Today, the ARM Institute is excited to announce that the final version of our 26-01 Core-Funded Technology Project Call is now publicly available! This Project Call centers on high-priority, defense application areas. Dual-use technology that also benefits the broader U.S. manufacturing sector is preferred, but the focus of this project call is primarily on defense applications.
The ARM Institute expects to award approximately $2M to fund multiple projects through this Project Call. Individual project budgets must not exceed $500K requested from the ARM Institute. Concept papers are due on February 4 in the ARM Member Community.
ARM Institute Project Calls advance keenly needed robotics and AI solutions to strengthen US manufacturing and enhance our national security by catalyzing collaboration between industry, government, and academia. Topics are selected with input from our government partners and our member consortium that includes 450+ organizations and thousands of individual subject matter experts. This Project Call is one of several funding opportunities that the ARM Institute released in the fall of 2025. This full schedule of funding opportunities epitomizes the important role the ARM Institute and its member consortium plays in securing US manufacturing.
This Project Call centers on validated DoD needs, such as:
- Production of low-volume, high-mix castings and forgings for DoD acquisition and sustainment, (including necessary upstream & downstream processes)
- Production of submarines and executable surface ships.
- Production of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), including collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) and UAS-based munitions.
- Production of munitions, including ballistic munitions, guided munitions, missiles, and hypersonic weapons.
- Production and/or sustainment for specific program(s) of record.
- Other validated high-priority DoD needs.
The ARM Institute Technical Topics Areas relevant to this project call are listed below:
- Multi-Modal Inputs for AI Robotics in Manufacturing
- Rapid Re-Tasking and Robot Agility
- Multi-Robot, Multi-Human Collaboration and Supervised Autonomy
- Adaptive Real-Time Path Planning and Control
- Mobile Robotics
We will host a public webinar in support of this Project Call on January 8 at 12 PM ET. During the webinar, we’ll review the Project Call content, process for submitting, and allow attendees to ask questions. Can’t join at the scheduled time? Register to receive the recording.
While our Project Call is publicly available, you must be an ARM Institute Member to submit a proposal. Learn more about membership here or email us at [email protected] to get started.
Learn more & Download the Full project Call Here
Register for our webinar
ABOUT THE ARM INSTITUTE
The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute is a Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) funded by the Office of the Secretary of Defense under Agreement Number W911NF-17-3-0004 and is part of the Manufacturing USA® network. The ARM Institute leverages a unique and robust consortium of 450+ members and partners across industry, academia, and government to make robotics, autonomy, and artificial intelligence more accessible to U.S. manufacturers large and small, train and empower the manufacturing workforce, strengthen our economy and global competitiveness, and elevate national security and resilience. Based in Pittsburgh, PA since 2017, the ARM Institute is leading the way to a future where people & robots work together to respond to our nation’s greatest challenges and to produce the world’s most desired products. For more information, visit www.arminstitute.org and follow the ARM Institute on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).