Find defense contracts
worth bidding on.
Most Department of War (DoW) contract opportunities are posted publicly, but the few that fit your company sit among thousands that do not. This guide covers where the notices are, how to narrow them, and what Armathes does to keep a shortlist current.
Updated
- SAM.gov checked
- 2 hthrough the business day
- Capability markets
- 14every notice tagged by what it buys
- SBIR and STTR
- DoWtopics, open and closed, beside the notices
Where they are posted
SAM.gov is the place to start.
SAM.gov’s Contract Opportunities is the government’s single point of entry for federal contracts. Contracting officers publicize most proposed contract actions expected to exceed $25,000 there, with exceptions set out in the Federal Acquisition Regulation, Part 5. Searching it is free, and so is registering a company, which most solicitations require before an offer.
Two other public sources fill in the picture. Department of War SBIR and STTR topics, research funding for small businesses, are published through the department’s own program and listed on SBIR.gov. And War.gov announces contracts of $7.5 million and up each business day: these are awards already made, not opportunities, but they show who is winning and where follow-on work may come from.
Notice types
What each notice asks of you.
Notices change after they post. An amendment can move a deadline or replace a document, so bid from the latest version.
Narrowing the list
Six questions that cut thousands to a few.
Start from what you sell
Each notice carries a NAICS code. It names the industry, and it sets the SBA size standard that decides whether your company counts as small for that notice.
Match what is being bought
The Product and Service Code (PSC) says what the government is buying, which is often a better filter than the agency's name.
Check the set-aside
A notice set aside for small businesses, 8(a), HUBZone, service-disabled veteran-owned, or women-owned small businesses is open only to companies that qualify.
Know the buyer
Past awards show which commands and offices buy your kind of work, how often, and from whom.
Count the days
A good fit with too little time to write a compliant proposal is still a pass. Sort by response deadline.
Find the incumbent
If the work is being bought again, someone holds it now. Their contract shows the price and the period you are competing against.
In Armathes
The same notices, read for you.
Defense notices, kept current
Department of War notices from SAM.gov, checked every two hours through the business day, shown Open, Closed, or All, and narrowed to those due in the next 7, 30, or 90 days.
In the platformOpportunities
Sorted by what they buy
Each notice is tagged into 14 capability markets, from drones and autonomy to logistics, starting from its product and service code. The method is shown.
In the platformOpportunitiesMarkets
Every deadline on a calendar
Response deadlines sit on the day they are due, colored by market, and go to your own calendar as a file.
In the platformDeadline Calendar
Matches, with the reasons
Open opportunities like the markets, agencies, keywords, and records you follow or save, best first, with the reasons for each. Hide what does not fit, and get new matches in a daily or weekly email.
In the platformMonitor
Who has done this before
For each notice, the contracts it may replace: possible incumbents, what comparable awards cost, and the companies that won the most of that money.
In the platformNotice
Every change kept
When a deadline, an amount, or a status changes, the record keeps both versions, and the notices you save tell you what changed.
In the platformWatchlist
Limits
What Armathes does not cover.
Armathes covers the Department of War. It does not hold civilian agencies’ notices, state and local bids, grants, subcontracting opportunities, or agency procurement forecasts. Coverage for the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada is in development and not yet available.
It is a research platform, not a bidding service: you respond to a notice on SAM.gov, or as the notice says. To see how the work behind a notice was bought before, read recompete tracking and defense contract awards.
Questions
Asked often
- Where are Department of War contract opportunities posted?
- On SAM.gov, the government's single point of entry for federal contract opportunities. Contracting officers publicize most proposed contract actions expected to exceed $25,000 there, with exceptions set out in the Federal Acquisition Regulation, Part 5. Department of War SBIR and STTR topics are published separately and listed on SBIR.gov.
- Is SAM.gov free?
- Yes. Searching opportunities and registering a company on SAM.gov are free.
- Do I need to be registered to bid?
- Most solicitations require an active SAM.gov registration, with a Unique Entity ID, when you submit an offer. Read each solicitation's instructions for what it requires.
- How current are the notices in Armathes?
- SAM.gov is checked every two hours through the business day. Each notice links to its SAM.gov record, which is the official version.
- Does Armathes cover civilian agencies?
- No. Armathes covers the Department of War: its notices on SAM.gov, its contract awards, its daily contract announcements, and its SBIR and STTR topics.
- Can Armathes tell me whether I will win?
- No. Matches and possible incumbents show why a notice resembles your work and who has done it before. They are evidence for a bid decision, not a probability of winning.