Ground Technology

Assess printed fragmenting munition casing of novel metal alloys for active protection and explore improved conversion of casing-to-fragmentation to increase lethality; develop advanced manufacturing feedstock alloys and explore recycled feedstocks for advanced manufacturing; investigate controlled warhead fragmentation methods and…

Will research highly efficient catalysts for solid oxide fuel cells stable against sulfur contaminants.

Continue work restructured from PE 0602145A, Project BI4 Materials Application and Integration Tech, to develop lightweight, low cost, damage resistant transparent armor glass/polymer laminates with optical transmissivity at wavelengths suitable for personnel and sensor protection; assess transparent armor material processing…

Will design and develop advanced manufacturing methodologies, including additive manufacturing and novel feedstock development to support on-demand, novel manufacturing and enhancing a resilient supply chain; design and develop advanced manufacturing science for high throughput and complex geometries; design and develop lightweight…

Will assess performance of standardized cylindrical energy storage cells produced with industry partner at extreme low temperature (-20 deg C to -60 deg C) as well as effects on ambient and elevated temperatures (up to 60 deg C) performance and stability; explore integration of low temperature capable cells into experimental battery…

FY2027 planned work Will develop scaled designs of materials for maneuver across irregular terrain; will investigate techniques for preparing terrain for over the shore operations; will explore data sources for decision aids related to engineering requirements for beach assault locations.

FY2026 to FY2027 change Funding decrease reflects completion of scaled designs of materials for marsh soil site stabilization and algorithms for vehicle mobility predictions in littoral regions.

FY2026 plans — current year Will investigate lightweight fill alternatives and develop scaled designs of materials for marsh soil site stabilization for military vehicle mobility; will develop algorithms for vehicle mobility predictions in littoral regions. Will validate approaches for remote soil classification.

FY2025 accomplishments Conducted site investigations in multiple littoral environments and determine vehicle mobility performance limitations; will develop scaled designs of site stabilization material or loose sand soils; will complete laboratory testing of geotextile materials (strong permeable fabrics used in construction and soil stabilization) available for fabrication.

FY2027 planned work Will mature sensor data feeds and processing algorithms and conduct site investigations to provide ground-truth data for model validation; will investigate technologies for forecasting impacts to navigation from environmental factors; will develop algorithms for detection of hazards to navigation.

FY2026 to FY2027 change Funding increase reflects planned addition of workflows to mature sensor data feeds and algorithms validated through ground-truth data, investigate impacts to navigation from environmental factors, and develop algorithms for detection of navigation hazards.

FY2026 plans — current year Will investigate data feeds and sensor processing algorithms for characterizing contested near-shore bathymetry conditions for modeling operational environments to enable military landing operations in littoral regions.

FY2027 planned work Will develop initial algorithm parameters designed to identify multisource hazards utilizing Commercial Off-The-Shelf Technology (COTs) based systems.

FY2026 to FY2027 change FY 2027 funding increase develops initial algorithm parameters designed to identify multisource hazards. This effort was consolidated from Program Element 0602144A (Ground Technology) / Project DI7 (Environmental Security Resilience Tech) to combine power projection capabilities into a project.

FY2027 planned work Will initiate development of machine-learning based capabilities for select pieces of Engineer equipment to self-coordinate and accomplish a collective task.

FY2026 to FY2027 change FY 2027 funding increase is due to the initiation of this effort to develop machine-learning based capabilities for select pieces of Engineer equipment to self-coordinate and accomplish a collective task. This effort was consolidated from Program Element 0602144A (Ground Technology) / Project BK7 (Robotics for Engineer Operations Technology) to combine force projection capabilities into a project. This will generate efficiencies within the project and enable flexibility as mission needs change.

FY2027 planned work Will conduct experiments to assess and refine expeditionary passive protection design concepts for logistic supply locations and enhance survivability assessment methodologies for critical sites, functions and personnel, accounting for various attack scenarios.

FY2026 to FY2027 change Funding decrease reflects completion of initial expedient concepts for protection of key assets and the survivability assessment methodologies for critical sites, functions, and personnel.

FY2026 plans — current year Will develop initial expedient concepts to rapidly increase the level of protection of key assets from weapons effects. Will develop survivability assessment methodologies for critical sites, functions, and personnel, accounting for various attack scenarios and the interdependencies of components, assets, systems, and systems of systems.

FY2025 accomplishments Investigated the protection requirements for logistic supply locations associated with large-scale combat operations and methodologies to rapidly predict the survivability of key assets from weapons effects. Investigated novel multi-material protection solutions to increase survivability from shaped charges. Investigated the feasibility of an expeditionary overhead cover solution to protect against runway penetrators.

FY2027 planned work Conduct initial experiments to investigate geographical areas of interest utilizing several geophysical sensing modalities to gain a performance baseline. Down select the highest performing modalities for further validation.

FY2026 to FY2027 change FY 2027 funding increase develops and validates tunnel detection, perimeter security, and geohazard detection systems for application in near-shore areas common to INDOPACOM. This effort was consolidated from Program Element 0602182A (C3I Applied Research) / Project CX6 (Subterranean Detection and Monitoring Apl Tech) to combine passive protection capabilities into a project.

FY2026 to FY2027 change Funding decrease reflects conclusion of this effort.

FY2026 plans — current year Will complete validation of materials-by-design tools as well as constitutive models, model parameters, force protection materials, and manufacturing approaches for transition to system-level demonstrations and stakeholder design and analysis tools.

FY2025 accomplishments Matured component-level materials-by-design tools to further advance materials and manufacturing approaches. Focused on materials inspired by geological systems (e.g., rock, clay, granular materials) for structural hardening as well as lightweight and small form factor materials for force protection requirements.

FY2026 to FY2027 change Funding decrease reflects conclusion of this effort.

FY2026 plans — current year Will develop subscale concepts to protect against advanced penetrators. Will conduct experiments on subscale protective concepts to validate M&S tools for increased impact velocities and detonations of explosive charges embedded in advanced penetrating weapons.

FY2025 accomplishments Developed and validate efficient modeling and simulation (M&S) tools to support planning, designing, constructing, and maintaining hardened protective structures to mitigate the weapons effects of advanced penetrators of peer and near peer adversaries. Enhanced the M&S tools for high fidelity analyses and damage prediction of hardened protective structures from increased velocity advanced penetrators.

FY2027 planned work Will develop and refine material constitutive models and algorithms for computational tools to enhance protective material performance under dynamic loading conditions and kinetic effects.

FY2026 to FY2027 change FY 2027 funding increase due to initiation of effort. Effort will develop and refine material constitutive models and algorithms for computational tools to enhance protective material performance.

FY2027 planned work Will investigate material solutions and structural components for use in hardened protective structures to mitigate weapons effects and to influence the behavior and resulting response of an emerging threat weapon.

FY2026 to FY2027 change FY 2027 funding increase due to initiation of effort. Effort will investigate material solutions and structural components for use in hardened protective structures to mitigate weapons effects.

FY2026 to FY2027 change Funding decrease reflects planned milestones and conclusion of this effort.

FY2026 plans — current year Will investigate inclusion of road degradation and validate multi-modal, multi-route algorithms for distributed logistics planning operations across a transportation network by conducting multiple experiments. Will mature components of the road routing algorithms. Will complete development of knowledge products documenting riverine and rail routing algorithms.

FY2025 accomplishments Matured components of routing algorithms for distributed logistics planning for multiple transportation modalities (i.e., road, watercraft, train) incorporating unique elements associated with military convoy traffic, weather impacts, and intermodal transfer.

FY2027 planned work Will design and develop algorithms for gap crossing components for individual modules including mobility corridor development, streamflow characterization, and site preparation within the gap crossing site selection decision support capability; Will design and develop decision logic criteria to down select between crossing sites based on crossing type; will begin incorporation of dynamic data information for hydrology considerations.

FY2026 to FY2027 change Funding increase reflects economic adjustments.

FY2026 plans — current year Will investigate needed inputs and data variables across multiple fields of expertise necessary to select gap crossing sites; will design and develop a framework for combining critical, near real-time data with historical datasets for gap crossing analysis.

FY2027 planned work Will investigate algorithms and methodologies for protection and deception countermeasures for personnel and critical assets associated with gap crossing operations. Will analyze current doctrine and operational approaches for incorporation into future decision criteria.

FY2026 to FY2027 change FY 2027 funding increase is due to initiation of the task to address gaps in existing protection and deception measures for Army gap crossing operations.

FY2027 planned work Will research multispectral obscuration materials and dissemination methodologies?and??down?select multispectral obscuration material.??Begin integrating into safe and effect dissemination technology through the Screening Obscuration Module

FY2026 to FY2027 change Funding decrease reflects reduced number of materials and dissemination methodologies considered for down-select.

FY2026 plans — current year Will continue investigation of millimeter wave obscurant materials and dissemination methodologies. Will investigate obscurant material into safe and effective dissemination technology through the Screening and Obscuration Module.

FY2025 accomplishments Will research millimeter wave obscurant materials and dissemination methodologies. Will integrate obscurant material into safe and effective dissemination technology through the Screening and Obscuration Module.

FY2027 planned work Will develop novel plasticizers for energetic materials to enable lead-free rocket propellants; evaluate corrosion performance of conventional materials as well as additively manufactured substrates.

FY2026 to FY2027 change Funding decrease reflects termination in durable water repellant and/or oil repellant coatings for textiles efforts.

FY2026 plans — current year Will investigate durable water repellant and/or oil repellant coatings for textiles; develop novel plasticizers for energetic materials to enable lead-free rocket propellants; and research PFAS-free fluids and barrier membranes for energetic formulations.

FY2025 accomplishments investigate PFAS-free engineering fluids for energetics formulation; research reduced solvent energetic primer coating formulations; and optimize lead-free energetic primers and initiators.

FY2026 to FY2027 change Funding decrease reflects termination in corrosion control and prevention initiatives.

FY2026 plans — current year Will research processes for accelerated corrosion testing methods for lifecycle prediction of coating systems; determine the most effective corrosion protection methods for a variety of base materials, both ferrous and non-ferrous; conduct experiments on the mechanics of coating failure; and evaluate corrosion performance of conventional materials as well as additively manufactured substrates.