Real-time Zero Trust Data and Access Control for Combat Systems
SBIR Opportunity Analysis
The U.S. Navy is seeking an SBIR solution to develop a real-time Zero Trust data and access control system for combat systems. The work calls for a concept in Phase I and a prototype in Phase II that can authenticate, authorize, micro-segment, and detect threats in combat-system data environments. Key requirements include near real-time access verification, reduced authentication time to under five seconds, at least a 90% reduction in unauthorized-access risk, scalability in degraded environments, and compliance with NIST Zero Trust and compartmented data control standards; the effort may become classified in Phase II and requires a U.S.-owned contractor able to obtain and maintain secret clearances. The opportunity is pre-release, opens June 24, 2026, and closes July 22, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. ET, with submissions handled through the DoD SBIR/STTR topics site.