Fleet maintenance and operational tasks are documented in technical manuals, maintenance procedures, and equipment configuration data that change continuously. Converting that material into usable video training is today a manual, labor-intensive process, and once a video is produced there is no automated means of identifying which segments are invalidated when a technical baseline changes. The result is a training library that is expensive to produce and that degrades in accuracy over time.

This challenge is executed in three phases. Phase 1 is an open call in which Applicants submit evidence of existing capability. Phase 2 requires the Top 10 Semifinalists to produce a script, storyboard, and traceability manifest from a common commercial maintenance source package, so that every Semifinalist is measured against the same task under the same conditions. Phase 3 requires the Top 5 Finalists to produce a Navy-specific prototype video from Government Furnished Information and to demonstrate the complete workflow live at the Demonstration Day event.
Submissions are evaluated by a panel of Government subject matter experts drawn from NAWCTSD, PMW-260, and supported in Phase 3 by Fleet subject matter experts who assess the technical accuracy of scripts, storyboards, and finished video. 

Three winners are selected at the Demonstration Day on 5 November 2026. 

The total prize purse is $160,000.

Note: All proposed solutions shall be commercially available / non-developmental technologies. Submissions describing technologies still under development, in prototype form, or requiring additional engineering to achieve production readiness are outside the scope of the prize challenge and will not be considered.

• 20 August 2026: Release of the complete prize challenge package.
• 25 August 2026: Prize Challenge release and application portal open. Announcement distributed via the Central Florida Tech Grove website, email campaigns, and other information distribution channels.
• 25 September 2026: Deadline for Phase 1 submissions, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, submitted through the designated portal. Submissions must meet the Phase 1 Submission Requirements.
• 2 October 2026: Evaluation of Phase 1 submissions complete. Up to 10 Semifinalists selected to participate in Phase 2.
• 5 October 2026: Phase 2 begins. The Central Florida Tech Grove issues the Phase 2 instructions and the common commercial maintenance source package to the Semifinalists.
• 8 October 2026: Deadline for Phase 2 submissions, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
• 13 October 2026: Evaluation of Phase 2 submissions complete.
• 14 October 2026: Phase 3 begins. Up to 5 Finalists selected and notified. Each Finalist is assigned a specific Performance Support video and receives the applicable Government Furnished Information, scoping information, and Phase 3 instructions.
• 21 to 22 October 2026: Site visit data collection. Each Finalist is supported by an assigned Government guide or subject matter expert.
• 2 November 2026: Deadline for Phase 3 submissions, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Fleet subject matter expert review of the submitted prototype videos, with technical discrepancies documented, adjudicated, and resolved.
• 5 November 2026: Demonstration Day and selection of the three winners. Winners are announced at the end of the event and receive the $55,000, $30,000, and $20,000 awards.
• 12 November 2026: Written notification of final placements to all Finalists.
• 12 December 2026: Completion of stipend and prize payment.

All dates and times are Eastern Time. Where a deadline falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the deadline is not extended.

in total cash prizes

The total prize purse is $160,000, consisting of $105,000 in base prize awards and $55,000 in operational stipends. Each of the five Finalists receives an $11,000 operational stipend, consisting of $7,000 for prototype production and $4,000 for travel and data collection. Final awards combine the stipend with the base prize.

• The operational stipend is paid to each Finalist upon execution of the Finalist agreement and before performance, to the single legal entity designated by the Finalist.
• Fourth-place and fifth-place Finalists are awardees. They remain subject to the same deliverable, intellectual property, publicity, and tax obligations as prize-winning Finalists, and their prototypes and sustainment packages remain required and deliverable to the Government.
• Base prizes are paid within thirty days of written notification of final placements.
• A Finalist that withdraws, that fails to deliver the required prototype and sustainment package, or that fails to appear at the Demonstration Day forfeits any unpaid amount.
• Each awardee is solely responsible for all Federal, state, and local tax obligations arising from any stipend or prize and will receive tax reporting as required by law.
• The Government is not obligated to make every award. If fewer than ten responsive Phase 1 submissions are received, or fewer than five Semifinalists are assessed as qualified, the Government may reduce the number of Semifinalists or Finalists, may decline to make a base prize award in any tier, or may cancel the challenge. Awards will not be split between Participants.

Additional Considerations:

• Direct access to authoritative Navy technical source material as Government Furnished Information in Phase 3, including a funded site visit for on-site data collection.
• Exposure to leaders across Team Orlando and other components of the Department of War responsible for the development and deployment of training solutions.
• Opportunities to learn from and collaborate with industry, government, and academic leaders working in automated content generation and training sustainment.
• Potential for follow-on opportunities such as Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs), Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), and FAR-based contract awards.

Sailors require immediate, point of need access to accurate procedural training for complex maintenance and operational tasks, frequently in austere or afloat environments with degraded or disconnected network access. Producing Performance Support video from authoritative technical source material is currently manual and slow, and the resulting products cannot be traced back to the source material that governs them. When a technical manual, maintenance procedure, or equipment configuration changes, there is no automated means of identifying which video segments are affected, which forces either wholesale reproduction or acceptance of outdated training content.

The Government seeks solutions that automate the conversion of authoritative source material into standardized, compressed, offline-playable Performance Support video; that establish and maintain a source-to-segment traceability record for every asset produced; that automatically flag affected content when a source baseline changes; and that support a subject matter expert review and re-render workflow so that corrections can be validated and republished rapidly.

Participants will deliver the following by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on 25 September 2026 through the designated portal.

The two primary artifacts are mandatory. A submission that omits either artifact, or that omits the required certifications, is non-responsive and will not be evaluated.

View Full Prize Challenge Details

Initial Technology and Capability Evidence

Provide:

• A concise description of the algorithmic approach, software architecture, and commercial generative tools employed.
• The proposed deployment model, identifying which functions require cloud services and which operate disconnected.
• One or more representative outputs or demonstrations that substantiate the claimed capability. Representative outputs are limited to three video samples of not more than five minutes each, provided as streaming links that require no account, password, or software installation.
• A statement of the measured wall-clock time to generate a compliant three-minute Performance Support video from source input, together with the hardware and service configuration on which that time was measured. Estimated or projected times must be identified as such.

Recommendation to Produce Videos & Experience

Provide:

• A production and sustainment plan showing how the technology maps to military instructional constraints, adult learning methods, offline delivery, and the required production-artifact package.
• An explicit description of automated baseline Configuration Management, including how the platform maps videos and editable source artifacts to technical-manual versions, procedures, and equipment configurations.
• A description of how a subject matter expert reviews flagged content and how corrected content is re-rendered and republished.

Cyber and Supply Chain Evidence

In addition to the two primary artifacts, provide:

• A software bill of materials for the proposed generation, hosting, and delivery components.
• An inventory of third-party and open-source dependencies, together with the license under which each is provided.
• A statement of the Participant's most recent vulnerability scanning results and remediation status.

Autonomy Disclosure

Each submission must state the extent of human involvement in producing the representative outputs, including any manual scripting, editing, correction, or post-production.

Human review and editing are permitted at every stage of this challenge. Undisclosed human involvement is grounds for disqualification.

Format and Limits

The written package is limited to ten single-sided pages, exclusive of the cover page, the certifications, and the Cyber and Supply Chain Evidence, in Portable Document Format, 11-point minimum font, with one-inch margins.

Representative outputs are limited to three video samples of not more than five minutes each and must be provided as streaming links that require no account, password, or software installation.

Late submissions will not be accepted. A Participant may amend or replace its submission at any time before the deadline, and the last complete submission received controls. The Government will not seek clarification of, or permit correction of, an incomplete submission after the deadline.

View Full Prize Challenge Details

Submissions will be evaluated by Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) with expertise in DE, M&S, AI/ML, enterprise platforms, and interoperability.

Submissions are scored against the following evaluation factors on the 1-5 scale below. Each factor score is multiplied by its weight, and the weighted results are summed to produce an overall weighted score (5.0 maximum). 

Eligibility Requirements

Participants may be individuals or teams from industry, academia, state or local government, or nonprofit entities. Traditional and non-traditional defense contractors are both eligible. Eligibility is subject to verification during each Phase and before award of any prize. To be eligible to win, all individual Participants or members of a participating team must meet the following requirements:

1. Participants must have complied with all requirements set forth in this prize challenge.
2. All individuals must be United States citizens and 18 years of age or older.
3. Except for employees appointed under the STEM Student Employment Program or other student employment programs, Federal employees and support service contractors are not eligible to participate.
4. Participants may not use Federal funds to support participation.
5. Each entry must designate one legal entity as responsible for the submission, for all communications, and for receipt of any stipend or prize. A team must designate that entity at registration.
6. A Participant may submit only one entry. An individual may appear on only one entry. A parent company and its subsidiaries are treated as a single Participant.
7. Any person who contributed to developing the challenge requirements, the evaluation criteria, or the Government Furnished Information, and any member of the evaluation panel or of the challenge administration staff, is not eligible to participate or to receive any award. Participants must disclose any relationship with NAWCTSD, PMW-260, or the Central Florida Tech Grove that could create an actual or apparent conflict of interest.
8. Before receiving controlled challenge information, including the Phase 2 common source package and any Phase 3 Government Furnished Information, a Participant must execute the nondisclosure agreement administered by the University of Central Florida. A Participant that has not executed the nondisclosure agreement will not receive controlled information and cannot advance.

Phase 3 Government Furnished Information is drawn from Navy Planned Maintenance System source material. Finalists must be able to receive, store, process, and destroy that material in accordance with the handling terms issued with the Government Furnished Information package.

Representations:

Upon submission, the Participant hereby represents and warrants that:

1. It is the sole author and copyright owner of the submission; that the submission is an original work of the Participant and that the Participant has sufficient rights to use and to authorize others, including PMW-260, Tech Grove, NAWCTSD, and the Navy, to use the submission as specified throughout the Official Rules; that the submission does not infringe upon any copyright or upon any other third party rights of which the Participant is aware; and that the submission is free of malware.
2. The submission, and any use thereof by the Central Florida Tech Grove, NAWCTSD, or the Navy, is not defamatory or libelous in any manner; does not constitute or result in any misappropriation or other violation of the publicity rights or right of privacy of any person or entity; and does not infringe, misappropriate, or otherwise violate any intellectual property rights, privacy rights, or any other rights of any person or entity.
3. It is free to enter into this challenge without the consent of any third party.
4. There is no suit, proceeding, or any other claim pending or threatened against the Participant, nor does any circumstance exist, to its knowledge, which may be the basis of any such suit, proceeding, or other claim, that could limit or impair the Participant’s performance of its obligations pursuant to these Terms and Conditions.
5. It will not infringe, violate, or interfere with the intellectual property, publicity, privacy, contract, or other right of any third party in the course of performance of this agreement or cause NAWCTSD or the Navy to do any of the same.
6. It will comply with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations in performing under these Terms and Conditions.
7. The autonomy disclosure accompanying each submission is complete and accurate.
8. It otherwise meets the eligibility requirements set forth by this prize challenge.

Data Rights and Marking

1. All data submitted under this Prize Challenge will be made available to the Central Florida Tech Grove, NAWCTSD, PMW-260, and parties authorized to act on their behalf. By accepting these Terms and Conditions, the Participant consents to the use of all data submitted.
2. The use of protective markings such as "Do Not Publicly Release – Trade Secret" or "Do Not Publicly Release – Confidential Proprietary Business Information," or similar restrictive markings, is authorized and is strongly encouraged where appropriate. Participants should be aware that the use of protective markings is not dispositive as to whether information will be released publicly pursuant to a request for records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552 et seq., as amended by the OPEN Government Act of 2007, Pub. L. No. 110-175. Any information received from a Participant is considered to be a Federal agency record and, as such, subject to public release under FOIA. Decisions to disclose or withhold information received from a Participant are based on the applicability of one or more of the nine FOIA exemptions, not on the existence or nonexistence of protective markings. The agency’s designated FOIA Officer will determine if information sought under a FOIA request will be withheld pursuant to one or more of the nine FOIA exemptions. All FOIA requests received are processed in accordance with 32 C.F.R. Part 286. Participants will be notified of any FOIA requests for their submissions in accordance with 32 C.F.R. 286.10. Following notification by a FOIA processor, Participants will be provided the opportunity to review their requested materials and to provide the FOIA processor with comments regarding whether the Participant believes any or all of the materials are exempt from release.
3. Participants should not submit material whose release would cause competitive harm if a protective marking is not sustained.

Publicity

By entering, each Participant grants the Government and the Central Florida Tech Grove the right to publish the Participant’s name, logo, and a non-proprietary description of its submission in connection with announcing and reporting on this challenge. Any other use of a Participant’s name, likeness, or materials requires written permission. An awardee may state that it placed in this challenge but may not represent that the Government endorses its products or services.

 
Verification and Disqualification

The Government may verify eligibility, entity status, and any certification or representation at any time. The Government may disqualify a Participant at any point for a material misrepresentation, for human involvement inconsistent with the required autonomy disclosure, for submitting material the Participant does not have the right to submit, for violating the nondisclosure agreement or applicable data handling requirements, or for conduct that compromises the integrity of the evaluation. Disqualification after payment obligates the Participant to return any stipend or prize received.

 
Modification and Cancellation

The Government reserves the right to modify the challenge requirements, evaluation criteria, schedule, or prize structure, and to suspend or cancel this challenge in whole or in part, at any time and for any reason, including unavailability of funds. Modifications will be published through the challenge portal and communicated to all registered Participants. Participants have no claim against the Government or the Central Florida Tech Grove for costs incurred in preparing a submission.

 
Relationship of the Parties

Nothing contained in these Terms and Conditions is intended to create or constitute a relationship between PMW-260, Tech Grove, or NAWCTSD and a Participant. Participation in this Prize Challenge does not imply any form of sanction, endorsement, or support of the Participant, nor does it grant either party any authority to act as agent, nor assume or create any obligation on behalf of the other party. A Participant may not use a PMW-260, Tech Grove, NAWCTSD, or Department of War logo or official seal in its submission.

 
Participant Liability and Insurance

1. All Participants agree to assume, and thereby have assumed, any and all risks of injury or loss in connection with or in any way arising from participation in this challenge or development of any submission. Upon registration, except in the case of willful misconduct, all Participants agree to and thereby waive and release any and all claims or causes of action against the Federal Government and its officers, employees, and agents for any and all injury or damage of any nature whatsoever, whether existing or thereafter arising, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, and whether foreseeable or not, arising from their participation in this challenge, whether the claim or cause of action arises under contract or tort.
2. Based on the subject matter of this prize challenge and the type of work that it will require, as well as the unlikeliness of claims for death, bodily injury, property damage, or loss potentially arising from or related to participation, no individual or entity participating in this prize challenge is required to obtain liability insurance or demonstrate financial responsibility in order to participate.

Questions and Communications

All questions must be submitted in writing through the challenge portal. Questions received after the published cutoff will not be answered. Answers will be published to all registered Participants without attribution. No oral statement by any Government or Tech Grove representative modifies these Official Rules. The point of contact for this challenge is [challenge point of contact name and email address].

Disputes

Participation constitutes each Participant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and Terms and Conditions, which are final and binding in all matters related to this challenge. The final scores and determinations are final and binding on all Participants. The final scores of the judging panel and the final determination of all winners may not be challenged by Participants.

Follow-On Activities:
This Open Call Announcement is considered to have potential for further efforts that may be accomplished via FAR-based contracting instruments, Other Transaction Authority (OTA) for Prototype Projects 10 U.S.C. 4022 and Research 10 U.S.C. 4021, Prizes for advanced technology achievements 10 U.S.C. 4025, and Prize Competitions 15 U.S.C. 3719. If a prototype OTA is awarded and considered successfully completed, follow-on production may be pursued in accordance with 10 U.S.C. 4022(f). The public open call announcement is considered to satisfy the reasonable effort to obtain competition in accordance with 10 U.S.C. 4025(b), 15 U.S.C. 3719(e), and 10 U.S.C. 4022(b)(2). Any FAR-based actions will follow announcement procedures per FAR 5.201(b).

Participation in this challenge does not guarantee any follow-on award. The Federal Government is not responsible for any monies expended by a Participant before award and is under no obligation to pursue any follow-on instrument.

Intellectual Property Considerations:
A Participant retains all rights in its pre-existing intellectual property, including its models, algorithms, and tooling, and retains intellectual ownership of and publishing rights in its submission.

By participating in this competition and submitting in any round, a Participant grants the United States Government and parties authorized to act on its behalf permanent access to the provided prototypes, video deliverables, and documents, with the provision that the Government may store and copy them in perpetuity. For Phase 3 deliverables produced from Government Furnished Information, the Department of the Navy receives Unlimited Rights in the generated video and in the production and sustainment artifacts. Deliverables produced in Phase 2 from the common commercial source package are treated the same way, so that the Government may reuse and publish comparison material.

Each submission must identify every third-party and open-source component embedded in a deliverable, together with its license, and must confirm that no component restricts the Government’s use, modification, reproduction, or re-rendering of that deliverable. Where a proprietary player or hosting tool is required to use a deliverable, the Participant must grant the Government a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license sufficient to use, view, and re-render the deliverable for Government purposes.

Excluding any material considered to be co-produced with the United States Government, the Government and parties authorized to act on its behalf will not share a Participant’s submission, including files and tradecraft concepts, with other entities except as required by law. Participants should read this provision together with Data Rights and Marking below, which governs the treatment of submissions under the Freedom of Information Act.

Background Information:
The Central Florida Tech Grove is a Department of War innovation hub established in 2020 under a Partnership Intermediary Agreement between the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division and the University of Central Florida Research Foundation. The Tech Grove was founded as a multi-service innovation hub with funding from the Navy, Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps training commands as well as the Office of Naval Research and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. With a three-pronged mission to grow the defense industry base, facilitate technology transfer and transition, and solve problems, Tech Grove executes a wide range of initiatives that bring together entrepreneurs, industry, academia, and government from across the United States and internationally to develop innovative solutions for military human performance at all levels. www.centralfloridatechgrove.org

About the Career Training Continuum
The Career Training Continuum (CTC) is managed under the Program Executive Office for Manpower, Logistics and Business Solutions and is executed by PMW-260. CTC is responsible for modernizing how the Navy delivers career-long training content to the Fleet, including the standardization, production, and lifecycle sustainment of Performance Support media that Sailors use at the point of need.

About the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division
The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD) is the principal Navy center for research, development, test and evaluation, acquisition, and product support of training systems. NAWCTSD provides inter-service coordination and training systems support for the Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force, and performs such other functions and tasks as directed by higher authority. With a skilled military and civilian acquisition, research, and development workforce along with advanced laboratories, NAWCTSD produces leading edge advances in training systems and human performance in air, land, and sea applications. NAWCTSD is a foundational member of Team Orlando, a collaborative comprising the training and simulation divisions of the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force as well as academia and key supporting economic development organizations. www.navair.navy.mil/nawctsd

Satisfying Competition Requirements: Other Transaction Authority
This Challenge public announcement is an open call to small businesses and non-traditional defense contractors seeking innovative, commercial technologies proposed to create new Department of War solutions or potential new capabilities fulfilling requirements, closing capability gaps, or providing potential technological advancements. It includes technologies fueled by commercial or strategic investment, and also concept demonstrations, pilots, and agile development activities improving commercial technologies, existing Government-owned capabilities, or concepts for broad Defense applications. As such, the Government reserves the right to award a contract or an Other Transaction for any purpose, to include a prototype or research, under this public announcement. The authorities and competition provisions applicable to this announcement are stated under Follow-On Activities above.

Find additional resources, documents, and FAQ to assist with Prize Challenge participation.