Defense Production Act Title III Expansion of Domestic Production Capability and Capacity; Call 004 Neodymium Iron (NdFeB) Sintered Materials and/or NdFeB Permanent Magnets Supply Chain Study and Inventory Demonstration | FA8650 19 S 5010 CALL 004

Opportunity Information: Apply for FA8650 19 S 5010 CALL 004

This funding opportunity is a Department of Defense program announcement issued by the Air Force Research Laboratory under the Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III authorities, focused on expanding U.S. domestic production capability and capacity for critical defense-related materials. Specifically, Call 004 targets the neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnet industrial base, with emphasis on NdFeB sintered materials and/or finished NdFeB permanent magnets. The intent is to strengthen and better understand the U.S. supply chain for these high-performance rare-earth permanent magnet materials, which are widely used in defense and other high-end applications where size, weight, power, and efficiency matter.

The solicitation is structured as a hybrid Funding Opportunity Announcement and uses a cooperative agreement as the funding instrument, meaning the government expects to have substantial involvement during performance rather than acting purely as a pass-through funder. The activity category is science and technology and other research and development, indicating that the work is expected to include technical study, analysis, and potentially practical demonstrations rather than only procurement of end items. The program is associated with CFDA numbers 12.777 and 12.800, both commonly tied to DoD research and manufacturing technology efforts.

The call is open to an unrestricted pool of applicants, meaning any entity type may apply (such as companies, universities, nonprofits, consortia, or other organizations), subject to any additional eligibility clarifications that may appear in the full announcement. This openness is typical of industrial-base and manufacturing-capacity initiatives where both commercial producers and research performers can contribute. The opportunity was created on December 16, 2019, with an original closing date of January 22, 2020.

In terms of scale, the award ceiling is listed at $20,000,000, and the government anticipated making about two awards. That combination suggests the DoD was planning to fund one or two relatively substantial efforts, likely aimed at producing actionable deliverables such as a detailed supply chain study and an inventory demonstration connected to NdFeB sintered materials and/or magnet production. While the short description does not spell out the technical tasks, the title and scope imply work such as mapping the domestic and allied supply chain, identifying critical bottlenecks and single points of failure, assessing processing steps and dependencies (for example, material sourcing, powder production, sintering, finishing, and quality assurance), and demonstrating credible approaches to inventorying, tracking, or validating availability of inputs and outputs relevant to NdFeB magnet production.

Overall, this call sits within the broader DPA Title III mission of reducing reliance on fragile or foreign-dependent supply chains for defense-critical components. By focusing on NdFeB sintered materials and permanent magnets, the government is signaling that these materials are considered strategically important, and that improving visibility, resilience, and domestic capacity in this area is a priority. The expected outcome is a clearer picture of the NdFeB supply chain and practical progress toward ensuring that the United States can reliably access or produce the materials and magnets needed for defense systems, even under supply disruptions.

• The Department of Defense, Air Force -- Research Lab in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Defense Production Act Title III Expansion of Domestic Production Capability and Capacity; Call 004 Neodymium Iron (NdFeB) Sintered Materials and/or NdFeB Permanent Magnets Supply Chain Study and Inventory Demonstration" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.777, 12.800.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 16, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 22, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $20,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for FA8650 19 S 5010 CALL 004

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: