Army Assured Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (APNT) Consortium | W911NF 22 S 0004

Opportunity Information: Apply for W911NF 22 S 0004

The Army Assured Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (APNT) Consortium funding opportunity (FOA number W911NF 22 S 0004) is a Department of Defense, Department of the Army solicitation to stand up and run a national-style consortium focused on next-generation positioning, navigation, and timing technologies that still work when GPS is disrupted, denied, or unavailable. Rather than funding a single narrow research project, the Army is looking for one lead organization to create and sustain a membership-based public private partnership that can continuously identify gaps, set technical priorities, and fund a portfolio of applied R and D efforts that move promising ideas out of early research and toward real, manufacturable components. The emphasis is explicitly dual use: the Army wants capabilities that matter for defense missions, but the work should also be relevant to commercial markets so the U.S. industrial base benefits and adoption barriers drop.

At the core of the FOA is the problem that many military and civilian systems depend heavily on GPS for real time location and timing. In GPS challenged environments, low size, weight, and power (low SWaP) alternatives struggle to hold accuracy for long because of sensor noise, drift, and limited timing holdover. For example, compact inertial measurement units may only maintain acceptable navigation performance for short periods before errors accumulate, and small oscillators may not maintain precise time without frequent GPS updates. The consortium is intended to accelerate breakthroughs that improve these limitations and to mature them through the mid range of technology readiness, specifically TRL 2 through TRL 5, where concepts are proven, validated, and demonstrated in relevant laboratory or prototype environments but not yet full productized systems.

A key point in the solicitation is what the consortium should and should not build. The Army is not asking for full system level solutions such as complete inertial navigation system prototypes. Instead, it is prioritizing the enabling building blocks and manufacturing capabilities that future systems will rely on, meaning component level technologies, subsystem elements, packaging approaches, test methods, and scalable fabrication techniques. The expectation is that the consortium will create a community where government, industry, and academia can coordinate around shared technical roadmaps and execute projects that push the state of the art while keeping an eye on manufacturability and transition.

The technical space the FOA targets is broad but coherent around assured PNT in GPS denied settings. The described R and D topics include software, hardware, and advanced packaging for optical and MEMS based PNT technologies, with particular interest in improving bias stability and reducing sensor noise. The opportunity highlights that recent progress in MEMS, integrated photonics, optics, metamaterials, atomic physics, and materials science has opened the door to major capability jumps, and the consortium model is meant to bring these communities together. Specific example areas called out include improved MEMS and integrated photonics fabrication techniques; new materials that enable higher transduction, lower actuation loss, and better sensing in MEMS; higher efficiency nonlinear optical materials and lower loss waveguide materials for integrated photonics; UV and visible lasers; metamaterials; optomechanical systems; advanced sensor fusion algorithms; and quantum related materials and defects (such as in diamond or SiC) that could support new sensing modalities for PNT. Across these areas, the work is expected to show clear relevance to the larger GPS free PNT challenge and to move toward the system level performance needed for practical deployment, even if the consortium is not delivering complete systems.

Operationally, the Army envisions a consortium that includes a wide range of members, especially industry and higher education institutions, explicitly including four year and two year universities, community colleges, and technical institutes. The idea is to combine deep research capability with practical engineering and manufacturing know how, while also building the workforce and training pipeline tied to advanced manufacturing and PNT technologies. The consortium is encouraged to provide shared assets, meaning common access to specialized equipment, facilities, or test capabilities that individual members might not be able to justify alone. This shared infrastructure concept is meant to speed experimentation, reduce duplication, and lower the barrier to entry for smaller innovators.

The award structure is essentially a single consortium award, with the FOA listing an expected one award and an award ceiling of $30,000,000. Funding is anticipated to be obligated annually, implying a multi year effort managed through annual planning and approvals. The initial phase after selection is expected to include a gap analysis that identifies the most important technical shortfalls relative to the thrust areas and the broader APNT objectives. Based on that analysis, the consortium would propose specific projects, staffed by consortium members, to the government for technical and financial approval. That cycle is intended to repeat each year as needs evolve, enabling the consortium to stay aligned with changing operational realities and technology opportunities.

From a governance and compliance standpoint, the Army is looking for a proposer that can credibly run a sustainable consortium business model. Proposals are expected to clearly describe past performance, access to necessary infrastructure, the technical applications the consortium will pursue, and a long term business plan. The FOA also stresses the importance of collaboration mechanisms, both among consortium members and with government stakeholders. Since the model relies on shared progress without undermining commercial incentives, the proposal must include membership constructs that address shared knowledge mechanisms and intellectual property rights, balancing what is protected versus what is shared across the community.

Finally, the FOA notes that the award and oversight are a cross agency effort within the Army acquisition and research ecosystem. The U.S. ACC APG (RTP Division) is identified as leading the execution of the FOA and the business and award functions, while DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory is positioned as the programmatic lead responsible for managing the work performance. In practice, that signals a blend of contracting and research leadership, with an intent to keep the consortium both administratively sound and tightly connected to the Army technical mission of assured PNT in GPS contested environments.

• The Department of Defense, Dept of the Army -- Materiel Command in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Army Assured Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (APNT) Consortium" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.630.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 27, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 15, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $30,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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