations of off-the-shelf products requiring no experimental development (unless applied in a novel way to the challenge)
• Offer no real long-term prospect of integration into defence and security capabilities
• Offer no real prospect of out-competing existing technological solutions
• BLOS methods, which are already utilised by the military or are mature (i.e. HF (High Frequency), SATCOM, Troposcatter).

This IFA expects proposals to deliver a proof of concept at around Technical Readiness Level(TRL) 3/4 by the end of the project. DASA expects to fund proposals around £100K, (although this is not a hard limit) which provides a proof of concept within a maximum contract duration of 2 years.

This IFA is open for submissions within the DASA Open Call. See Para 9.1. This IFA is expected to continue over multiple cycles, however, we will give sufficient notice for the final cycle.

Exploitation of successful proposals from this competition will feed into other Dstl Systems Science and Technology (S&T) programmes, which focus on technological solutions at higher TRL (6>). A research exploitation-working group (REWG) will also engage and aid exploitation. The REWG is composed of stakeholders across StratCom C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers (C4), Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance), Defence Digital, FLC Digital/C4 capability, Systems S&T programmes, Chief Scientific Advisor (CSA).

Find out more about how to apply

Contact a DASA Innovation Partner if you have an idea but are not sure if it is what we are looking for

Submit a proposal

1.4 Making Science Fiction a Reality: Future Directed Energy Weapons

Unique Identifier: IFA035

Background

Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) are systems capable of discrete target selection that emit laser or Radio Frequency (RF) energy as the primary means to cause disruptive, damaging or destructive effects on equipment or facilities.

The vision of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) is to make Directed Energy Weapons a realistic choice for our armed forces, which can contribute a decisive edge and sustain strategic advantage. The MOD is currently investing in several high-value demonstrators, including DragonFire and several projects integrating both RF and laser-based systems onto military platforms. DASA is supporting the department’s efforts to understand the next steps necessary to develop and introduce Directed Energy Weapons into service across Land, Sea and Air domains.

Scope

This Innovation Focus Area is seeking proposals which present ideas to contribute to the first generation of deployed Directed Energy Weapons and help address departmental decisions as described above. We are interested in novel ideas to enhance the performance and/or reduce the size, mass and volume of the following system and sub system areas associated with laser and RF Directed Energy Weapons:

• Laser and RF Source technology:
  • Amplifiers
  • Magnetrons
  • Fibre technology
  • Antenna design
• System automation:
  • Target recognition
  • Aim-point selection
  • Target prioritisation
  • Engagement management
• Advanced power and cooling technologies that can be ultimately integrated onto military platforms
• Beam control
  • Fine pointing and tracking
  • Operation in adverse environmental conditions
  • Propagation
• Target detection
  • Small non-cooperative targets
• Battle Damage indication
• Test and evaluation
  • The ability to characterise the effect achieved remotely and on small agile targets in real time.
  • Generic diagnostic tools and techniques for characterising the Directed Energy Weapon’s beam.

Successful suppliers will be asked to provide deliverables in the form of reports, presentations and/or demonstrations of innovations which should be detailed as part of the proposal. Collaboration is encouraged to allow for all factors to be considered during the projects, however, it is not mandatory.

Clarification

We are seeking proposals that:

• show a creative or innovative approach within the areas described above
• are between Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 2 -6
• have suggested project values of between £50k-£200k, with a maximum of £500k available at this time
• have a maximum project duration of 12 months

We are not seeking proposals that:

• are identical resubmission of previous bids to DASA or MOD without modification
• provide solutions which are already commercial products
• are solely literature reviews
• offer demonstrations of off-the-shelf products requiring no experimental development (unless applied in a novel way to the challenge)
• offer no real long-term prospect of integration into defence and security capabilities
• offer no real prospect of out-competing existing technological solutions

Regardless of the Technical Readiness Level (TRL) all proposals should be submitted under Open Call, Emerging Innovations, then selecting IFA 035. The requirements of this IFA will take precedence over contradicting statements within Emerging Innovations.

Exploitation

For near term funded projects (<2 years), the exploitation route will emerge through several upcoming capability decisions and within the wider research programme. For longer term projects (2+ years) the aim will to be exploit relevant innovations in Directed Energy Weapon defence procurements, which is likely to be via strategic defence suppliers.

Find out more about how to apply

Contact a DASA Innovation Partner if you have an idea but are not sure if it is what we are looking for.

Submit a proposal

1.5 Countering IEDs by Novel Technology and Techniques

Unique Identifier: IFA034

Please note, you will not be able to enter this IFA from midday 23rd November 2022 until approximately Spring 2023. The option to select this IFA within the Submission Service has been temporarily removed.

This DASA IFA is seeking proposals that can rapidly accelerate and enhance electronic capabilities which can counter Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). We are looking for novel methods which either use the Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum or provide an understanding of the RF spectrum in order to detect and disrupt the functionality of IEDs.

An important part of countering an IED threat is the detection of devices along with understanding the electromagnetic environment to inform situational awareness, to decide threat from non-threat and to inform the configuration of other countermeasures.

The innovations generated through this call will support a crucial capability for UK military and security users, protecting our service personnel, emergency services and the public using RF techniques to counter IEDs and outpace threat evolution.

An IED is an explosive device fabricated in an improvised manner, but with varying degrees of professionalism. An IED typically comprises of the following component types:

• a power source

• wires

• electronic circuitry

• an explosive initiator

• an explosives charge

• shrapnel products to increase fragmentation

• a trigger mechanism

• various enclosures

The trigger mechanisms used to initiate IEDs are often adapted from commercial products. Examples could include modified Radio Controlled (RC) toys or the use of communication networks. These RF links, and associated components, are considered the primary objective for this call. Other initiation methods could include command wires, timers and victim operated mechanisms, but these are outside the scope of this call unless there is an RF element used in the denial or detection of them.

We are interested in innovative ways to develop and expand the variety of capabilities used for UK Defence and Security. The aim of the IFA is to provide a range of successful solutions that can be developed for front line use.

Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) and Electronic Support Measures (ESM) systems need to counter an evolving range of electromagnetic technologies operating across the RF Spectrum, using an ever growing and diverse range of signalling schemes. As possible threat technology types in this area are constantly changing, front line operators need to have a wide variety of options at their disposal to mitigate emerging problems quickly and effectively.

Examples of ECM and ESM use cases include those that:

• can be carried by a service person on long patrols to deliver an immediate effect against IEDs.

• can be attached to a vehicle in a static and/or moving scenario to deliver an immediate effect against unknown IEDs.

• can be used to provide protection at a fixed location while delivering an immediate effect against an unknown IED.

• can provide targeted protection without being co-located with the protected element.

• are suitable for use in an urban, suburban and/or rural context with the associated variety of environmental conditions and spectrum conditions.

Your proposal must meet at least one of the three challenges, but we welcome bids that address more than one.

Challenge 1 - To capture and analyse RF signals using novel spectrum survey techniques, which may include, but is not limited to:

• signal analysis techniques and classification algorithms, which identify and distinguish between multiple technology standards and protocols, while being able to operate across a wide spectrum in real time.

• generating methods or data analysis techniques to provide an understanding of the RF environment, which can be used to inform tactical decisions; for instance, the ability to identify abnormal changes in the environment.

Challenge 2 - Approaches to permanently or temporarily disable commercial communications links and/or the electronics within a Remote Controlled Explosive Device. Examples include techniques that:

• disable communications links to prevent a trigger signal being received. Examples of communication links of interest include those used by push-to-talk radios, wireless doorbells, cellular devices, Wi-Fi and any other readily available communication devices. This may include approaches against the RF signal or the wireless transceivers themselves.

• disable multiple communication types simultaneously across a wide spectrum, preventing devices from switching to alternative RF bearers that they may have access to.

• disable the electronics within a Remote Controlled Explosive Device, preventing its detonation. Examples include RF techniques to affect the operation of microcontrollers or cause permanent damage.

Challenge 3 - New or novel hardware and ancillaries (system components), which may include but is not limited to:

• novel antenna concepts to improve performance and lower the RF and visual signature of the service person or vehicle with respect to the ECM system and its ancillaries.

• advancements in hardware design, such as tuneable filters, efficient ultra-wide band amplifier designs.

• optimisations in size, weight, or power, or efficiency optimisations in wideband RF signal generation technologies (in the order of several GHz).

• novel signal and data processing hardware technologies and techniques, that offer advancements in efficiency, parallelism or dynamic configurability.

We are seeking proposals that:

• show an innovative or a creative approach

• clearly demonstrate how the proposed work applies to the challenges outlined

• have been proven or matured for another application or domain, and need adaptation to develop as a viable counter IED solution

• will demonstrate solutions at a minimum of Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 5/6

• are short to medium-term, nominally between 6 to 18 months, with a funding amount between circa £150k and £400k per project

• include a potential delivery roadmap indicating how the technology could be developed over a 2 to 3 year timeframe (beyond the scope of this IFA)

We are not seeking proposals that:

• are an identical resubmission of a previous bid to DASA or MOD without modification

• are off-the-shelf products with no additional innovation/adaptation to the applications mentioned above

• have no long-term prospect of providing a counter IED effect under real world conditions

• simply focus on a discussion of current capability gaps, whether perceived or actual

• offer detailed prediction of effects/benefits that are likely to be seen under a given scenario - this information can be built up over the period of the proposed work

Successful proposals may be exploited and developed further through the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) Future Land Force Protection and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) ECM Capability projects. These projects provide technical support and guidance to personnel in UK Strategic Command, the British Army, and Defence Equipment & Support. There is potential for wider exploitation of options developed within this IFA to support future capability requirements across the MOD and wider government.

Find out more about how to apply

Contact a DASA Innovation Partner if you have an idea but are not sure if it is what we are looking for.

Submit a proposal Please note submitting a proposal for this IFA is not currently possible.

1. Generation-After-Next definition: A capability that does not presently exist and contributing technology is not fully understood. Concepts will be ‘leap ahead’ and world-leading to challenge the boundaries of current knowledge and emerging understanding↩