# Soldier Applied Research — Program Element 0602184A

**Program element:** 0602184A  
**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/0602184A

## Summary

U.S. Army funding falls 91% to a $2.4M request in FY2027 (down from a FY2026 peak), sustained across the five-year plan. In the FY2027 defense authorization, the House funded it in full; the Senate funded it in full; House appropriators funded it in full.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 13.7 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 27.6 |
| FY2027 | Request | 2.4 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 2.5 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 2.5 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 2.6 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 2.6 |

> 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 | 2.4 | — |
| House NDAA (HASC) | 2.4 | +0.0 |
| Senate NDAA (SASC) | 2.4 | +0.0 |
| House Approps (HAC-D) | 2.4 | +0.0 |

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

## Projects (7)

| Project | Title | FY2025 actual | FY2026 enacted | FY2027 request | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CK9 | Advancing Concepts and Technology Forecasting Tech | 2.6 | 3.0 | 2.4 | −20% |
| DN2 | Joint Service Small Arms Enabling Tech | — | 7.7 | — | −100% |
| CW9 | Syn Bio for Reactive-Resp Matls-Soldiers & Sys | 3.6 | 6.0 | — | −100% |
| CN2 | Intelligent Weapons Concepts and Technologies | 4.4 | 4.5 | — | −100% |
| CV9 | Technical-SAVVY Soldier Applied Research | 3.1 | 3.7 | — | −100% |
| DO1 | Modernized Composites & Manufacturing | — | 2.0 | — | −100% |
| DN1 | Directed Energy Biological Effects | — | 0.7 | — | −100% |

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

### Project CK9 — Advancing Concepts and Technology Forecasting Tech

This project works across the Army Futures Command Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM), with the Futures & Concepts Center (FCC), and the Directorate of Intelligence and Security to explore current and future emerging and disruptive applied scientific research to translate, integrate, and ingrain applied research outcomes with the Army. Warfighting Concepts to describe how the Army will fight in the mid and far-term future while the Future Operational Environment contextualizes projected applied research outcomes in the deep future. Applied research outcomes describe the projected future operational effects of science in the context of Army concepts and probable operational capabilities to mitigate risk for future Army capabilities and enable informed decision making across the Army Modernization Enterprise. This project ensures Army Concepts and experimentation are grounded by recent and anticipated advances in applied scientific research, Army applied research is capability use-inspired to deliver the right future capability identified in the Army Concepts, and learning opportunities are created to advance Army Concepts and operationalize science for transformational overmatch. This project also performs long-range technology forecasts and trend analysis, informed by the threat and the predicted future state of technology, of Army-relevant applied research topics to enable informed decision making for the near-, mid-, and far-terms. Research in this project is performed by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advancing Concepts and Technology Forecasting | 2.6 | 2.4 | 2.4 |
| Experimentation and Soldier Engagement | — | 0.6 | — |

> 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 DN2 — Joint Service Small Arms Enabling Tech

This Project investigates individual and crew-served armament component design (weapon, munition, and fire control) and technologies that enable increased lethality and survivability of the dismounted Warfighter across all the Joint Services. This Project investigates and designs engineering solutions to reduce the blast overpressure field for the M3 Carl Gustaf. Work in this Project complements Program Element (PE) 0603044A (Soldier Advanced Technology) / Project DN4 (Joint Service Small Arms Adv Tech). The cited work is consistent with the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering priority focus areas and the Army modernization strategy. Work in this Project is completed by the Armaments Center (AC).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joint Small Arms Research (JSAR) | — | 7.7 | — |

> 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 CW9 — Syn Bio for Reactive-Resp Matls-Soldiers & Sys

This project designs and investigates materials through the application of biotechnology and synthetic biology advances to develop material capabilities that respond and/or can adapt to a wide range of external stimuli and biological processes. Research into innovative materials that are capable of sensing, responding, and adapting to a broad spectrum of environmental variables will be conducted. This project will explore new biology-based methods for controlled synthesis and assembly to create multi-functional materials and advanced composites as well as develop materials that are able to self-monitor, self-heal, and self-sustain. This project also focuses on developing models, materials characterization techniques, non-destructive testing methods, and advanced fabrication and processing methodologies as well as the identification of unique material properties. Research in this project is performed by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biological Bio-Composite Materials and Processes | 3.6 | 2.3 | — |
| Bio-Reactive Surfaces and Adaptive Protection Technology | — | 3.7 | — |

> 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 CN2 — Intelligent Weapons Concepts and Technologies

This project focuses on far-term, overarching lethality technologies by investigating techniques for Soldiers to guide the in-field adaptation of intelligent small arms technologies to respond to changing mission requirements, novel environments, and adversarial actions. Research areas include cognition-centric displays to ensure Soldiers maintain appropriate situational awareness in augmented reality (AR) environments, opportunistic shooter sensing, and interactive machine learning techniques to ensure small arms technologies can adapt to changing situations quickly and with reduced data requirements as compared to non-human guided machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The results of this project will enhance operational performance of individuals and teams of Soldiers in the future operational environment through novel weapon and human-agent interaction technologies. Work in this project is performed by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distributed Information for Enhanced Squad Lethality | 4.4 | 4.5 | — |

> 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 CV9 — Technical-SAVVY Soldier Applied Research

This project conducts applied research to achieve a technologically fluent force. This research will develop models of technological fluency (TF) (TF Modeling), methods and measures to assess and develop the technological fluency of Soldiers across a career (TF Personnel Assessments), and technologies to maximize technological fluency resilience and performance in Soldiers and units (Maximizing TF). TF is defined as the ability of Soldiers and units to use and rapidly adapt new and intelligent technologies without formal training on these technologies, and it will be a decisive factor in a future operating environment in which Soldiers and squads are teamed with increasingly sophisticated and evolving technologies. Soldiers and leaders in specialty areas (e.g., Cyber and Emerging Tech) and General Purpose Forces will require increased technological aptitudes and skills to adapt emerging technologies to evolving mission sets and avoid being overmatched by Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled "smart" technologies. This project supports key Army needs and will coordinate with and/or leverage findings of several Program Elements (PEs) to include PE 0602785A (Manpower, Personnel and Training Technology), 0602143A (Soldier Lethality Technology), and 0602145A (Next Generation Combat Vehicle Technology). Work in this project is performed by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and the U.S. Army Research Institute (ARI) for Behavioral and Social Sciences.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soldier Technical Enhancement Applied Research - ARL | 1.8 | 2.3 | — |
| Soldier Technical Enhancement Applied Research - ARI | 1.3 | 1.4 | — |

> 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 DO1 — Modernized Composites & Manufacturing

This project investigates manufacturing sciences and advanced automation through additive, subtractive, and digital manufacturing sciences of novel composite materials for use in both existing and future DoW-wide systems. This project develops novel composite materials to deliver advanced structural materials with improved durability, functionality and performance, to support broad applications across the future operational environment and DoW. Focus will be on properties required for understanding operation in contested environments. The project will use unique contract and collaborative approaches to accelerate transitions into and from university programs. Work in this project complements PE 0603044A (Soldier Advanced Technology) / Project DO2 (Modernized Composites & Manufacturing Adv Dev). The cited work is consistent with the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering Advanced Materials Critical Technology Area and the Army Modernization Strategy. Work in this project is performed by DEVCOM Soldier Center.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Institute for Advanced Composites Engineering - Applied Research | — | 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 DN1 — Directed Energy Biological Effects

This Project is a multi-disciplinary effort to investigate, determine characterize, mitigate, and validate emerging anti-personnel energy field threats. This Project designs and develops sensors, sources, and instrumentation to understand the molecular to organismal level of energy field impacts that produce neurocognitive and motor deficits. This effort will also investigate vulnerabilities and exploitable biophysical mechanisms which can be used to design, construct, and characterize tunable sources for laboratory use and future transition. Work in this Project complements PE 0601102A (Defense Research Sciences) / Project AA5 (Biotechnology and Systems Biology). The cited research is consistent with Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering Science and Technology priority focus areas and the Army modernization strategy. Work in this Project is performed by Army Research Laboratory (ARL).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Directed Energy Bio Effects | — | 0.7 | — |

> 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 investigates, designs, and performs research focused on technologies necessary for capability enhancements for the Soldier and Squad over the long-term well beyond those technologies planned within the Soldier Lethality Cross- Functional Team. Applied research projects investigate nascent and enduring science and technology areas that are applicable to the individual Soldier and Squads of Soldiers needs with emphasis on maximizing Soldier and Squad performance, lethality, mobility and survivability. This PE also designs and validates technologies that are necessary and foundational for future capabilities with far-reaching impact on mission success.

## Related program elements

- [0605220N — Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC)](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605220N) (Navy)
- [0603044A — Soldier Advanced Technology](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603044A) (Army)
- [0602213A — C3I Applied Cyber](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602213A) (Army)
- [0603788F — Battlespace Knowledge Development and Demonstration](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603788F) (Air Force)

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Army RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-3, PE 0602184A (PB PB2027); FY2027 NDAA committee marks (as of 2026-07-27).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0602184A")`.

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