# Power and Thermal Systems Technology Development

**R-2A activity** of project 622403 — Flight Controls and Pilot-Vehicle Interface  
**Program element:** 0602203F — Aerospace Systems Technologies  
**Component:** U.S. Air Force · **Budget Activity:** 2  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602203F/622403/a4  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602203F/622403

## Summary

This activity requests $26.4M in FY2027, 39% of project 622403, down 24% on FY2026. The R-2A exhibit describes it across FY2026–FY2027, including what the FY2027 money is planned to buy.

## What the FY2027 request buys

**FY2027 planned work.** Complete development of advanced power and thermal capabilities. Activities include: -Thermal architecture trade studies and analysis toolset development Continue the development of power, thermal management and controls technologies for modular electrified aircraft. Activities include -Component maturation and systems analysis for power generation, electrical distribution, and thermal architectures Commence the development of power generation and thermal management for high-speed systems. Activities include: -Laboratory demonstrations and model verification of super-critical CO2 thermal and power cycles, evaluation of supercritical fuels and analysis of waste heat-electrical power

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** FY 2027 decreased compared to FY 2026 by $8.099 million due to programmatic adjustments to the DAF Science and Technology portfolio. This reduction reflects a strategic realignment to optimize core research areas and improve resource efficiency

## Before the request year

**FY2026 plans — current year.** - Complete testing of subsystems hardware. - Activities include portable power system emulation, transient mission system architectures, distributed electric propulsion architectures, and digital system models for various autonomous collaborative platforms. - Complete medium-scale propulsion, power and thermal system studies and development. - Activities include studies and development of medium scale vapor cycle systems to provide greater thermal capacity to autonomous collaborative platforms. - Continue development of advanced power and thermal capabilities. - Activities include closed-loop power cycles, solid-state thermal-electrical conversion, high lift thermal management, and applied scientific advancements. - Complete development of adaptive, affordable power and thermal technologies. - Activities include maturation of high voltage power generation with integrated energy storage. - Complete development of advanced vehicle energy management capabilities. - Activities include energy aware path planning for autonomous collaborative platforms. - Initiate the development of power, thermal management and controls technologies for modular electrified aircraft. - Activities include assessment of current state of the art in such areas as motors, generators, inverters, and distributed thermal management.

## Funding

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 0.0 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 34.5 |
| FY2027 | Request | 26.4 |

> Prior, current and budget year only — an R-2A activity carries no five-year plan. It sums exactly into its project in the request year and not necessarily in any other.

## Other activities in project 622403

- [Autonomy Technology Development](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602203F/622403/a0) — FY2027 32.0
- Strategic Analysis Technology Development — FY2027 9.1
- Advanced Flight Controls Technologies — FY2027 0.0
- Manned and Unmanned Teaming Technologies — FY2027 0.0

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibit R-2A, PE 0602203F project 622403 (PB PB2027). Narrative is the government's own text.
- **No marks, no contractors at this grain** — congressional marks land on the program element and R-3 performers on the project.
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_activity`.

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