What the FY2027 request buys
Verbatim from the R-2A exhibit for project 624347 of PE 0602102F. This is the budget justification's own description of work that has not happened yet — the one thing no other level of the budget carries.
- Continue the validation, demonstration, and maturation advanced processing methods of ceramic matrix composites. Activities include: -- Increase production of durable, electromagnetically transparent materials from ceramic powders. -- Demonstration and refinement of the processing of ceramic powders into shaped parts to enable successful performance in extreme environments. - Continue the development of multifunctional polymer matrix composites (PMCs) leveraging additive manufacturing for agile production of self-sensing and resilient components targeted for future collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) applications. - Continue in-depth analyses and assessments of the durability of ultra-high temperature ceramic matrix composites (UHTCMCs) and affordable PMCs in extreme environments to understand performance versus cost trade-offs. Activities include: -- Validation of production scale-up and performance of UHTCMCs, with different chemistries and processing methods to meet new requirements for evolving threats and new extreme environments. -- Development of multifunctional PMCs for extreme environments in both air and space to optimize performance while keeping costs down. - Continue the validation, development, and testing of new ceramic and polymer matrix composite materials in relevant service environments for propulsion and aerospace structures. Advance test methods (e.g., automated, robotic torch testing, combined thermal/mechanical effect tests) and testing new materials at the most extreme environments for hypersonic and other extreme environment applications. Activities include: -- Development, validation, and testing of new PMCs in relevant service environments (air and space) with the development of novel testing methods such as exposure to atomic oxygen, radiation, extreme temperature fluctuations. - Continue the advancement and integration of a computational materials science modeling and analysis tool suite. Deploy artificial intelligence/machine learning tools and digital materials engineering methods to rapidly analyze processing, characterization, and performance data to improve understanding of performance in extreme environments and to inform certification of advanced ceramics and composites, including textile and bonded-integrated structures on emerging platforms. - Continue the verification and validation of damage progression models on increasingly geometrically complex, integrated polymer matrix composite structures (including textile and bonded-integrated structures) to support transition of required materials in weapon systems. Activities include: -- Deployment of these progressive damage models on real-world problems of interest to bomber platforms. - Complete the development and validation of advanced specialty and multifunctional, intelligent materials for platform resilience and weight savings to meet evolving mission requirements. - Continue the development and refinement of modeling and computation tools to link processing to performance of organic/polymer matrix composites and expand damage mechanics models to increasingly complex composite materials to certify for use in current and future systems. Activities include: -- Deployment of digital engineering tools on real-world problems of interest to bomber platforms. - Commence the development of advanced predictive processing tools for infusion-based polymer matrix composites (PMC) and carbon matrix composite (CMC) manufacturing and predictive modeling tools for additive manufacturing of thermoplastic composites for CCA platforms. Activities include: -- Conduct real-time measurements at advanced facilities for modeling input.
Funding decreased by $3.296 million in FY 2027 compared to FY 2026 due to slowing of research in high temperature materials and processes for extreme environments. This reduction reflects programmatic adjustments to the DAF Science and Technology portfolio for strategic realignment to optimize core research areas and improve resource efficiency.
FY2026: the year under way
Prior-year accomplishments and current-year plans from the same exhibit. Context for the FY2027 plan, not a series — an activity partitions its project exactly in the request year, but can under-cover it in earlier years.
- Continue the validation, demonstration, and maturation of advanced processing methods, including novel preceramic polymer and fiber infiltration techniques, for the fabrication of ultra-high temperature ceramic matrix composites (UHTCMCs). This effort also encompasses the development of robust life prediction models for current and future CMCs to ensure mission success in operational environments. - Continue the development of affordable polymer matrix composites (PMCs) leveraging additive manufacturing for rapid production of components targeted for future collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) applications. - Continue in-depth analyses and assessments of the durability of UHTCMCs and affordable PMCs in extreme environments to understand performance versus cost trade-offs. - Continue the validation, development, and testing of new ceramic and polymer matrix composite materials in relevant service environments for propulsion and aerospace structures. - Continue the advancement and integration of a computational materials science modeling and analysis tool suite to accelerate the development, characterization, and ultimate certification of new advanced composite materials. - Continue the verification and validation of damage progression models on increasingly geometrically complex, integrated polymer matrix composite structures to support transition of required materials in weapon systems. - Complete the development and validation of newer testing and assessment methods on composite damage progression models for application in an engineering environment. - Continue the development and validation of advanced specialty and multifunctional materials for platform protection and weight reduction, to meet evolving mission requirements. - Accelerate the development and refinement of modeling and computation tools to link processing to performance of organic/polymer matrix composites and expand damage mechanics models to increasingly complex composite materials to certify for use in current and future systems.
Three years, and no five-year plan
An R-2A activity publishes the prior year, the current year and the budget year. The FYDP outyears exist at project and program-element level and are deliberately absent here rather than inferred. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure.
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 25.3 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 29.4 |
| FY2027 | Request | 26.1 |
This activity is 47% of project 624347's FY2027 request and 19% of PE 0602102F's. In the request year the activities under a project sum to it exactly; in the current year they under-cover it in about 9% of cases, so an activity's delta can legitimately exceed its parent's and the two must not be compared row to row.
4 activities in project 624347
Every R-2A line of this project, largest FY2027 request first. Linked where the activity has enough of its own narrative to carry a page; the rest are shown in full on the project page.