(RFI): Validation of Emerging Defense & Detection Equipment for Readiness (VEDDER) Prototype Accelerator

The United States and the Portfolio Acquisition Executive-Layered Protection &Integration (PAE-LPI) is engaged in a critical, persistent innovation race against strategic competitors, most notably the People's Republic of China (PRC), which leverages Military-Civil Fusion to mandate the immediate transfer of commercial breakthroughs to military applications. Traditional Department of War (DoW) acquisition models operating on 7-to-15-year timelines are structurally incapable of pacing the threat in rapidly evolving domains like biotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI).

To maintain technological overmatch and secure the United States’ biotechnology ecosystem (projected to exceed $1.5 trillion), the Government requires an asymmetric response that harnesses the dynamic, free-market ecosystem of private capital, academia, and commercial enterprise. Drawing inspiration from venture-backed intelligence community models, this Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) establishes a public-private nexus.

The objective of this OTA is to establish a technology accelerator with a 501(c)(3) partner. Supported by Government investment, this accelerator will speed the prototyping of new technologies; specifically medical countermeasures (MCMs), by bridging the private sector, elite national High-Performance Computing (HPC) resources, and the Government.