RFI: Levels of Resilience through Formal Methods

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Information Innovation Office is seeking technical input through a Request for Information on approaches to achieving graduated levels of software resilience and assurance using formal methods, aligned with mission needs, cost, and lifecycle constraints. This solicitation, identified as DARPA-SN-26-71 and issued on May 4, 2026, with a response deadline of June 12, 2026, is explicitly not a procurement action and does not constitute a solicitation for contracts or proposals; responses will not be considered offers and cannot lead to award. The focus is on defining a scalable framework of five progressively rigorous assurance levels—ranging from faithful recovery of software architecture to proven functional correctness under threat models—which serve as technical evaluation dimensions rather than contractual requirements. Respondents are expected to provide analytical insights, toolchain descriptions, validation methodologies, and case studies demonstrating how these levels can be practically implemented across legacy systems, acquisition pipelines, and complex supply chains with measurable improvements in productivity, cost, and trustworthiness. Submissions must be no more than ten pages in length, excluding the cover sheet and references, and must be delivered as a single, unencrypted Word or PDF file via email to ResilientSoftwareSystems@darpa.mil by the specified deadline. All responses must be unclassified and non-proprietary. Controlled Unclassified Information may be submitted only if properly marked in accordance with NIST SP 800-171 and DoDI 8582.01, and classified material must be coordinated directly with DARPA prior to submission. Respondents are required to provide their SAM.gov Unique Entity ID but are not obligated to certify size status or socioeconomic designations. The place of performance is Arlington, Virginia, and all administrative inquiries should be directed to the designated point of contact. While no contract clauses, evaluation weights, payment instructions, or delivery schedules apply due to the RFI’s informational nature, the submission template and handling guidelines emphasize structured technical input to inform future research directions in software assurance using formal methods.