ONHS Report: RFI_TE_26_1

USSOCOM RFI TE 26-1 TE: Multi-Domain Joint SOF Operations (MDO)

Solicitation ID: RFI_TE_26_1_MDO

Agency: USSOCOM

Type: Special Notice

Deadline: 2026-10-17T12:00:00 ET

Eligibility: Yes (Unrestricted)

Funding: N/A

Doc Type: RFI

Clearance: No

Program Manager: tech_exp@socom.mil

Last Updated: 2025-11-24 13:08

Analyzed File: Atch 1_RFI_USSOCOM Technical Experimentation Event 26-1.pdf

Eligibility Reasoning

USSOCOM invites industry, academia, individuals, and Government labs to submit technology experimentation nominations addressing innovative technologies identified in paragraph 4 below.

Note: This is an AI-generated summary...

Summary

The U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) for its Technical Experimentation (TE) event 26-1, focusing on Multi-Domain Joint SOF Operations (MDO). The event, scheduled for January 26-30, 2026, at Hurlburt Field, Florida, seeks technology demonstrations from industry, academia, and government labs. The goal is to explore emerging technologies (TRL 3-6+) to enhance future SOF capabilities. Key technology areas include: Unmanned Systems (UxS) across all domains (air, land, sea), including swarming, teaming, FPV, and counter-UxS; AI and human-machine interfaces; alternative Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) for GPS-denied environments; edge processing and computing; advanced logistical support (e.g., man-portable power, additive manufacturing); high-altitude platforms and sensor payloads; data transport and C4 solutions for CJADC2; lightweight air-launched effects; and deception technologies. This is not a solicitation for proposals, and nominations are due by October 17, 2025.

Overall Technical Areas

Unmanned Systems (UxS) Payloads & SensorsAI-Enabled Swarming & AutonomyAlternative Position Navigation & Timing (PNT)Edge Intelligence & Computing HardwareCounter-Unmanned Systems (C-UxS) TechnologiesResilient & Secure CommunicationsAutomatic Target Recognition (ATR) AlgorithmsManned-Unmanned Teaming & HMIRobotics for Complex EnvironmentsLow SWaP System & Antenna DesignHigh Altitude Platforms & PayloadsAdditive & Edge ManufacturingSignal Processing & Waveform IntegrationFree-Space Optical & Novel CommunicationsElectronic Warfare & Deception Payloads

Probable LBNL Areas

BSACSAEESAESAETALDPSA

Focus Areas

Example Priorities:

Multi-Modal, Multi-Domain Capabilities: Single systems (air, land, sea).
Robust man-packable robotics (legged, wheeled, tracked) for complex navigation/subterranean environments.
Heterogeneous Teaming & UxS Swarming: AI-enabled swarming algorithms, Manned/unmanned teaming with collaborative alerts...
Biomimicry. Modeled after living organisms.
First Person View (FPV) UxS (US/Non-Foreign Covered Country Components): FPV Goggles, Modular UAS, Targeting solutions

Specific Technical Skills:

Robotics EngineeringUnmanned Systems (UxS) DesignSwarm IntelligenceHuman-Machine TeamingBiomimetic DesignMechatronicsSystem IntegrationFPV SystemsSignature Management

Potential PIs for this Area:

Name	Score	Organization
Peter Tennessen	0.66	PSA \| Engineering \| Mechanical Engineering
Nicholas Wenner	0.66	PSA \| Engineering \| Mechanical Engineering
Nicola Falco	0.66	EESA \| CESD \| Integrated Ecosystem Sciences
Emil Rofors	0.66	PSA \| NSD \| ANP
Jennifer Stokes-Draut	0.66	ETA \| Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts \| Sustainable Energy Dept
Marco Pritoni	0.65	ETA \| Building Technology & Urban Systems \| Bldg Technologies Dept
Rohan Adwankar	0.65	BSA \| Biological Systems & Engineering \| Process Engr & Analytics
Bin Wang	0.65	ETA \| Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts \| Sustainable Energy Dept
Andre Santos	0.65	EESA \| CESD \| Integrated Ecosystem Sciences
Carlos Duarte	0.65	ETA \| Building Technology & Urban Systems \| Bldg Technologies Dept

Example Priorities:

Automatic Threat/Target Recognition (ATR) algorithms (agnostic datasets).
No-code/low-code edge ATR training.
UxS Human-Machine Interface (HMI) & AI/Sensor Integration: AI for autonomy, Multi-sensor fusion, ATR integration
Edge Processing & Computing: Low SWaP body-worn hardware, FPGAs, Quantum computers, Edge Intelligence
Data Transport, Processing, Collection and Storage: AI for processing, Data integration/interoperability, Data compression.

Specific Technical Skills:

Artificial IntelligenceMachine LearningEdge ComputingComputer VisionSensor FusionFPGA ProgrammingIoT IntegrationAugmented Reality (AR)Software Defined NetworkingQuantum Computing

Potential PIs for this Area:

Name	Score	Organization
John Wu	0.73	CSA \| Scientific Networking (ESNET) \| Tech Adv and Engagement
Edward Bethel	0.73	CSA \| SciData \| Data Science Research
Neel Rajeshbhai Vora	0.73	PSA \| ATAP \| BACI
Hasita Veluri	0.71	CSA \| AMCR \| Computer Science
Alexander Sim	0.71	CSA \| SciData \| Data Science Research
Yilun Xu	0.71	PSA \| ATAP \| BACI
Angelos Ioannou	0.70	CSA \| AMCR \| Computer Science
Jean Luca Bez	0.70	CSA \| SciData \| Data Science Research
Vinay Sawal	0.70	CSA \| NERSC \| Data Center Department
Samuel Williams	0.70	CSA \| AMCR \| Computer Science

Example Priorities:

Low-cost, attritable sensors/payloads w/ volatile firmware & remote zeroizing (SIGINT, EW, IMINT, GEOINT, ELINT, MASINT)
High Altitude Sensor Payloads: Lightweight man-portable systems (stratospheric tested, low power).
High Altitude Platforms: Man-portable (2-person setup <15min), Persistent ISR (>24hr)
Lightweight Air Launched Effects Delivery System: Lightweight, precision, glide systems.

Specific Technical Skills:

Sensor DevelopmentPayload IntegrationAerospace EngineeringRF EngineeringElectro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) SystemsLow SWaP DesignGuidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC)Signal Intelligence (SIGINT)Miniaturization

Potential PIs for this Area:

Name	Score	Organization
Shawn Tornga	0.69	LD \| LD \| ONHS
Andre Santos	0.69	EESA \| CESD \| Integrated Ecosystem Sciences
Stijn (Stan) Wielandt	0.68	EESA \| EG \| Geophysics Dept
Alp Sipahigil	0.68	ESA \| MSD \| Material Physics
Linqing Luo	0.68	EESA \| EG \| Geophysics Dept
Jennifer Stokes-Draut	0.68	ETA \| Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts \| Sustainable Energy Dept
Zhao Hao	0.67	EESA \| EG \| Geochemistry Dept
Emil Rofors	0.67	PSA \| NSD \| ANP
Qiang Du	0.67	PSA \| Engineering \| Electronic Engineering
Reynold Cooper	0.67	PSA \| NSD \| ANP

Example Priorities:

Alternative Position Navigation and Timing: Visual Based Navigation (VBN), Vision-Aided Navigation (VAN), Terrain Referenced Navigation (TRN), SLAM, magnetometry, LiDAR...
Counter-UxS Capabilities: Operator-worn/portable UxS detection/localization/classification (Passive).
Counter Ubiquitous Technical Surveillance (C-UTS) Technologies: Software/hardware to deny/deceive UTS.
Communication systems: Free space optical communications, Jam resistant, Beam steering / Beam Nulling.
Blue Force Awareness Technology: Devices/tech to distinguish friend/foe on UxS platforms visually/digitally

Specific Technical Skills:

GPS-Denied NavigationElectronic Warfare (EW)Signal ProcessingCybersecurityNetwork EngineeringFree-space Optical CommunicationCounter-UAS TechnologyPosition, Navigation, and Timing (PNT)Deception Technologies

Potential PIs for this Area:

Name	Score	Organization
Boubacar Kante	0.68	ESA \| MSD \| Material Physics
Stijn (Stan) Wielandt	0.68	EESA \| EG \| Geophysics Dept
Alp Sipahigil	0.67	ESA \| MSD \| Material Physics
John Wu	0.67	CSA \| Scientific Networking (ESNET) \| Tech Adv and Engagement
Emil Rofors	0.67	PSA \| NSD \| ANP
Sean Peisert	0.67	CSA \| SciData \| Data Science Applications
Andre Santos	0.67	EESA \| CESD \| Integrated Ecosystem Sciences
Shawn Tornga	0.67	LD \| LD \| ONHS
Gazi Mahmud	0.66	BSA \| Environmental Genomics & Systems Biology \| Molecular Ecosystems Bio
Marcos Lopez de Prado	0.66	CSA \| SciData \| Data Science Research

Example Priorities:

Cross-domain resupply platforms (air-ground/maritime-land)
Man-packable power (>1kW) & freshwater generation
Advanced/Additive Manufacturing at the edge
Hydrogen production at the edge
Rapid Point-of-Need Logistics

Specific Technical Skills:

Additive ManufacturingLogistics AutomationPortable Power GenerationWater PurificationRobotic Delivery SystemsMaterials ScienceChemical EngineeringSupply Chain Management

Potential PIs for this Area:

Name	Score	Organization
Guoying Chen	0.72	ETA \| ESDR \| Energy Storage & Dist Dpt
Jennifer Stokes-Draut	0.72	ETA \| Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts \| Sustainable Energy Dept
Peng Peng	0.71	ETA \| Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts \| Sustainable Energy Dept
Thomas Hendrickson	0.71	ETA \| Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts \| Sustainable Energy Dept
Andrew Haddad	0.71	ETA \| ESDR \| Energy Storage & Dist Dpt
Prakash Rao	0.70	ETA \| Building Technology & Urban Systems \| Bldg & Industrial App Dpt
Nihan Karali	0.70	ETA \| Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts \| Sustainable Energy Dept
Bryan Mccloskey	0.70	ETA \| ESDR \| Energy Storage & Dist Dpt
Boxun Hu	0.70	ETA \| ESDR \| Energy Storage & Dist Dpt
Xiong Peng	0.70	ETA \| ESDR \| Energy Storage & Dist Dpt

Potential LBNL PIs (Overall)

Note on PI Matching: These suggestions are generated through an AI-driven semantic analysis of LBNL staff profiles.

Name	Score	Organization
Luisa Gonzalez	0.76	CSA \| AMCR \| Computer Science · Edge Intelligence & Computing Hardware
Kenny Higa	0.73	ETA \| ESDR \| Energy Storage & Dist Dpt · Additive & Edge Manufacturing
Stijn (Stan) Wielandt	0.73	PSA \| Engineering \| Electronic Engineering · Low SWaP System & Antenna Design
Suren Byna	0.73	CSA \| SciData \| Data Science Research · High Altitude Platforms & Payloads
Dipak Ghosal	0.73	CSA \| ESNET \| Tech Adv and Engagement · Resilient & Secure Communications
Alan Meier	0.72	ETA \| Building Tech. & Urban Sys. \| Bldg Technologies Dept · Manned-Unmanned Teaming & HMI
Prabal Dutta	0.72	ETA \| Building Tech. & Urban Sys. \| Bldg Technologies Dept · Free-Space Optical & Novel Communications
Emil Rofors	0.72	PSA \| NSD \| ANP · Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) Algorithms
Claire Tomlin	0.72	BSA \| Biological Systems & Engineering \| Department of BioEngineering and BioMedical Sciences · AI-Enabled Swarming & Autonomy
Zhi Jackie Yao	0.72	CSA \| AMCR \| Applied Mathematics · Signal Processing & Waveform Integration

Fundamental Research Exemption (FRE)

Respondents are ultimately responsible for complying with all International Trafficking in Arms (ITAR) /Export Administration Regulations (EAR) requirements associated with their equipment. Before declaring their ITAR/EAR status, respondents to this RFI should verify the ITAR/EAR status of their technology by visiting the US Department of State Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (ITAR) website at: (https://www.pmddtc.state.gov/ddtc_public) and the US Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security website (https://www.bis.doc.gov/) for more information on Export Administration Regulations (EAR). USSOCOM event organizers will restrict access as necessary to assist in protecting ITAR/EAR related technology demonstrations.