Field of View (FOV) - October 2026
Field of View (FOV) - October 2026
Early-Stage Aerospace & Defense Newsletter.
Comprised of experienced startup operators and former military, Approach Venture was formed to enable founding teams building the future of frontier technology to achieve their full potential.
Approach supports frontier technology startups across fundraise, business development, proposal writing and recruiting efforts as well as larger organizations with technology scouting, due diligence, market intelligence and formulating investment theses.
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EMERGING TRENDS
THE FIRST READER OF YOUR PROPOSAL IS INCREASINGLY A MODEL.
Across SBIR/STTR, Prize Challenge, OTA and CSO solicitations released this year, it has become clear that a growing share of government evaluation now starts with a model rather than a person. The Department of War has acknowledged using AI to help evaluate bids in several recent solicitations, the Army funded a Direct to Phase II effort to build AI-enabled source selection software that runs from solicitation release through award, and Air Force Phase I proposals that are not selected in the current cycle now receive automated feedback. The driver is volume, since generative AI has made proposal drafting cheap and application counts surged to the point that the Air Force retired its broad Open Topic in favor of focused topics, leaving evaluation boards that were already short on technical reviewers to lean on automation to check compliance, map responses to evaluation criteria and flag weaknesses at a speed no panel can match.
The guardrails are being written in real time, and the friction is already surfacing in protests. Contractors have alleged at both GAO and the Court of Federal Claims that agencies relied on AI-generated weaknesses citing content that never appeared in their proposals, industry comments on the FAR overhaul are pushing for source selection files to identify every AI tool used, the evaluation factors it touched and the government evaluator who adopted each finding, and GAO has already called out protesters whose own filings cited decisions that do not exist. Agencies are now turning the same scrutiny back on offerors, with NASA's latest innovative advanced concepts solicitation requiring proposers to cite the program, version, date and purpose of any generative AI used in a submission, which is the first time we have seen that language in a solicitation and is unlikely to be the last.
A proposal now has two audiences which include a model that rewards explicit traceability to every evaluation criterion, solicitation language used verbatim, quantified claims and compliance, and a human reviewer who still decides whether the technical story is credible. Section headings that mirror the evaluation criteria, a compliance matrix built directly from the solicitation and evidence placed where a parser will find it are no longer polish, while unverified AI-generated content, generic boilerplate and fabricated references are now far easier for the government to catch on its side of the table. For investors, the cost of a submission falling toward zero means win rates on open vehicles will keep compressing, shifting the advantage toward teams with real end-user demand signals, test data and a named transition customer that no model can manufacture. For government stakeholders, the protest exposure sits in the record, because an AI-assisted evaluation that cannot show which human adopted each finding is an evaluation that will be challenged, and the offices that publish how AI is used in their reviews will likely receive stronger proposals and face fewer protests.
SPACE FORCE D2P2 SBIR CHALLENGES UPTICK TOWARDS LATTER HALF OF 2026.
There has been an uptick in Space Force Direct to Phase II challenges since Q3 that will continue through the end of 2026, timed ahead of next year's TACFI and STRATFI windows as well as the new Strategic Breakthrough Awards. Since SBIR reauthorization this spring, SpaceWERX has been issuing mission-specific D2P2 challenges ranging between $1-2 million in total contract values, most recently around autonomous on-orbit logistics and sustainment, with additional novel sensing, cislunar and payload challenge cycles expected between now and early 2027. Unlike the SBIR Phase I open topics of past years, these challenges include an operational gap and end user already defined, and the selection timelines discussed on recent rounds are being measured in weeks rather than quarters.
We view eligibility of funding increases as a direct tie to timing of these challenges. TACFI ($375,000 to $2 million over up to 24 months) and STRATFI ($3 million to $15 million over up to 48 months) are only open to small businesses performing on an active Phase II, or one completed within the past two years, that is at least 90+ days past its original award date. The Strategic Breakthrough Award created in the reauthorization goes further, offering up to $30 million in sequential Phase II funding with a 1:1 match, at least 20% of which must come from Department of War funds outside of SBIR, and AFWERX has been clear that it runs alongside STRATFI and TACFI rather than replacing them. The 2026 Space STRATFI cycle alone assembled $562.5 million across 11 companies, $245 million of it private capital, yet many of the newer founders we speak with have strong venture backing and a Space Force champion but no Phase II, which leaves them locked out of every one of these matching programs. A D2P2 award in the next twelve months is what converts startups into eligible applicants, and the volume of challenges suggests the service is deliberately widening that pool and continuing to move further and further away from funding companies who have not completed Phase I level work on their own leveraging venture funding (not SBIR dollars).
Will next year's STRATFI and Strategic Breakthrough cohorts be built from this year's D2P2 winners?
For founders (assuming roadmap alignment with the topic), every Space Force D2P2 challenge should be treated as the first step of a two-step capture, written around a System or Mission Delta that can later sponsor a TACFI or STRATFI and commit Customer / End User funds required, since Customer funding rather than the proposal itself is the most common reason matching packages stall. Founders should also confirm early how their cap table and investor sources will hold up to the ownership and foreign investment diligence these awards now carry. For investors, a D2P2 win carries option value well beyond its $2 million face value, because private capital committed to a portfolio company with an active Phase II can be matched and multiplied by government dollars through STRATFI or Strategic Breakthrough. For government stakeholders, the challenge model is surfacing new entrants faster than prior open topics, but contracting capacity is already the bottleneck, and with eligibility tied to 90 days on contract, the speed of D2P2 awards over the next year will directly determine how many new companies are in position to compete when the PY27 windows open.
LARGER VENTURE ROUNDS ARE QUIETLY RESHAPING SBIR AND STTR ELIGIBILITY.
As seed and Series A rounds in defense tech have grown into the tens of millions over the last year, we are seeing more founders arrive at proposal kickoffs unsure whether the round they just closed changed what they can bid on, and increasingly the answer is yes, though rarely in the blanket way founders fear. SBIR and STTR eligibility still turns on a company being more than 50% owned and controlled by U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and preferred stock held by venture funds counts as entity ownership rather than individual ownership, so cap tables tend to cross that line somewhere between a priced Series A and a Series B once several institutional investors are stacked on top of founder and employee equity. Crossing it does not end SBIR eligibility outright, since companies majority-owned by multiple venture capital operating companies remain eligible under the Air Force's SBIR CSO releases and the Army's SBIR program, but the same company is ineligible under the Air Force's BAA-based releases and the baseline DoW solicitation unless a component opts in, can never use the venture ownership exception for STTR, and competes for a capped share of the budget, with the Air Force limited to awarding 15% of its SBIR dollars to majority venture-owned firms, while a single fund holding more than half the company is a harder stop.
The 2026 reauthorization added a second layer that matters more as rounds get larger and more global. Agencies now run a risk-based due diligence review of every applicant's ownership, capital sources, investor relationships and the foreign affiliations of key personnel, venture-owned applicants already have to identify any foreign national, entity or government holding more than 5% of equity, and STRATFI and TACFI packages carry their own review of investment sources and U.S. ownership. The irony is that the Strategic Breakthrough Award, which requires a dollar-for-dollar match from new private capital, rewards exactly the kind of large round that can complicate eligibility when it brings in a majority institutional position, a single dominant lead or offshore LP money.
For founders, cap table modeling now belongs in the term sheet conversation rather than at proposal kickoff, covering where institutional ownership lands after the round and any option pool expansion, whether any single fund will exceed 50%, where each investor's capital originates, and which SBIR, STTR, D2P2 and STRATFI pursuits on the pipeline the post-money structure keeps open, with STTR-dependent teams and those whose best-fit topics sit under BAA releases weighing the timing of a large close against their submission calendar. For investors, structuring syndicates so no single fund takes majority control and documenting LP origin up front protects a portfolio company's non-dilutive pipeline at the moment it is most valuable. For government stakeholders, inconsistent rules across components and vehicles mean well-capitalized companies are self-selecting out of topics they could legally win, and a single, plainly stated DoW position on venture ownership would widen the field for exactly the teams best positioned to transition technology.
TOP TALENT & FEATURED OPENINGS
HIRE AHEAD OF THE NEW YEAR.
The best time to hire for 2027 starts now. Most candidates don’t want to start a new role between November and New Year’s, and many are waiting on a year-end bonus or planning to use their remaining PTO before making a move, so a lot of companies pause their searches until January. At the same time, much of what drives hiring in defense and deep tech is lining up for the first quarter. The government is funded only through December 11, new programs can’t start until full-year funding passes, and many startups are timing their next round for early 2027. When the award lands or the round closes, the roles tend to open all at once.
That’s where getting ahead pays off. January is the busiest month of the year for job applications, but the senior and specialized engineers startups need most are rarely the ones applying. They are established, doing well where they are, and often deciding over the holidays whether the new year will look different. Companies that stay active now can reach them before they put themselves on the market and before every team with new funding starts calling.
The next two months are a good time to build a pipeline, interview, and lock in offers for January starts. Candidates usually have more room for conversations, and an offer made in mid-December lines up with a start after the new year. For companies expecting an award or a raise, that can mean identifying the few roles a win would trigger and having strong candidates ready to go, with offers contingent on the award or the close if needed. There may be more candidates on the market in January, but the teams that get ahead now will start the year with a team ready to execute instead of starting a search when the money arrives.
FEATURED JOB OPENINGS.
LEAD GNC ENGINEER: A seed-stage defense company that has already demonstrated autonomous intercepts is hiring a lead GNC engineer to own guidance, navigation, and control for its next interceptor. You’ll make the foundational calls on guidance laws, estimation, and actuation, carry the stack from simulation through hardware-in-the-loop testing and live intercepts, and build and lead the GNC team alongside the founders.
Location: Los Angeles, CA
HEAD OF PRODUCT ENGINEERING: With a strong backlog of customer orders already in hand, a recently funded metal additive manufacturer is hiring its head of product engineering to own how its flight hardware is designed, analyzed, qualified, and delivered. Expect to act as senior responsible engineer on tanks, pressure vessels, and propulsion-adjacent structures, doing much of the engineering yourself before building out the team.
Location: Los Angeles, CA
GNC ENGINEER - SPACECRAFT POINTING: Building the first spacecraft to carry a high-energy laser into orbit, a newly funded space and defense startup needs a GNC engineer to own how the vehicle maneuvers, holds attitude, and points its laser at objects in orbit. You’ll write attitude control, fine pointing, and proximity guidance algorithms from scratch, prove them in simulation, and carry them into flight software.
Location: San Francisco, CA
LEAD SAFETY OFFICER: There is no inherited program to maintain in this role. A defense manufacturing startup replacing legacy batch production of energetic materials with continuous, automated plants is hiring its top safety authority to build explosives safety, process safety management, and occupational health from a blank page across its lab, pilot site, and future production facility.
Location: Boston, MA
SENIOR PERCEPTION ENGINEER - SPACECRAFT VISION: When modular spacecraft find and dock with each other in orbit, the final approach happens faster than any operator can react. This engineer will lead the relative navigation system that makes it work, owning the cameras, sensors, and estimation algorithms that track neighboring vehicles from first detection to contact, from early prototypes through flight.
Location: Denver, CO
LEAD ELECTRICAL ENGINEER - POWER CONVERSION: An energy hardware startup with turbomachinery already in test is looking for a hands-on electrical lead to own everything between its high-speed generator and the grid. Working directly with the technical founders, you’ll write the requirements, select and manage suppliers, bring hardware up on the test stand, and decide what gets designed in-house as a megawatt-class unit moves toward production.
Location: Los Angeles, CA
SENIOR MECHANICAL DESIGN ENGINEER - STRUCTURES: A fast-growing air defense company is turning working launcher prototypes into production designs, and this engineer will own the large structural hardware on its vehicle-mounted systems. Sheet metal, weldments, and actuated mechanisms all have to survive weather, shock, and vibration, and the role carries each design from concept through qualification while helping set standards for a growing team.
Location: Los Angeles, CA
LEAD SYSTEMS ENGINEER - RF HARDWARE: Founded by former Army electronic warfare officers, this defense technology company has stood up a small team with one goal: deliver a working V0 of a new distributed RF sensing product in about 90 days. As technical lead, you’ll turn a short list of mission goals into derived requirements, run the design review on each weekly board spin, and keep the hardware team aligned on what goes into the next build.
Location: Tampa, FL
LEAD FLIGHT SOFTWARE ENGINEER: A seed-stage defense startup moving fast through aircraft development and flight testing is hiring a lead flight software engineer to own the flight software architecture for its unmanned aircraft. You’ll build one reliable stack across PX4, ArduPilot, and commercial flight controllers for autonomy, command and control, and outside integrations, taking it from simulation and hardware-in-the-loop through flight readiness in GPS-denied and contested conditions.
Location: Austin or Fort Worth, TX
FOUNDING CONTROLS & AUTONOMY ENGINEER: Picture four tracked robots driving up to a massive payload, lifting it together, and carrying it across rough terrain. A space infrastructure startup building heavy-lift systems for the lunar surface and Earth is hiring its first autonomy engineer to own the control stack and multi-vehicle coordination, writing and field testing code on a running prototype ahead of a full-scale demonstration early next year.
Location: Los Angeles, CA
SENIOR COMPOSITES STRESS ENGINEER: A well-funded composites manufacturer producing complex fiber-reinforced parts far faster than traditional layup is hiring the primary owner of its structural analysis. You’ll build the FEA capability from the ground up, develop and validate material models for a new class of composite components, and tie simulation to test and manufacturing data as the company moves into larger-scale production.
Location: Los Angeles, CA
SENIOR MECHANICAL ENGINEER - ROBOTICS: Rather than one-off automation projects, this robotics company builds standardized platforms that drill, fasten, inspect, and maintain aircraft structures for many customers. As a strong individual contributor on a lean team, you’ll own robotic systems and end effectors from first concept through prototype, validation, and production, with your designs going straight onto factory floors and flight lines.
Location: Austin, TX
LEAD MECHANICAL ENGINEER - INTERCEPTOR STRUCTURES: A defense startup moving its supersonic interceptor from prototype hardware into flight testing is hiring a lead mechanical engineer to own the airframe, internal load paths, actuated mechanisms, and launcher interfaces. You’ll lead a mechanical team of about five, own the master vehicle model and mass properties, and design hardware that holds up to severe launch, aero, and thermal environments.
Location: Los Angeles, CA
ELECTRICAL HARDWARE ENGINEER - POWER & LASER SYSTEMS: This is a team-of-one role with complete ownership of a laser-equipped spacecraft’s electrical system, from laser drivers and actuator control boards to high-discharge battery packs and power distribution. Expect to design boards, build and wire hardware by hand, and integrate it with mechanical, optics, and software engineers on a demonstration vehicle being built over the next 12 months.
Location: San Francisco, CA
SENIOR MANUFACTURING ENGINEER - INTERCEPTOR ASSEMBLY: Output on this low-cost air defense interceptor is climbing from roughly a hundred units a month toward a thousand. Working on the production floor, this engineer will define the build sequences, tooling, documentation, and controls behind that ramp, partnering daily with technicians and design, quality, and test engineers to turn complex electromechanical assemblies into a repeatable line.
Location: Los Angeles, CA
SENIOR RF HARDWARE ENGINEER: Instead of wiring packaged front ends to an SDR, this electronic warfare company designs every receive and transmit board in-house at the component level. You’ll lead RF hardware for a new wideband passive sensing product, owning both the signal chain and power delivery design, with engineer-driven board respins going out most weeks.
Location: Tampa, FL
SENIOR CASTING PROCESS ENGINEER: A venture-backed foundry startup rethinking investment casting from first principles is hiring a senior casting process engineer to own solidification and process development for flight-critical metal castings. You’ll lead the high-temperature casting capability, starting with equiaxed nickel superalloys, connect thermal history to grain structure and defects, and take parts from melt to accepted hardware.
Location: Boston, MA
LEAD COMMUNICATIONS & NAVIGATION ENGINEER: A well-funded, seed-stage defense company with active government contracts is hiring a lead engineer to own command and control, RF communications, and positioning, navigation, and timing for its low-cost unmanned aircraft. You’ll lead technical decisions from architecture and hardware selection through integration and flight test, with a focus on staying connected and on course in contested environments.
Location: Austin or Fort Worth, TX
TRACKED SOLICITATIONS
Not exhaustive, below contains several active and upcoming DoW solicitations within the Aerospace & Defense ecosystem.
ACTIVE.
24 DoW SBIR/STTR topics open since October 28, due November 25 (TPOC Q&A open through November 11)
OSW SBIR Phase I and Direct to Phase II - Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems Rapid Maturation - due November 25
DAF STTR Direct to Phase II - Fusion of Cooperative Information Sharing for Uncrewed Air Systems (FOCISAUS) - due November 25
DAF STTR Direct to Phase II - AI-Enabled Computer Vision Air-to-Air Refueling Performance Assessment and Automated Pilot Debrief System - due November 25
DAF SBIR Direct to Phase II - Agile Autonomous Technical Data Package to Path Robotic Task Specification - due November 25
DAF SBIR Phase I - Long Rod Delivery System - due November 25
DIU SWAP-USV Sprint 2: Counter-Air, seeking production-ready USVs with integrated hard-kill counter-air effectors, with up to $40M in prizes and $200M identified for follow-on OTs, submitted as a 15-slide pitch deck - due November 30
NASA TechLeap Orbital Clarity Challenge - submissions due November 11
US Army Applications Laboratory (AAL) BAA for Disruptive Applications (open)
NAWCAD WOLF BAA (open through April 2027)
MOSAIC - Munitions Open Solicitation for Advanced and Innovative Capabilities (open)
Army ACC-DTA Ground Maneuver Commercial Solutions Opening, spanning vehicle survivability, C-UAS detection and interceptors, sustainment and additive manufacturing (open through January 2029)
Space Force's TACFI solicitation (rolling)
AFCENT Battle Lab Commercial Solutions Opening (closes December 30)
JIATF-401 Commercial Solutions Opening (open)
UPCOMING.
Next wave of pre-released SBIR/STTR topics, expected Wednesday, November 4 based on the first-Wednesday cadence
OUSW(R&E) APFIT, next cycle expected to open December 1 with submissions due late January
Army SBIR Direct to Phase II - xTech Kinetic Reach, open to competition finalists from November 25 to December 23
Army SBIR Direct to Phase II - G-BAM, open December 3 to December 23
SpaceWERX cislunar Direct to Phase II challenge, expected to open in early January and close in February, up to $2M over 24 months
OUSW(R&E) Joint Energetics Transition Office program call, still expected through the consortium that holds the NEST OTA (membership required)
Air Force GUARD Base Defense IDIQ ($2B), final RFP to follow the draft
VENTURE UPDATE
BALERION SPACE VENTURES SURPASSES $200 MILLION TARGET FOR FUND II.
BALERION SPACE VENTURES surpassed its $200 million target for Fund II, more than five times the size of its debut fund of just under $40 million, with the fund remaining open. The Dallas-based firm invests in the infrastructure of space, defense and deep technology, and Fund II has already backed 15 companies including Vast, Relativity Space, Dawn Aerospace, Valar Atomics and Commonwealth Fusion Systems. Alongside the announcement, former NASA Chief Technologist A.C. Charania was named Managing Director for global operations. For space founders, another specialist fund of this size means more capital that understands long hardware timelines and government-anchored demand, which pairs well with the STRATFI and Strategic Breakthrough matching dynamics covered above.
SNOWPOINT VENTURES CLOSES $411 MILLION FUND II FOR DUAL-USE COMPANIES.
SNOWPOINT VENTURES closed its second fund at $411 million to build a concentrated portfolio of roughly 10 dual-use companies, implying average positions north of $40 million before reserves. The Palm Beach-based firm backs companies selling into both national security and commercial markets, with prior investments including Shield AI, Gecko Robotics and Astranis, and its LPs include sovereign wealth funds and university endowments. Separately, Snowpoint secured a $125 million loan through a joint Department of War and SBA initiative supporting technologies important to national security. That loan may be the more important signal for founders, since government-backed leverage flowing into dual-use investors creates a new source of capital for companies that need hardware-scale checks before defense revenue arrives.
DISRUPTIVE CLOSES $10 BILLION FUND FOR LATE-STAGE AI AND DEFENSE.
DISRUPTIVE closed a $10 billion fund, roughly doubling the Dallas-based firm's assets under management and marking its first blind-pool vehicle after years of raising deal-by-deal SPVs. The firm plans to back at least 10 late-stage AI and defense companies with checks of up to $1 billion each, and has told LPs it has returned more than $6 billion on roughly $1.9 billion invested to date. It is the largest venture fund ever raised in Texas. This is not early-stage capital, but it matters for A&D founders all the same, because growth capital at this scale underwrites the production-stage rounds that today's Series A defense companies will need to scale without stalling.
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