Most SBIR applications are written in private. Submitted in private. Judged in private.
⚠ Draft Document — Public for Comment
The SBIR application referenced in this post is a working draft prepared in advance of the CTA-LOG solicitation. It has not been submitted. It is published publicly to invite substantive feedback from builders, manufacturers, and defense industry professionals. It will be refined before formal submission.
We did the opposite.
The Aedes SBIR application — a Phase I proposal to the Department of War under Critical Technology Area: Contested Logistics — is public. Anyone can read it. And if you join the Aedes builder network, you can comment on it directly.
This is not a transparency gesture. It is a strategy.
The people who know how to improve this proposal are not in Washington. They are in garages, workshops, and small shops across the country. They are FPV builders who know what breaks in the field. Veterans who know what the DoD actually needs. MEP manufacturers who know domestic supply chain reality.
We want their expertise in the proposal before it’s submitted. Not after.
Read it. Comment on it. Improve it.
SBIR Draft (CTA-LOG + CTA-AAI): Open document →
AFWERX Application Draft: Open document →
Both documents are public. Both accept comments from registered Aedes network members.
To comment: join the network at aedesmfg.com/builders. Your registered email gets added to the commenter list automatically.
The solicitation has not dropped. The network is forming. The proposal is already written.
The only question is how strong Section 8 is when we submit.