What the FY2027 request buys
Verbatim from the R-2A exhibit for project 0000 of PE 0602271N. This is the budget justification's own description of work that has not happened yet — the one thing no other level of the budget carries.
EO/IR Sensor Technologies: - Continue efforts to develop and test optical architectures to demonstrate simultaneous wide Field of View (FOV) and high-resolution imaging for search, detection, classification, identification and targeting functions. - Continue research and development of novel Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and counter-ISR applications with tailored optical beams for diffraction-free, atmospheric turbulence-immune propagation. - Continue to develop novel techniques for Electro-Optic/Infrared (EO/IR) countermeasures to detect, track and/or jam sensors. - Continue demonstration and testing of real-time combat Identification (ID) algorithms for detecting and tracking simultaneous targets from networked, high-resolution, wide field of view, and persistent surveillance systems. - Continue research into extreme low light imaging cameras built using low-cost silicon foundry services to enable cost effective and available all domain imaging. - Continue development of advanced coherent imaging systems and beam steering for software defined multi-use optical apertures as a way to improve multi-function systems. - Continue research into metasurface-based flat optics for improved infrared imaging performance. - Continue research in photonic techniques for readout, low loss interconnects and 1D/2D/3D coupling techniques, Input/Output (I/O) processing, computing. - Continue research in using novel passive and active polarization features and states to improve target resolution, sensitivity, and clutter mitigation. Electromagnetic Warfare: - Continue the development of Electro Optical/Infrared Technology. The purpose of this thrust is to expand the state-of-the-art in Electro Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Targeting (ISRT) and supporting technologies. The goal will be to develop innovative EO/IR sensing paradigms, components, and signal processing techniques to insure full EO/IR spectrum superiority. Capabilities are pursued in multispectral, hyperspectral, and hypertemporal EO/IR modalities as well as the fusion of these with other Electronics Intelligence (ELINT) and signals intelligence (SIGINT) modalities to locate hidden/concealed targets and other hard-to-find objects. This effort is an expansion of previously discussed efforts to develop Electro-Optical/Infra-Red (EO/IR) and Radio Frequency (RF) technologies to improve imaging, target identification, threat detection, and engagement capabilities for the war fighter. - Continue the development of technology for new and enhanced naval capabilities based on the creation, transmission, modulation and detection of electromagnetic waves throughout the ultraviolet, visible and infrared spectral regions in Optical Technologies. Technologies developed will include concepts and devices for emitting light such as lasers and light emitting diodes; for transmission such as turbulence mitigation and multispectral optical materials; for modulation such as amplifiers and switches; for detection such as multi-spectral, hyper-spectral and tunable focal planes, single photon detectors, and event-based sensors. New signal processing techniques and the application of artificial intelligence will be developed to enable naval applications.
The funding increase from FY2026 to FY 2027 is due to an increased focus being directed in the area of EO/IR Sensor Technology vice other areas.
FY2026: the year under way
Prior-year accomplishments and current-year plans from the same exhibit. Context for the FY2027 plan, not a series — an activity partitions its project exactly in the request year, but can under-cover it in earlier years.
EO/IR Sensor Technologies: - Continue efforts to develop and test optical architectures to demonstrate simultaneous wide Field of View (FOV) and high-resolution imaging for search, detection, classification, identification and targeting functions. - Continue research and development of novel Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and counter-ISR applications with tailored optical beams for diffraction-free, atmospheric turbulence-immune propagation. - Continue to develop novel techniques for Electro-Optic/Infrared (EO/IR) countermeasures to detect, track and/or jam sensors. - Continue demonstration and testing of real-time combat Identification (ID) algorithms for detecting and tracking simultaneous targets from networked, high-resolution, wide field of view, and persistent surveillance systems. - Continue research into extreme low light imaging cameras built using low-cost silicon foundry services as a way to provide all domain imaging for some missions or platforms that can't afford infrared sensors. - Continue development of advanced coherent imaging systems and beam steering for software defined multi-use optical apertures as a way to improve multi-function systems. - Initiate research into metasurface-based flat optics for improved infrared imaging performance. - Initiate research in photonic techniques for readout, Input/Output (I/O) processing and computing. - Initiate research in using novel passive and active polarization features and states to improve target resolution, sensitivity, and clutter mitigation. Electromagnetic Warfare: - Continue the development of Electro Optical/Infrared Technology. The purpose of this thrust is to expand the state-of-the-art in Electro Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Targeting (ISRT) and supporting technologies. The goal will be to develop innovative EO/IR sensing paradigms, components, and signal processing techniques to insure full EO/IR spectrum superiority. Capabilities are pursued in multispectral, hyperspectral, and hypertemporal EO/IR modalities as well as the fusion of these with other Electronics Intelligence (ELINT) and signals intelligence (SIGINT) modalities to locate hidden/concealed targets and other hard-to-find objects. This effort is an expansion of previously discussed efforts to develop Electro-Optical/Infra-Red (EO/IR) and Radio Frequency (RF) technologies to improve imaging, target identification, threat detection, and engagement capabilities for the war fighter. - Continue the development of technology for new and enhanced naval capabilities based on the creation, transmission, modulation and detection of electromagnetic waves throughout the ultraviolet, visible and infrared spectral regions in Optical Technologies. Technologies developed will include concepts and devices for emitting light such as lasers and light emitting diodes; for transmission such as turbulence mitigation and multispectral optical materials; for modulation such as amplifiers and switches; for detection such as multi-spectral, hyper-spectral and tunable focal planes, single photon detectors, and event-based sensors. New signal processing techniques and the application of artificial intelligence will be developed to enable naval applications.
Three years, and no five-year plan
An R-2A activity publishes the prior year, the current year and the budget year. The FYDP outyears exist at project and program-element level and are deliberately absent here rather than inferred. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure.
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 11.7 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 6.7 |
| FY2027 | Request | 11.5 |
This activity is 15% of project 0000's FY2027 request and 15% of PE 0602271N's. In the request year the activities under a project sum to it exactly; in the current year they under-cover it in about 9% of cases, so an activity's delta can legitimately exceed its parent's and the two must not be compared row to row.
8 activities in project 0000
Every R-2A line of this project, largest FY2027 request first. Linked where the activity has enough of its own narrative to carry a page; the rest are shown in full on the project page.