During the course of the fiscal year, the DoD generally issues three pre-scheduled Joint SBIR and STTR BAAs/CSOs, through which participating components have an opportunity to publish topics that seek innovative solutions from small businesses, usually in response to National Security challenges.

The DoD Joint SBIR and STTR BAA process is generally made up of 3 periods:

• BAA Pre-release - The pre-release period is a time period where the BAA is issued but not open to accepting proposals. During this time a small business may contact the technology topic point of contact (TPOC) to ask questions relevant to the topic material.
  
  The pre-release period is generally about 30 days in length. Also during this time period topics may be altered or deleted.

• BAA Open - Proposals are accepted during this period only. All proposals must be submitted electronically via the DoD's submission system. Also during this period, direct contact with the TPOC is not allowed. Questions relevant to the topic may be submitted via the DoD's public SITIS system where the TPOC may answer questions in this public forum. BAAs are generally open to proposals for 30 days. Note: Traffic on the submission web site is extremely heavy towards the end of the BAA period. Companies that wait till the last few hours may find it difficult to upload their submissions during this time and risk the chance of not submitting before the deadline. Proposals submitted after the published deadline will not be evaluated.

• BAA Closed - Immediately following the submission deadline, the DoD will stop accepting submissions. After the closing date, the evaluation process of submissions will commence. The selection process is time consuming and complex. Depending on the volume of submissions, notification of a selection for an award can range from one to several months.

Selections: Prior to the making of an award, a company may be selected for further consideration (a selectee). A list of selectees will be posted on the Navy SBIR web site and updated weekly as new selections are made. After the contract award process is complete, the Navy web site will list the winners, the contact information and the proposal abstract.

In addition to the three pre-scheduled BAA/CSO cycles, starting in FY22, the DoD released SBIR and STTR Annual BAAs with the purpose of allowing DoD Components the flexibility to release topics throughout the fiscal year. Topics released under the Annual BAAs will be published for at least 45 days prior to the deadline for proposal submission and will have its own corresponding pre-release, open and close dates as outlined in the release.

Additional information is available on the DoD SBIR web site at www.defensesbirsttr.mil/SBIR-STTR/Opportunities/