# High-Speed Systems Technology Development

**R-2A activity** of project 622405 — High Speed Systems Technology  
**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/622405/a0  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602203F/622405

## Summary

This activity requests $66.1M in FY2027, 42% of project 622405, up 194% 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.** Continue critical technology maturation for increased service life of high speed/ hypersonic systems with secondary emphasis on longer range flight and heavier payloads. Activities include: -Assessments for service life and durability of metallic and hybrid vehicle structures, including joint compliance and fatigue life. -Design, modeling, fabrication, and testing of high temperature structural materials, subscale and full-scale airframe structural components. -Reduced order model development and validation and advanced test data analysis to be included in structural digital engineering tools and frameworks to support airworthiness certification. Continue development of high-speed system concepts. Activities include: -Flight research concepts; high-speed system design, analysis, development; technology assessments; and advanced fuels development, characterization, and modeling. Continue efforts to characterize high-speed vehicle system phenomena, develop and validate fundamental high-speed component technologies. Activities include: -Computational analysis, development of supercomputing-enabled capabilities to empower higher-fidelity modeling and trade studies of high-speed systems, and ground/flight testing. Continue critical technology maturation for high speed/ hypersonic systems with primary emphasis on affordable, durable, survivable platforms/systems, including validated modeling, simulation, and analysis (MS&A), mission system integration, operability and performance over expanded mission requirements, vehicle durability, and vehicle- level thermal management. Activities include: -Development of service life predictions for reusable vehicles, identification of critical design features, and development of state-of-the-art digital MS&A employing new data and methods from other activities within this project. -Modeling and experimental validation of service life predictions for multi-Mach vehicles, identification of critical design features, and development of state-of-the-art digital engineering datasets and models. -Studies of low-speed performance, configuration trades, and data collection on high-speed platforms operating outside of cruise conditions, specifically addressing configuration aerodynamics, high-lift configurations, and stability and control for future high-speed/hypersonic platforms. Continue development of high-speed system concepts that provide revolutionary capabilities through configuration research. Activities include: -High-fidelity military utility assessments through mission effectiveness, campaign analyses, and wargames employing new data and methods from research activities. Continue efforts to characterize high-speed aeromechanics (fluid-structure interaction) phenomena and develop and validate fundamental high-speed component technologies. Activities include: -Development and evaluation of optical flow diagnostic techniques, computational, and ground test of fluid structure interactions on relevant geometries for high-speed operations and flight control. Continue research on technologies required to close the kill chain using weapons released from a high-speed platform. Activities include: -High-fidelity modeling and testing to improve aperture performance in high-speed thermal environments, ensuring efficient and reliable platform/weapon sensor operation, advancing cavity-sealing approaches required for affordable reusable and durable systems, and refining post-dispense weapon control, attributes, and releasing methods to enhance high-speed weapon system performance. In FY 2027, the funding and technical activities from High-Speed Vehicle Aeromechanics Technology Development were realigned to High-Speed Systems Technology Development effort within this Project: Complete critical vehicle aeromechanics and integration technology maturation for high speed/ hypersonic systems with primary emphasis on durable, survivable platforms/systems, including validated MS&A techniques, mission system integration, operability and performance over expanded mission requirements, vehicle durability, and vehicle-level thermal management. Activities include: -Identification of critical design features for global response using MS&A and building increasingly accurate state-of-the-art digital engineering datasets and models. Continue development of multi-disciplinary design and analysis techniques and tools with emphasis on the digital engineering environment for system-level design. Activities include: -Executing detailed trade-off studies and high-fidelity digital modeling to assess how vehicle geometry, trajectory, and mission performance influence high-speed system efficiency, operability, affordability, and reusability. Continue investigation of advanced technologies to extend system range through improvement of system lift/drag ratio and maintain robust stability and control at all flight conditions. Activities include: -Ground tests to validate analytical studies of advanced control-surface concepts and assess how thermal deformation affects high-speed controllability to support durable, affordable, and reusable high-speed vehicle designs.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** FY 2027 funding increased by $43.602 million due to the transfer of the High-Speed Vehicle Aeromechanics Technology Development effort and associated funding within this Project; and increased emphasis on component and integrated system ground tests to enable affordable, exquisite, and reusable hypersonic capabilities.

## Before the request year

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Continue critical technology maturation for increased service life of high speed/ hypersonic systems with secondary emphasis on longer range flight and heavier payloads; -Activities include assessments for service life and durability of vehicle structures. Continue development of high-speed system concepts; -Activities include flight research concepts, high-speed system design, analysis, and development and tech assessments. Continue efforts to characterize high-speed vehicle system phenomena, develop and validate fundamental high-speed component technologies; -Activities include computational analysis and ground/flight testing. Continue critical technology maturation for increased service life of high speed/ hypersonic systems with secondary emphasis on longer range flight and heavier payloads; -Activities include assessments for service life and durability of vehicle structures. Continue development of high-speed system concepts; -Activities include flight research concepts, high-speed system design, analysis, and development and tech assessments. Continue efforts to characterize high-speed vehicle system phenomena, develop and validate fundamental high-speed component technologies; -Activities include computational analysis and ground/flight testing. Continue critical technology maturation for high speed/ hypersonic systems with primary emphasis on durable, survivable platforms/systems, including validated modeling, simulation, and analysis (MS&A), mission system integration, operability and performance over expanded mission requirements, vehicle durability, and vehicle-level thermal management; -Activities include validation of service life predictions for reusable vehicles, identification of critical design features, and development of state-of-the-art digital engineering datasets and models. Complete maturation of innovative aerospace structural concepts, analytical methods, service life predictions, airframe/engine integration, fluid/thermal/structural interactions, and thermal management techniques; -Activities include development of novel reduced order methods, airframe/engine integration validation, and fluid/thermal/structural interaction validation data. Complete maturation of innovative aerospace structural concepts, analytical methods, service life predictions, airframe/engine integration, fluid/thermal/structural interactions, and thermal management techniques; -Activities include development of novel reduced order methods, airframe/engine integration validation, and fluid/thermal/structural interaction validation data. Commence research on technologies required to close the kill chain using weapons released from a high-speed platform. -Activities include research to address tech gaps including aperture performance in a high-speed thermal environment, platform/ weapon sensor operation, cavities sealing, weapon control post-dispense, optimal weapon attributes and dispense methods.

## Funding

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 23.9 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 22.4 |
| FY2027 | Request | 66.1 |

> 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 622405

- [High Speed Propulsion Technology Development](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602203F/622405/a2) — FY2027 90.9
- High Speed Vehicle Aeromechanics Technology Development — FY2027 0.0

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibit R-2A, PE 0602203F project 622405 (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.*