Defense Innovation Unit

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) strengthens national security by accelerating the adoption of commercial technology throughout the military and bolstering our allied and national security innovation bases. DIU partners with organizations across the Department of War (DoW) to rapidly prototype and field dual-use capabilities that solve operational challenges at speed and scale. DIU is the only DoW organization focused exclusively on fielding and scaling commercial technology across the U.S. military at commercial speeds. Our expert team, working in seven critical technology sectors, engages directly within the venture capital and commercial technology innovation ecosystem, many of which are working with the DoW for the first time. Our streamlined process delivers prototypes to our DoW partners, along with scalable revenue opportunities for our commercial vendors, within 12 to 24 months. Upon completion, successful prototypes may transition to follow-on production-Other Transaction agreements or Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)-based contracts.