Sole-source SBIR Phase III IDIQ expands for Department of War enterprise deployment; platform now supports 70,000+ users
GREAT FALLS, VA, UNITED STATES, August 20, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Air Force has raised the ceiling on Trenchant Analytics’ sole-source SBIR Phase III IDIQ contract for AcqBot from $9.9 million to $99.9 million. The tenfold increase funds enterprise deployment across the Department of War and supports the platform’s planned transition to a program of record in FY27.
The Government Accountability Office reported in May 2026 that DoD’s civilian workforce ended 2025 more than 78,000 people smaller than it started, a drop of roughly ten percent. About 53,200 employees took deferred resignations. A hiring freeze accounted for another 59,500 positions that went unfilled. The acquisition workload those employees had been carrying did not go anywhere.
The contracts still have to be awarded. A growing share of that work now runs through AcqBot.
The platform supports 70,000+ users across more than 2,000 organizations. AcqBot uses large language models, retrieval-augmented generation, and robotic process automation to move an acquisition from requirements development to award. Contracting officers use it to draft PWS, SOW, SOO, J&A, MOA, and MOU documents, build market research reports, publish sources sought notices and solicitations, handle vendor questions, and run source selection boards.
Air Force Life Cycle Management Center documented AcqBot as a requirement in its 2026 Digital Strategy. Air Force Research Laboratory funded the development work through the Small Business Innovation Research program, including a $5.1 million Phase II award under AFWERX open topic AFX244-DPCSO1, and awarded the Phase III IDIQ that has now been expanded. AcqBot is a core component of the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy, which spans 74 data connections. A separate Air Force Sustainment Center task order awarded in September 2025 is putting AcqBot 2.0 into the sustainment supply chain enterprise anchored on the 448th Supply Chain Management Wing.
AcqBot holds an Impact Level 5 Authority to Operate from AFRL and runs on IL2, IL4, and IL5 government infrastructure. Agency authorization for FedRAMP High is in process. The platform is also available through a SBIR Phase 3 Sole-source BPA.
Under 15 U.S.C. 638(r)(4), an agency may issue a Phase III award to the company that developed the technology without further justification, including on a sole source basis, on the strength of the original competitively awarded SBIR. The vehicle and the accreditation are already in place. With the higher ceiling, a component can now scale onto the contract without standing up a new procurement or waiting out a protest window.
“The Air Force didn’t raise this ceiling because the software demos well. They raised it because the Department came up 78,000 people short last year and the awards still have to go out the door. I want to be careful about how I say this, because AcqBot is not replacing those people. Nobody replaces 78,000 people. What it does is make the ones who stayed fast enough to cover the gap. A ten-times ceiling is the Air Force saying this is the vehicle and it’s open.”
— Michelle Ferry, CEO, Trenchant Analytics, LLC
Trenchant Analytics plans to use the expanded ceiling to bring on additional Department of War components and to finish the engineering and accreditation work behind the FY27 program of record transition. Government personnel with .mil credentials can request access at acqbot.mil.
ABOUT TRENCHANT ANALYTICS
Trenchant Analytics, LLC builds AI-powered acquisition and business development software for the Department of War. Its flagship platform, AcqBot, automates federal acquisition from requirements development through award and supports 70,000 users across the Department under an Air Force sole-source SBIR Phase III contract. Trenchant Analytics is a woman-owned small business headquartered in Great Falls, Virginia. Learn more at tacgov.com and acqbot.com.
John Ferry
Trenchant Analytics
+1 740-317-7424
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