OSW26BZ05-DV018ActiveSBIR

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML)-Based Radar Data Compression

Department of DefenseOSD

AI Overview

This RFP seeks AI/ML-based compression technology for high-rate radar data streams, addressing the challenge of massive synthetic aperture radar data volumes. The solution will develop neural network architectures to compress raw radar returns with minimal distortion, reducing bandwidth requirements for transmission and storage across defense and civilian sensor applications.

This summary is AI-generated from the official solicitation.

Key Details

Agency
Department of Defense
Funding Amount
Release Date
August 5, 2026
Due Date
September 23, 2026

Official Description

Next-generation radars (especially synthetic aperture radar (SAR)) collect data with massive data rates. Traditional image compression is not optimized for raw radar returns. Recent work extends neural compression to the complex SAR domain. Phase I is to explore autoencoder architectures for radar data using, for example, a complex-valued neural network encoder/decoder that learns to compress raw pulses or range-Doppler maps into a latent code with minimal distortion. The system could be trained...

View on official source

Change History

Q&A UpdatedSep 4, 2026 at 4:01 PM

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML)-Based Radar Data Compression

# Q&A Changes Summary **New Questions Added (3):** - Q1: Delivery format preferences (programming language, ML framework, containerization, open-source constraints) - Q2: Mechanism and lead time for requesting Government datasets during Phase I performance period - Q3: Fixed vs. variable-rate compression operating modes and which should govern primary evaluation **Reorganization:** Previous Q15-Q19 (duplicate/fragmented questions on data furnishment, downstream tasks, and embedding targets) consolidated and renumbered as Q13-Q19 in updated version, maintaining content but improving clarity through consolidation. **No Material Answer Updates:** Existing Q&As retained their previous response status (many still marked "Response Pending" or unanswered). The update primarily addresses implementation logistics and operational modes rather than substantive technical clarifications.

Q&A UpdatedAug 31, 2026 at 4:01 PM

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML)-Based Radar Data Compression

# Q&A Changes Summary **Significant expansion from 1 to 17 questions.** **New topics added:** - Hardware constraints, memory, and throughput requirements (Q1) - Data size ranges (Q2) - Government data provision and acceptable datasets (Q3, Q7, Q9, Q15–16) - Target metrics: compression ratio, time, success criteria (Q4, Q6) - Primary radar representation/modality (Q8) - Technical scope: compression point, radar modes, lossy vs. lossless, multi-channel (Q9) - Evaluation baselines and thresholds (Q9) - Phase II hardware targets and SWaP constraints (Q9, Q11) - Transition sponsor and classification level (Q9) - Downstream task specification and fidelity scoring (Q12–14) - Alternative ML schemes beyond autoencoders (Q17) - Dual-use applicability demonstration scope (Q10) **Original questions retained:** Complex-valued architecture requirement and classical baselines (now Q5–6) remain substantively unchanged but repositioned.

Q&A UpdatedAug 31, 2026 at 3:01 PM

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML)-Based Radar Data Compression

This Q&A clarifies technical flexibility for applicants: baseline compression comparisons can use program-specified methods with flexible matching criteria, and real-valued neural architectures treating I/Q channels are acceptable alternatives to fully complex-valued designs, provided they preserve phase information and meet performance targets.

Status ChangedAug 26, 2026 at 2:03 PM

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML)-Based Radar Data Compression

Status changed from Pre-Release to Open

Opportunity AddedAug 5, 2026 at 12:02 PM

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML)-Based Radar Data Compression

New opportunity: Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML)-Based Radar Data Compression

Similar Opportunities

Get Alerts for Opportunities Like This

RallyProp monitors thousands of funding sources and sends instant alerts when opportunities match your technology and capabilities.

Start Free Trial