# Warhead Technologies

**R-2A activity** of project 622502 — Ordnance Technology  
**Program element:** 0602602F — Conventional Munitions  
**Component:** U.S. Air Force · **Budget Activity:** 2  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602602F/622502/a2  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602602F/622502

## Summary

This activity requests $10.4M in FY2027, 19% of project 622502, down 9.6% 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 maturation of small, multi-output warhead technologies for soft-surface targets, to include limited penetration capability of surface-hardened structures and maritime targets, enabling more weapons on carrier per sortie while sustaining or enhancing lethality. Activities include developing models for water impact and stability. - Continue evolving test capabilities to enhance accuracy of the models for mechanical response under high-rate, high-pressure loading conditions that are used in high-fidelity modeling and simulation tools, to include materials used in additive manufacturing processes enabling digital engineering of warhead concepts. Activities include develop models for water impact, stability and energy coupling that feed lethality models. - Continue developing warhead additive manufacturing techniques and produce optimized sub-scale articles for test. Expand material selections through partnerships within DoW supporting warhead application developments in air-delivered weapons. Activities include exploring new material compositions for additive manufacturing, designed and test new materials to include casting, powder, and other designs. - Continue demonstration of technologies for effective and survivable high-speed penetration, specifically focusing on maritime and surface targets relevant to Joint Warfighting Concept in all domains, supporting discovery and development of defined requirements for warhead to function in each of the maritime scenarios. Activities include, develop models for water impact and stability. - Continue development of warhead concepts for the air targets in peer engagement scenarios, focusing on innovative warhead concepts development for weapons that maximize weapon lethality for all engagement scenarios. Activities Include, provide external customers with multi-capable munition designs for maritime targets. - Continue research and development of cumulative damage mechanisms taking advantage of coordinated and distributed impact, focusing on cumulative damage mechanisms development in maritime targets. Activities include develop models for water impact and stability. - Continue subsystem warhead technology integration, focusing on optimized warhead technology integration through development, application, and refinement of digital engineering and model-based engineering architectures and tools. Activities include designing warheads in computer-aided design (CAD) tools and digitally designing warheads across all scenarios. - Continue rapid-design and modular warhead with DoW partner, focusing on innovative warhead concepts development for weapons that maximize weapon lethality for all engagement scenarios. Activities include developing quick reaction modular design to meet reduction in user defined requirements and design of low cost, high quantity munitions in rapid design/test.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** FY 2027 decreased compared to FY 2026 by $1.102 million due to decreased emphasis on advanced penetrating weapon warhead technologies.

## Before the request year

**FY2026 plans — current year.** - Continue maturation of small, multi-output warhead technologies for soft-surface targets, to include limited penetration capability of surface-hardened structures and maritime targets, enabling more weapons on carrier per sortie while sustaining or enhancing lethality. - Continue evolving test capabilities to enhance quantification of the mechanical response under high-rate, high-pressure loading conditions for use in high-fidelity modeling and simulation tools, to include materials used in additive manufacturing processes, enabling digital engineering of warhead concepts. - Continue developing warhead additive manufacturing techniques and produce optimized sub-scale articles for test. Expand material selections through partnerships within DoW supporting warhead application developments in air-delivered weapons. - Continue demonstration of technologies for effective and survivable high-speed penetration, specifically focusing on maritime and surface targets relevant to Joint Warfighting Concept in all domains, supporting discovery and development of defined requirements for warhead to function in each of the maritime scenarios. - Continue development of warhead concepts for the air targets in peer engagement scenarios, focusing on innovative warhead concepts development for weapons that maximize weapon lethality for all engagement scenarios. - Continue research and development of cumulative damage mechanisms taking advantage of coordinated and distributed impact, focusing on cumulative damage mechanisms development in maritime targets. - Continue subsystem technology integration into warheads for maritime target engagements, focusing on optimized warhead technology integration through development, application, and refinement of digital engineering and model-based engineering architectures and tools. - Commence rapid-design and modular warhead into low-cost cruise missile concepts with DoW partner, focusing on innovative warhead concepts development for weapons that maximize weapon lethality for all engagement scenarios.

## Funding

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 11.7 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 11.5 |
| FY2027 | Request | 10.4 |

> 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 622502

- [Ordnance Technologies](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602602F/622502/a3) — FY2027 30.7
- Fuze Technologies — FY2027 7.4
- Energetic Materials Technology — FY2027 7.2

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibit R-2A, PE 0602602F project 622502 (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.*