# Project CZ9 — Foundational Hypersonic Weapons Research

**Program element:** 0602141A — Lethality Technology  
**Project:** CZ9  
**Component:** U.S. Army  
**Appropriation:** 2040 — RDT&E, Army  
**Budget Activity:** 2 — Applied Research  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602141A/CZ9  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602141A

## Summary

Project CZ9 — Foundational Hypersonic Weapons Research requests $15.2M in FY2027, 6.5% of the $232.0M requested for program element 0602141A, up 35% on FY2026. 4 R-2A activities decompose the request, 1 new this cycle.

**Markets:** Hypersonic Strike — matched on the project title only, and no market size is quoted.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 10.7 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 11.2 |
| FY2027 | Request | 15.2 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 18.3 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 17.7 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 17.9 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 18.1 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 0602141A; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project CZ9 buys

This project investigates foundational problems associated with high-speed weapons and informs the future strategic fires echelon of Long-Range Precision Fires (LRPF) capabilities. This project funds the research of material science subjects such as extreme thermal loading and aero-thermodynamics and control technologies for high- speed vehicles which may encounter high mechanical loads at launch. Work in this project complements Program Element (PE) 0601102A (Defense Research Sciences) / Project AA7 (Mechanics and Ballistics) and PE 0602141A (Lethality Technology) / Project AH6 (Disruptive Energetics and Propulsion Technologies), Project AH7 (Lethal and Scalable Effects Technologies), and Project AH8 (Lethality Materials and Processes Technology), PE 0602144A (Ground Technology) / Project BL1 (Materials and Manufacturing Research Technology), and PE 0602145A (Next Generation Combat Vehicle) / Project BI4 (Materials Application and Integration Tech). Work in this project is performed by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and the United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command, Technical Center.

## Activities (R-2A) — 4

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundational Hypersonics | — | — | 10.8 | new | [a3](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602141A/CZ9/a3) |
| Foundational Hypersonic System Component | 2.0 | 1.9 | 4.4 | +136% | — |
| Foundational Hypersonic Weapon Materials | 6.3 | 6.3 | — | −100% | — |
| Foundational Hypersonic Weapons Flight and Control | 2.4 | 3.0 | — | −100% | — |

> Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. In the request year they partition this project exactly; in earlier years they can under-cover it.

### Foundational Hypersonics — NEW START

Will investigate processing methods for making robust materials suitable for high temperature environments; develop and validate optimization tools that enable performance improvements through novel processes; deepen understanding and identify relationships between materials processing methods and mechanical properties; advance current…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602141A/CZ9/a3

### Foundational Hypersonic System Component

**FY2027 planned work.** Will research and investigate novel methods and techniques to defeat hypersonic systems such as left of launch to intercept and non-kinetic defeat capabilities utilizing high power microwave attack. Develop threat representative target components, investigate susceptibility and survivability of hypersonic components when exposed to HPM in a hot plasma environment; research HPM weapon system requirements necessary for hypersonic defeat.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Funding increase reflects risk reduction of experiment evaluating high power microwave efficacy to defeat hypersonic missile threats. Current simulations and modeling lack high fidelity physics-based computations to accurately assess effects on threat system. Replication of hypersonic environment and system material properties are accountable for increased investment profile.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Will research and investigate novel methods and techniques to defeat hypersonic systems left of launch to intercept utilizing high power microwave attack. Will investigate susceptibility and survivability of hypersonic components when exposed to HPM in a cold plasma environment. Research HPM weapon system requirements necessary for hypersonic defeat.

**FY2025 accomplishments.** Funded research and investigated high power microwave (HPM) as a solution for hypersonic defeat. Investigated HPM effects on common electronic components and HPM attenuation in a hypersonic environment. Investigated different methods of HPM attack on hypersonics (ground-based system, airborne system, left of launch system, etc.).

### Foundational Hypersonic Weapon Materials

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Funding decrease reflects realignment to Foundational Hypersonics within this project.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Will validate near-net shape manufacturing optimization of multiple materials into a subcomponent with a leading edge; validate performance models of materials and manufacturing processes; validate technical maturity of high-temperature material components in relevant environments ; validate alloy and ceramic formulation, composite processing techniques, and modeling and experimental characterization of all material classes; investigate coatings on ceramics, metals, or composites to improve structural integrity when subjected to high thermal and mechanical loads; mature design optimization tools for complex, multi-material solutions for high-speed munitions.

**FY2025 accomplishments.** Investigate ultra-high temperature ceramic matrix composites for use as ablation-resistant, shape stable leading edges. Design and develop a matrix of composite chemistries and processing methods to infiltrate fiber pre-forms with ceramic material. Develop processing methods to produce coupons of novel alloys and execute high temperature characterization of optimized compositions. Investigate processing methods to join dissimilar materials such as composites to metal or composites to ceramic; examine functionally graded materials for use as window and dome materials; develop processing methods to fabricate layered structures and form them into curved structures.

### Foundational Hypersonic Weapons Flight and Control

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Funding decrease reflects realignment to Foundational Hypersonics within this project.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Will validate experimental techniques and high-fidelity computational tools to model complex flows such as shock-boundary layer interaction and boundary layer transition; mature simulation environments and investigate representative hypersonic weapons to understand performance drivers.

**FY2025 accomplishments.** Mature diagnostics for measuring hypersonic vehicle behaviors on free-flight ballistic ranges; investigates models coupling fluid-thermal-structural interactions with chemistry effects on hypersonic weapons; determines high-level control of hypersonic weapons to include dynamic path planning that considers adversarial response.

## What is NOT on this page

Congressional marks, the R-2 mission description and acquisition strategy, the industry vs government split of the whole request, and related program elements are recorded at **program-element** grain — an NDAA mark lands on a PE, never on a project. They are at https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602141A.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Army RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 0602141A project CZ9 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0602141A")`.

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