# Information & Communications Technology — Program Element 0602303E

**Program element:** 0602303E  
**Component:** Defense-Wide  
**Appropriation:** 0400 — RDT&E, Defense-Wide  
**Budget Activity:** 2 — Applied Research  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602303E

## Summary

Defense-Wide requests $0.0M in FY2027.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 353.0 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 0.0 |
| FY2027 | Request | 0.0 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 0.0 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 0.0 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 0.0 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 0.0 |

> Estimate types are not summed — the profile mixes actuals, enacted law, the request, and outyear projections.

## Projects (3)

| Project | Title | FY2025 actual | FY2026 enacted | FY2027 request | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IT-02 | HIGH PRODUCTIVITY, HIGH-PERFORMANCE RESPONSIVE ARCHITECTURES | 29.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — |
| IT-03 | CYBER SECURITY | 159.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — |
| IT-04 | ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND HUMAN-MACHINE SYMBIOSIS | 164.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — |

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

### Project IT-02 — HIGH PRODUCTIVITY, HIGH-PERFORMANCE RESPONSIVE ARCHITECTURES

The High Productivity, High-Performance Responsive Architectures project focused on developing the computer hardware and associated software technologies required for future computationally- and data-intensive national security applications. Powerful new approaches were needed to manage the rapid growth in available sensor data, to leverage advances in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, and to maintain the security of DoW information systems. The project therefore aimed not only to create new computing platforms to include quantum technology, but also to efficiently extract information out of large and chaotic data sets with embedded and low-size, weight, and power systems. Advances in these areas may allow for DoW electronic systems to collaboratively manage scarce resources, such as the electromagnetic spectrum, and to adapt to new requirements and situations. Further, the resulting technologies, by being accessible to a wide range of application developers, may support new, sustainable computing systems for a broad spectrum of scientific and engineering applications.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing (US2QC) | 29.0 | — | — |

> 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 IT-03 — CYBER SECURITY

The Cyber Security project is developing the computing, networking, and cyber security technologies required to protect Department of War, U.S. Government, and U.S. civilian information, information infrastructure, cyber-physical and embedded systems, critical infrastructure, and other computation-intensive mission-critical systems. Information technologies enable important existing and new military capabilities and drive the productivity gains essential to U.S. industry. Meanwhile, cyber threats grow in sophistication and number, and put data, computer programs, key information systems, and U.S. economic competitiveness at risk. The technologies developed in this project will enhance the resilience of information systems to current and emerging cyber threats; enable broad situational awareness of the cyber domain; and provide the basis for accurate, calibrated, and safe cyber response. Beginning in FY 2026, efforts in this Project will be funded in PE 0602025E, Project MSL-04.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Constellation | 44.0 | — | — |
| Cyber Agents for Security Testing and Learning Environments (CASTLE) | 18.5 | — | — |
| Pipelined Reasoning of Verifiers Enabling Robust Systems (PROVERS) | 18.2 | — | — |
| Business Process Logic (BPL) | 15.5 | — | — |
| Signature Management using Operational Knowledge and Environments (SMOKE) | 15.0 | — | — |
| Hardening Development Toolchains Against Emergent Execution Engines (HARDEN) | 15.0 | — | — |
| Intelligent Generation of Tools for Security (INGOTS) | 11.5 | — | — |
| Provably Weird Network Deployment and Detection (PWND²) | 10.0 | — | — |
| Reclaiming Bus-based Systems During Compromise (Red-C) | 2.0 | — | — |
| Verified Security and Performance Enhancement of Large Legacy Software (V-SPELLS) | 10.0 | — | — |

> 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 IT-04 — ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND HUMAN-MACHINE SYMBIOSIS

The Artificial Intelligence and Human-Machine Symbiosis project develops technologies to enable machines to function not only as tools that facilitate human action but also as trustworthy partners to human operators. Of particular interest are systems that can understand human language, extract information, and reliably categorize content contained in diverse media; answer questions, reach conclusions, and propose explanations; and learn, reason, and apply knowledge gained through experience to respond intelligently to new and unforeseen events. Enabling computing systems with such human-like intelligence matters because the tempo of military operations in emerging domains can exceed that at which unaided humans can orient, understand, and act. The technologies developed in this project will enable warfighters to make better decisions in complex, time-critical, battlefield environments with greater efficiency and confidence; and help autonomous systems and intelligent computational agents to safely and reliably perform critical missions in contested and adversarial physical and virtual environments. Beginning in FY 2026, efforts in this Project will be funded in PE 0602025E, Project MSL-05.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Price Exploration for National security (OPEN) | 42.0 | — | — |
| Artificial Intelligence Cyber Challenge (AIxCC) | 38.0 | — | — |
| Assured Neuro Symbolic Learning and Reasoning (ANSR) | 17.0 | — | — |
| Learning Introspective Control (LINC) | 16.6 | — | — |
| Transfer from Imprecise and Abstract Models to Autonomous Technologies (TIAMAT) | 16.0 | — | — |
| Anticipatory and Adaptive Anti-money Laundering (A3ML) | 8.6 | — | — |
| Artificial Intelligence Quantified (AIQ) | 8.0 | — | — |
| Kallisti | 6.0 | — | — |
| Securing Artificial Intelligence for Battlefield Effective Robustness (SABER) | 4.0 | — | — |
| Scientific Feasibility (SciFy) | 2.9 | — | — |
| National Security Economic Theory (NASCENT) | 2.0 | — | — |
| Accelerating Artificial Intelligence (AAI) | 3.1 | — | — |

> 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

The efforts described in this Program Element (PE) address the Applied Research associated with the Information and Communications Technology Program that is directed toward the application of advanced, innovative computing systems and communications technologies. This PE also supports innovation and robust transition planning in the technology cycle by working with entrepreneurs to increase the likelihood that DARPA funded technologies take root in the U.S. and provide new capabilities for national defense.

## Related program elements

- [0602023E — Access AND Awareness](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602023E) (Defense-Wide)
- [0602716E — Electronics Technology](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602716E) (Defense-Wide)
- [0204571N — Consolidated Trng Sys Dev](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0204571N) (Navy)
- [0605864N — Test & Evaluation Support](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605864N) (Navy)

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Office of the Secretary of Defense RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-3, PE 0602303E (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0602303E")`.

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