Endless Forge

Endless Forge is a Manufacturing as a Service initiative led by the Air Force Research Laboratory Materials and Manufacturing Directorate to establish an adaptive, scalable, and resilient production network for the US industrial base. The program aims to shift from sequential value chains to regionalized production networks, enabling the Department of the Air Force to rapidly scale weapon systems based on battlefield performance. With a total estimated program cost of 149 million dollars and multiple awards anticipated, the solicitation focuses on two primary Areas of Interest: technology sprints to reduce risk in enabling technologies like digital certification and software-defined manufacturing, and a technology demonstration to validate the concept across domains such as space systems and autonomous platforms. This unrestricted solicitation, number FA2394-26-R-B003, utilizes a two-step process requiring a five-page white paper followed by a full proposal for selected offerors, with a response deadline of February 19, 2028. Anticipated contracts include Other Transaction for Prototype and Cost Plus Fixed Fee types, with a technical performance period of 33 months. Key requirements include strict adherence to security risk reviews for key personnel to mitigate foreign influence, compliance with NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC cybersecurity standards, and the use of the Wide Area Workflow system for invoicing. Deliverables encompass research and development data, scientific and technical reports, and hardware prototypes that must meet MIL-STD-130 unique item identification and MIL-STD-129 packaging standards.