In deep tech, the minimum viable product is the minimum credible evidence that your core technical claim is true — and for physics-heavy hardware, that evidence is usually a simulation-built virtual prototype. It's how funded teams de-risk their first Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) & NSIC proposal and their first raise, before spending on tooling.
The single technical claim that, if true, makes you fundable. The MVP exists to test that — nothing else.
Build the virtual prototype in the physics that carries the claim: Mechanical (FEA), Fluent (CFD), HFSS/Maxwell (EM), or a coupled model.
Sweep the design against your requirement. Every failure found in the solver is a prototype you didn't machine.
Converged results become the performance curves, margin tables, and contour plots funders and investors evaluate.
Counter-unmanned-aerial-system capability delivered as a fielded product line.
Won a ~$99M Production Other Transaction agreement with DIU for counter-UAS — a textbook prototype-to-production transition.
Counter-UAS effectors and airframes lean on coupled aero (Fluent), structural (Mechanical), and RF (HFSS) analysis to hit performance and reliability targets.
Long-endurance autonomous uncrewed surface vehicles for persistent maritime-domain awareness.
Worked with DIU and DoD components on maritime autonomy, expanding from ocean science into defense ISR missions.
USV endurance and seakeeping are fundamentally hydrodynamics problems — hull resistance and stability modeled in CFD (Fluent).
Autonomous small drones with onboard obstacle avoidance and mapping.
Cleared through DIU's Blue UAS vetting, making its platforms far easier for DoD units to procure and field.
Airframe aero, motor efficiency (Maxwell), and avionics thermal management (Icepak) drive endurance and reliability in compact drones.
Low-cost, compact radar sensing for detecting small drones.
Overall winner of DIU's C-sUAS Low-Cost Sensing Challenge (~$500K prize), a direct on-ramp into the counter-UAS / Replicator-2 pipeline.
Compact radar sensing is an antenna and RF-coverage problem — aperture design and detection envelopes modeled in HFSS.
The DroneHunter F700 autonomous counter-UAS interceptor.
Selected for JIATF-401's first Replicator-2 purchase in January 2026 (two DroneHunter F700 systems).
Interceptor flight dynamics and net-capture events combine aero (Fluent), structures (Mechanical), and impact dynamics (LS-DYNA).
Chasing one program often means you qualify for others you haven't heard of. These sister guides cover more of the U.S. non-dilutive landscape — same honest, no-nonsense approach. Not sure which fits what you're building? Ask us — we'll point you at the right doors, even the ones that aren't ours.
America's ~$4B/yr non-dilutive seed fund across 11 agencies.
Visit →Air Force & Space Force open topics and $3–15M matching funds.
Visit →Tipping Point, TechFlights, NIAC and the space startup ladder.
Visit →Army prize competitions with a fast lane into Army SBIR.
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