# Ground Technology — Program Element 0602144A

**Program element:** 0602144A  
**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/0602144A

## Summary

U.S. Army funding falls 66% to a $44.1M request in FY2027, sustained across the five-year plan. In the FY2027 defense authorization, the House added 5.7% (to $46.6M); the Senate added 68% (to $74.1M); House appropriators added 162% (to $115.7M).

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 135.4 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 130.8 |
| FY2027 | Request | 44.1 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 54.1 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 53.1 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 55.0 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 54.3 |

> Estimate types are not summed — the profile mixes actuals, enacted law, the request, and outyear projections.

## Congressional marks (FY2027)

| Stage | Marked ($M) | Change ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| Request | 44.1 | — |
| House NDAA (HASC) | 46.6 | +2.5 |
| Senate NDAA (SASC) | 74.1 | +30.0 |
| House Approps (HAC-D) | 115.7 | +71.6 |

> FY2027 NDAA authorization marks, as of 2026-07-27. Not appropriations or final law.

## Projects (12)

| Project | Title | FY2025 actual | FY2026 enacted | FY2027 request | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BL1 | Materials and Manufacturing Research Technology | 10.0 | 5.8 | 18.5 | +219% |
| BL7 | Power Projection in A2AD Environments Technology | 2.1 | 4.1 | 6.7 | +64% |
| BL5 | Expedient Passive Protection Technology | 2.7 | 4.2 | 6.1 | +46% |
| BL9 | Protection from Advanced Weapon Effects Technology | 5.0 | 4.8 | 5.2 | +10% |
| CV3 | Engineer Enablers Maneuver, LOG, & Sustainment Apl | 1.2 | 4.2 | 4.1 | −2% |
| DG1 | Development of Obscurants | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.5 | −6% |
| DA1 | SAFR Alternatives for Readiness Applied Research | 3.9 | 6.3 | 1.1 | −83% |
| BN8 | Ground Technology Materials(CA) | 91.3 | 74.5 | — | −100% |
| DI7 | Environmental Security Resilience Tech | 1.7 | 10.1 | — | −100% |
| CG7 | Ground Protection Concepts and Technologies | 8.3 | 9.9 | — | −100% |
| BK7 | Robotics for Engineer Operations Technology | 5.4 | 3.5 | — | −100% |
| BL2 | Explosives Forensics Technology | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | −100% |

> Projects are the summable leaves: the program element total is their sum, never added to it.

### Project BL1 — Materials and Manufacturing Research Technology

This project links materials research, manufacturing processes, and design to enable high quality additive manufacturing products for Army applications through the development of high-performance feedstock materials (polymers, metals, and ceramics), physics-based process models, and in-situ process monitoring. Integration of these tools with process models enables real-time control and manipulation of material structure and properties to produce three-dimensional hybrid electronics packaging, power and energy sources and converters and new materials/structures for protection. The goal of this work is to develop robust physics-based models to optimize material properties, structures, and manufacturing processes for Army applications in protection, maneuver, power, sensing, and signature management necessary to rapidly respond to emerging and unknown threats in a battlefield environment. This work is done in coordination with Program Element (PE) 0602145A (Next Generation Combat Vehicle Technology), 0602143A (Soldier Lethality Technology) and 0603118A (Soldier Lethality Advanced Technology). Work in this project is performed by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL)

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Additive Manufacturing Research | 3.3 | 1.8 | — |
| Energy Sources and Storage | 3.3 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| Novel Armor Materials and Processes for Vehicle Protection | 3.4 | 3.0 | — |
| Advanced Manufacturing Research for Supply Chain Resilience | — | — | 5.3 |
| Advanced Energy Storage Technologies for Safe, Effective Batteries in Operational Environments | — | — | 12.3 |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project BL7 — Power Projection in A2AD Environments Technology

This project designs and develops technologies to determine entry and maneuver corridors during all seasonal conditions including enhanced automated route reconnaissance technologies, ground vehicle mobility models, road capacity assessment technologies, and materiel solutions for enhancing maneuver and sustainment across air/land/sea domains. This research investigates and develops standoff robotic capabilities for Combat Engineers to reduce Soldier/Engineer risks and fatalities while conducting activities essential to shaping the environment to support movement and maneuver. This research will develop and validate threat detection capabilities against bio-engineered threats in the environment and investigate standoff threat detection capabilities enabling secure movement and maneuver. This project designs and develops material solutions to repair, rebuild and construct infrastructure required for movement and maneuver in highly contested, complex operational environments. Work in this PE complements PE 0603119A (Ground Advanced Technology) / Project BL8 (Power Projection in A2AD Environments Adv Tech). Work in this project supports the Army Science and Technology Ground Portfolio. Work in this project is performed by the United States Army Engineer Research and Development Center Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, and Environmental Laboratory.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Force Projection in Multi-Domain Operations | 2.1 | 3.6 | 2.5 |
| Maritime Contested Logistics | — | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| Advancing Threat Detection Capabilities in Mission Critical Environments | — | — | 1.6 |
| Machine Teaming for Engineer Operations | — | — | 1.0 |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project BL5 — Expedient Passive Protection Technology

This project designs and develops rapidly deployable passive protective solutions; methodologies for intuitive decision support; tactics, techniques, and procedures to increase the survivability of personnel, critical assets, and facilities from a range of threats; and an integrated suite of tunnel detection, subterranean monitoring solutions, and vulnerability assessment technologies to detect, identify, and monitor subterranean threat activities. Through experimental and computational investigation and design, this project develops force protection technologies for complex and contested environments. This project also develops expedient solutions and methodologies for decision support for protection against a range of threats, to include improvised, conventional, and emerging weapons such as ballistic missiles. Work in this project complements Program Element (PE) 0603119A (Ground Advanced Technology) / Project BL6 (Expedient Passive Protection Advanced Technology). Work in this project is performed by the United States (US) Army Engineer Research and Development Center Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deliberate Expedient Protection for Large-scale Operations Yielding Survivability (DEPLOYS) | 2.7 | 4.2 | 4.1 |
| Subterranean Detection and Monitoring Apl Tech | — | — | 2.0 |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project BL9 — Protection from Advanced Weapon Effects Technology

This project designs and develops structural hardening, high-performance computing capabilities, and force protection technologies to enhance survivability of personnel and critical assets. This project investigates and develops advanced materials for protection against blast, fragmentation, and penetration through physical experiments and modeling and simulation. Additionally, this project investigates, designs, and develops passive protection technologies and protective design criteria to mitigate attack from emerging advanced threats. Work in this Program Element (PE) complements PE 0603119A (Ground Advanced Technology) / Project BM1 (Protection from Advanced Weapon Effects Adv Tech). Work in this project is performed by the United States Army Engineer Research and Development Center Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Materials and Modeling for Force Protection | 1.6 | 1.6 | — |
| Protection from Advanced Penetrators | 3.4 | 3.2 | — |
| Multi-functional Materials for Protection | — | — | 1.5 |
| Protection from Emerging Weapons | — | — | 3.8 |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project CV3 — Engineer Enablers Maneuver, LOG, & Sustainment Apl

This effort designs and develops decision support capabilities coupled with materiel solutions to modernize distributed logistics resupply, gap crossing site selection, and protection of personnel and critical assets associated with gap crossing operations. The project determines the impacts of distributed operations on logistics and resupply routing and gap crossing site selection using complex algorithms accounting for terrain, hydrologic concerns, and dynamic environmental conditions. Physical protection countermeasures supplemented by passive, persistent sensing technologies will be investigated and validated in support of gap crossing operations and future engineer and sustainment operations. Work in this project complements Program Element (PE) 0603119A (Ground Advanced Technology) / Project CV5 (Engineer Enablers Maneuver, LOG, & Sustainment Adv). Work is performed at the United States Army Engineer Research and Development Center Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory, Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, Environmental Laboratory, Geotechnical Research Laboratory, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, and Information Technology Laboratory.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planning Logistics Analysis Network System Applied Research | 1.2 | 1.1 | — |
| Worldwide Gap Analysis Program Tech | — | 3.0 | 3.1 |
| Gap Crossing Survivability Tech | — | — | 1.0 |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project DG1 — Development of Obscurants

This project will investigate and evaluate obscurants (i.e., materials) and obscurant technologies that are designed to degrade threat force surveillance sensors and defeat the enemy's target acquisition devices, missile guidance, and directed energy weapons. This project investigates advanced, infra-red, and multi-spectral obscurant materials that will provide effective, safe, and efficient screening of deployed units and platforms. Work in this project compliments Program Element (PE) 0602144A (Ground Technology) / Project DG2 (Advanced Development of Obscurants). Work in this project is performed by the Chemical Biological Center (CBC).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obscuration Enabling Technologies | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.5 |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project DA1 — SAFR Alternatives for Readiness Applied Research

This project will develop safer alternative technologies that enable Army readiness, support supply chain resilience, improve Soldier and worker safety and reduce environmental impacts, including reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The project investigates alternatives for cross-cutting materials, undergoing or threatened by regulatory scrutiny, found in ground vehicles and all other types of Army weapon systems. Research areas of focus include alloys, ceramics, composites, textiles, maintenance fluids, propellants, explosives, and pyrotechnics. This work addresses increasing threats to readiness associated with carcinogenic, toxic, and restricted materials such as lead, beryllium, perchlorates, volatile organic compounds and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) (forever chemicals), which can diminish Soldier and community health, restrict training and interrupt critical maintenance activities. Future liabilities and risks are characterized early in the life cycle of material development to ensure truly sustainable alternatives. This project also investigates, develops and designs technologies to allow Soldiers to rapidly prioritize risk for PFAS to enable informed, timely and cost-effective solutions. This project complements and transitions technologies to Program Element (PE) 0603119A (Ground Advanced Technology) / Project DA2 (SAFR Alternatives for Readiness Advanced Tech). Work in this project is performed by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL); the Armaments Center (AC); the Aviation and Missile Center (AvMC); the Soldier Center (SC); the Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC); and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safer Alternatives for Readiness (SAFR) Applied Research | 3.9 | 4.8 | 1.1 |
| Corrosion Control App Research | — | 1.5 | — |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project BN8 — Ground Technology Materials(CA)

Congressional Interest Item funding provided for Ground Technology Materials.

### Project DI7 — Environmental Security Resilience Tech

This project matures and demonstrates capabilities to support Army Environmental Security, providing decisions and support tools for critical mission environments to address natural resource impediments, man-made stressors, extreme weather, and environmental engineering challenges that impact mission, infrastructure, training activities, deployment staging or present security concerns to operations. Project capabilities span the functional domains of strategic support area management, emergency preparedness, surge capacity, environmental impact on operations, and analysis of future operational environment and environmental threats. This effort will provide new material solutions, models and decision support tools for operational planning and infrastructure management. Work in this project complements PE 0603119A, Project DI8 (Environmental Security Resilience Adv Tech). Work in this project is performed by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center Environmental Laboratory, Construction Research Engineering Laboratory, and the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atmospheric Impacts for Lethality Overmatch | 1.6 | 3.0 | — |
| Interagency Council for the Advancement of Meteorological Services Program | 0.2 | 0.1 | — |
| Building Installation Resilience Carbon Sequestration and Reduction | — | 0.4 | — |
| PFAS Risk Reduction Applied Research | — | 1.0 | — |
| Securing Water Resources | — | 1.1 | — |
| Biotech Threat In the Environment | — | 1.3 | — |
| Ruggedized Unexploded Ordnance Ultra Light Electro-magnetic Array for Extreme Environments Tech | — | 0.9 | — |
| Environmental Security Applied Research | — | 2.2 | — |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project CG7 — Ground Protection Concepts and Technologies

This project investigates advanced materials and mechanisms to defeat the most common and most dangerous threats that are expected to be encountered by our ground forces in near-, mid-, and far-term. This project also designs and develops experimental and computational tools and techniques (high resolution instrumentation to observe impact events, theories, and algorithms to explain these phenomena and numerical implementation of these algorithms) for the development of mass-efficient armor mechanisms. This project designs and develops armor mechanisms that will be integrated to create multi-threat armor technologies and form the building blocks for Adaptive and Cooperative Protection Technologies in the Advanced Concepts for Active Defense Project (Program Element (PE) 0602145A Next Generation Combat Vehicle Technology). Additionally, research will focus on subcomponent/component models to predict performance of early concepts and the means to assess effectiveness on ground platforms. The project will balance designs and developments of active threat defeat measures with the necessary advanced passive and reactive components that will ultimately provide for full system solutions which meet the requirements of current and next generation ground tactical and combat vehicles. This project is coordinated with and transitions to Projects in PE 0603462A (Next Generation Combat Vehicle Advanced Technology), PE 0602145A (Next Generation Combat Vehicle Technology), and builds upon weapon target interaction research in PE 0601102A (Defense Research Sciences) / Project AA7 (Mechanics and Ballistics). Work in this project is performed by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Armor and Protection Technologies | 3.1 | 4.5 | — |
| Computational and Experimental Capability | 5.2 | 5.4 | — |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project BK7 — Robotics for Engineer Operations Technology

This research investigates and develops standoff robotic capabilities to reduce Soldier/Combat Engineer risks and fatalities while conducting activities essential to shaping the environment. It will close the gaps between commercial construction equipment and the requirements of the future Engineer Force to support maneuver, movement, and sustainment. This research will develop the capability to generate a near real-time site model with appropriate engineering details to allow unmanned system shaping of the environment through physical interaction (e.g., push, pull, lift, or dig). This effort will also develop the requisite mission planner and task execution controller that accepts input from the user and provides suggestions and feedback based on updates to the site model, reporting from hardware agents, and resource allocation logic. The end state goal is the development of beyond line of sight teleoperation and semiautonomous capabilities allowing Engineer robotic support to match pace in future combat environments. This effort will support the development, testing, and evaluation of prototypical robotic Combat Engineer equipment. This project develops modeling and simulation tools that represent realistic states for Engineer robotic operations and develops and assesses semi-autonomous and autonomous construction equipment technologies needed for remote control Engineer operations. Work in this project complements Program Element (PE) 0603119A (Ground Advanced Technology) / Project BK8 (Robotics for Engineer Operations Advanced Technology). Work in this project is coordinated with Program Element (PE) 0603462A (Next Generation Combat Vehicle Advanced Technology). Work in this project is performed by the United States Army Engineer Research and Development Center Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, Information Technology Laboratory, and Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semi-Autonomous Engineer Operations | 5.4 | 3.5 | — |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project BL2 — Explosives Forensics Technology

This project investigates and develops sensor technology for the trace detection of military explosives, homemade explosives (HME), and solid chemical hazards found on contaminated surfaces. This project pursues research in signatures and algorithms required to provide improved trace analysis of chemical hazards to enable integration and augmentation into chemical and explosive detection equipment for the warfighter. Work in this project compliments Program Element (PE) 0603119A (Ground Advanced Technology) / Project BL3 (Explosives Forensics Advanced Technology). Work in this project is performed by the Chemical Biological Center (CBC).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forensic Analysis of Explosives Signatures Applied Research | 1.0 | 1.0 | — |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

## Mission & acquisition strategy

This PE executes research that support and enable the Army's modernization priority for the Next Generation of Combat Vehicles including systems for the deployment and sustainment of ground movement and maneuver. This PE designs and validates technologies that are necessary and foundational for enduring and future ground movement, maneuver and protection of Soldiers and systems. The cited work is consistent with the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering priority focus areas.

## Related program elements

- [0602787A — Medical Technology](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602787A) (Army)
- [0603119A — Ground Advanced Technology](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603119A) (Army)
- [1203164SF — Military Global Positioning System USER EQUIP](https://hitchintel.com/programs/1203164SF) (Space Force)
- [0207444F — Tactical Air Control Party-Mod](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0207444F) (Air Force)

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Army RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-3, PE 0602144A (PB PB2027); FY2027 NDAA committee marks (as of 2026-07-27).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0602144A")`.

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