# Project AF8 — Affordable Extended Range Precision Technology

**Program element:** 0602147A — Long Range Precision Fires Technology  
**Project:** AF8  
**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/0602147A/AF8  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602147A

## Summary

Project AF8 — Affordable Extended Range Precision Technology requests $12.6M in FY2027, 52% of the $24.1M requested for program element 0602147A, up 42% on FY2026. 2 R-2A activities decompose the request.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 9.0 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 8.9 |
| FY2027 | Request | 12.6 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 12.8 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 8.8 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 11.9 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 12.2 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 0602147A; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project AF8 buys

This project directly supports Precision Fires capabilities by investigating the design and fabrication of components and subsystems critical to produce affordable extended range precision missiles as well as critical component technologies including advanced propulsion, seekers/sensors, fire control, datalink, guidance, navigation and controls, airframes, survivability techniques and technologies, and additional high payoff areas. Work in this project complements Program Element (PE) 0602147A (Long Range Precision Fires Technology) / AF1 (Long Range Maneuverable Fires (LRMF) Technology) / AF3 (Extended Range Propulsion Tech) and PE 0603464A (Long Range Precision Fires Advanced Technology) / AF2 (Long Range Maneuverable Fires (LRMF) Advanced Tech); and PE 0603464A (Long Range Precision Fires Advanced Technology) / BY2 (Advanced Hypersonic Technology) Work in this project is performed by the Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC).

## Activities (R-2A) — 2

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LRPF High Payoff Missile Technology | 9.0 | 8.4 | 8.7 | +4% | — |
| Advanced Fires Concepts Tech | — | 0.5 | 3.9 | +696% | — |

> 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.

### LRPF High Payoff Missile Technology

**FY2027 planned work.** Will develop simulation capability for trajectory optimization and improved munition survivability; develop methods for inertial sensing and sensor fusion for improved navigation; develop lethality models for Army tactical and precision strike munitions; Investigate and develop novel high temperature and lower-cost materials for missile applications

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Funding increase is an economic adjustment.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Will conduct experiments to validate the use of advanced materials to increase the energy density of batteries; develop technologies to maintain munition accuracy in GPS denied environments; continue experiment to mature and validate advanced component propulsion technologies to extend range, improve survivability, and maintain form factor; mature component datalink technology for deep targeting in Anti-Access / Area Denial (A2/AD) environments; investigate advanced, reduced space and weight, seeker and warhead technologies to defeat future threats.

**FY2025 accomplishments.** Will continue to research missile battery size, weight, power, and cost upgrades over existing off the shelf components; conduct experiment of a fully integrated software defined receiver for alternative navigation to allow operation in GPS degraded and denied environments; conduct experiments to mature and validate solid thermodynamic latent propulsion technology for potential to enable throttling of solid rocket propellants, enhancing system capabilities and survivability; continue investigations into high energy propellants utilizing novel ingredients and formulations; conduct proof of principle experiment for a reachback datalink to support employment of on-board missile sensors for deep fires targeting; continue investigating survivability and effector technologies for long range fires.

### Advanced Fires Concepts Tech

**FY2027 planned work.** Will develop and review concept and component technical requirements for advanced fires concepts; integrate novel survivability technologies and techniques into the modeling and simulation environment; refine identified leading methods and technology for optimized performance in current missile systems

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Funding increase reflects additional modeling and simulation research.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Will conduct feasibility studies of integrating advanced survivability concepts within Army missile architecture; investigate advanced technologies, and techniques for technology insertion in existing and future Army missile systems to include advanced materials, algorithms, and sensors to maximize survivability on the future battlefield; and perform survivability studies to quantify the improvements of each advanced concept to identify leading methods and technology for future implementation.

## 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/0602147A.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Army RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 0602147A project AF8 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0602147A")`.

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