# Seedlings for Disruptive Capabilities (SDCP)

**R-2A activity** of project 620200 — Enterprise Transformational Appld Research  
**Program element:** 0602020F — Enterprise Transformational Appld Research  
**Component:** U.S. Air Force · **Budget Activity:** 2  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602020F/620200/a1  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602020F

## Summary

This activity requests $10.6M in FY2027, 24% of project 620200, down 56% on FY2026. The R-2A exhibit describes it across FY2026–FY2027, including what the FY2027 money is planned to buy.

## What the FY2027 request buys

**FY2027 planned work.** - Complete research in distributed coherent radars for Unmanned Areial Vehicle (UAV) swarms developing magnitude improvements in detection range and target location accuracy. - Pause completion research in optimizing and affordably manufacturing long range weapons. - Continue project to develop digitally programmable meta surfaces for persistent and resilient communications in contested environments. - Continue efforts to enhance navigation in contested environments for networked collaborative autonomy and develop surveillance detection routing for inter/intra-salvo communication. - Continue project for photonic and atomic navigation via optical metrology for asymmetrical advancement in Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) and synchronization to small platforms. - Continue development of next-gen laser resilient mirrors with improved imaging resolution for space domain awareness and missile warning and launch detection.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** FY 2027 decreased compared to FY 2026 by $13.637 million due to 56% decreased emphasis on high-risk, high-payoff technology development. Continuing portfolio activities have been appropriately rescoped. This reduction reflects programmatic adjustments to the DAF Science and Technology portfolio for strategic realignment to optimize core research areas and improve resource efficiency.

## Before the request year

**FY2026 plans — current year.** - Continue research in distributed coherent radars for Unmanned Areial Vehicle (UAV) swarms developing magnitude improvements in detection range and target location accuracy. - Continue research in optimizing and affordably manufacturing long range weapons. - Continue effort to deliver an ultra-wideband digital Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) equipped Electronic Attack/Electronic Warfare (EA/EW) hardened and neuromorphic edge computing to enable a network of sensors to operate at high altitudes. - Commence a program to develop digitally programmable meta surfaces for persistent and resilient communications in contested environments. - Commence efforts to enhance navigation in contested environments for networked collaborative autonomy and develop surveillance detection routing for inter/intra-salvo communication. - Commence program for photonic and atomic navigation via optical metrology for asymmetrical advancement in Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) and synchronization to small platforms. - Commence development of next-gen laser resilient mirrors with improved imaging resolution for space domain awareness and missile warning and launch detection.

## Funding

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 17.5 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 24.2 |
| FY2027 | Request | 10.6 |

> Prior, current and budget year only — an R-2A activity carries no five-year plan. It sums exactly into its project in the request year and not necessarily in any other.

## Other activities in project 620200

- [Explore](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602020F/620200/a0) — FY2027 27.6
- Data to Decisions and Collaborative Learning — FY2027 5.9

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibit R-2A, PE 0602020F project 620200 (PB PB2027). Narrative is the government's own text.
- **No marks, no contractors at this grain** — congressional marks land on the program element and R-3 performers on the project.
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_activity`.

*HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense. Budget figures are requests/estimates, not obligations.*