What the FY2027 request buys
Verbatim from the R-2A exhibit for project 0000 of PE 0602123N. 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.
AERODYNAMICS Continue: - Advanced computational methods for fully coupled aerodynamic interface between ships and aircraft - Reduced-order modeling of complex flow fields enabling real-time, high-fidelity simulations of ship-based aircraft operations - Flow field manipulation and control for air vehicles in maritime environments - In situ diagnostics for ship airwake dynamics coupled to ship motions and environmental flow fields - Advanced weapons aerodynamics for increased range and maneuverability - Compact, highly-integrated inlets for air-breathing weapons - Aerodynamics of novel configurations including multi-rotor systems and operational environments - Revolutionary launch & recovery approaches for unmanned aerial systems FLIGHT DYNAMICS AND CONTROL Continue: - Experimental validation of fluidic effector control forces with free-body dynamics in extreme maneuvers - Validation of human/machine coupling mechanisms and physiological event signatures in flight - Multibody control systems with guaranteed performance relative to desired end states - Robust control in turbulent flow fields for ship-based operations - Control effectors enabling VTOL utility with fixed-wing efficiency - Control system interactions between piloted aircraft and human performance - Unconventional UAS plant models and controls for sea-based flight operations - Optimal trajectory planning algorithms for embedded applications POWER AND PROPULSION Continue: - Resin Transfer Molding for High Temperature Polyimide Composites - Cooling and thermal management for engines and auxiliary systems - Diagnostics, prognostics and control for Integrated Power, Propulsion and Thermal Management - Highly integrated propulsion inlets and exhausts - Sand, Salt and Dust Ingestion research including modeling, separation, deposition, coatings, and sensing - Next Generation Propulsion Enablers: advanced modeling, rotating detonation, casing treatments, high temperature materials, compression technologies, engine robustness in austere environments - Highly loaded efficient turbomachinery with improved operability - Advanced materials and coatings for austere environments - Hybrid propulsion for small to mid-size VTOL capable UAS - Research on Casing Treatments for fans and compressors Complete: - Understanding ice-adhesion origins for rational icephobic coating design - High Speed Inlet Bleed Research Initiate: - Integration of Rotating Detonation Combustors with gas turbine components - Advanced heat dissipation technologies - Lightweight compressor materials and protective turbine coatings - Compact, reliable engine materials for Naval UAV applications - Compact inlets with flow control and distortion reduction SCIENCE OF AUTONOMY Continue: - High confidence/safe autonomous single and multi-vehicle control in naval environments and human interaction with advanced autonomy for decentralized heterogeneous naval systems and interactive machine learning - Theory-based methods for rapid, safe adoption of autonomy capabilities including Verification and Validation, safety, risk management, human systems integration, and robustness in complex naval, adversarial environments - Safe perception-based autonomous control in complex naval environments with limited communications and autonomy supporting combined unmanned and manned air systems/units
The funding decrease from FY2026 to FY2027 is due to completion of multiple efforts across Aircraft Technology programs including Aerodynamics, Flight Dynamics & Controls, Power & Propulsion, and Structures & Materials.
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.
AERODYNAMICS Continue: - Advanced computational methods for fully coupled aerodynamic interface between ships and aircraft - Reduced-order modeling of complex flow fields enabling real-time, high-fidelity simulations of ship-based aircraft operations - Flow field manipulation and control for air vehicles in maritime environments - In situ diagnostics for ship airwake dynamics coupled to ship motions and environmental flow fields - Advanced weapons aerodynamics for increased range and maneuverability - Compact, highly-integrated inlets for air-breathing weapons - Aerodynamics of novel configurations including multi-rotor systems and operational environments - Revolutionary launch & recovery approaches for unmanned aerial systems FLIGHT DYNAMICS AND CONTROL Initiate: - Unconventional UAS plant models and controls for sea-based flight operations - Optimal trajectory planning algorithms for embedded applications Continue: - Experimental validation of fluidic effector control forces with free-body dynamics in extreme maneuvers - Validation of human/machine coupling mechanisms and physiological event signatures in flight - Multibody control systems with guaranteed performance relative to desired end states - Robust control in turbulent flow fields for ship-based operations - Control effectors enabling VTOL utility with fixed-wing efficiency - Control system interactions between piloted aircraft and human performance Complete: - Algorithms and sensors to enable precise ship-relative navigation in GPS-denied environments POWER AND PROPULSION Initiate: - Research on Casing Treatments for fans and compressors - High Speed Inlet Bleed Research - Understanding ice-adhesion origins for rational icephobic coating design Continue: - Resin Transfer Molding for High Temperature Polyimide Composites - Cooling and thermal management for engines and auxiliary systems - Diagnostics, prognostics and control for Integrated Power, Propulsion and Thermal Management - Highly integrated propulsion inlets and exhausts - Sand, Salt and Dust Ingestion research including modeling, separation, deposition, coatings, and sensing - Next Generation Propulsion Enablers: advanced modeling, rotating detonation, casing treatments, high temperature materials, compression technologies, engine robustness in austere environments - Highly loaded efficient turbomachinery with improved operability - Advanced materials and coatings for austere environments - Hybrid propulsion for small to mid-size VTOL capable UAS Complete: - High-Bandwidth Aeromechanical Identification Methodology (AIM) Technology for Military Turbomachinery - EMI mitigation for future electric generators - New Suite of Insulations for High Power Density Electrical Generators - Multifunctional Erosion Resistant, Icephobic, and Salt-Phobic Coating System for Inlet Applications - Development and Validation of a Fluidic Sweep Diverter SCIENCE OF AUTONOMY Continue: - High confidence/safe autonomous single and multi-vehicle control in naval environments and human interaction with advanced autonomy for decentralized heterogeneous naval systems and interactive machine learning - Theory-based methods for rapid, safe adoption of autonomy capabilities including Verification and Validation, safety, risk management, human systems integration, and robustness in complex naval, adversarial environments - Safe perception-based autonomous control in complex naval environments with limited communications and autonomy supporting combined unmanned and manned air systems/units
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 | 26.1 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 31.5 |
| FY2027 | Request | 30.2 |
This activity is 24% of project 0000's FY2027 request and 22% of PE 0602123N'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.
5 activities in project 0000
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.