R-2A Activity · President's Budget PB2027

Directed Energy Technology Development

Activity a1·Project 890 — High Energy Laser Development·PE 0602890D8Z·Defense-Wide
FY2027 Request
$50.4M
▲ 7.0% vs FY2026
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This activity requests $50.4M in FY2027, 100% of project 890, up 7.0% on FY2026. The R-2A exhibit describes it across FY2026–FY2027, including what the FY2027 money is planned to buy.

FY2027 Request
$50.4M
▲ 7.0% vs FY2026
FY2026 Enacted
$47.1M
In law
Planned work

What the FY2027 request buys

Verbatim from the R-2A exhibit for project 890 of PE 0602890D8Z. 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.

FY2027 planned work

High Energy Laser Technology: Efforts will continue the development of technologies that improve component-level performance and enable fieldable directed energy systems. Some of these include: cameras, illuminators, fast-steering mirrors, deformable mirrors, and high-power coatings necessary for advanced prototypes. Continue leveraging government and industry labs to perform proof of concept technology demonstrations. High Power Microwave Technology: Efforts will continue to study high power microwave effects and techniques for improved lethality and, in turn, develop high power microwave sources with agile waveforms. Efforts will utilize government and industry labs to perform proof of concept technology demonstrations. The effort will investigate next-generation, high-power, multi-frequency antenna and propagation approaches for agile waveforms, as well as next-generation pulsed power concepts that lead to improved size, weight, power, and scalability. This includes the development of high power microwave radiation sources to achieve higher power levels, increase manufacturing producibility, and improve military readiness. Modeling and Simulation: Efforts will continue to advance models for technology trade studies to guide research and development, enable systems engineering, and support mission-level modeling.

FY2026 to FY2027 change

The increase of $3.298 million between FY 2026 and FY 2027 is due to budget fluctuations.

Before the request year

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.

FY2026 plans — current year

High Energy Laser Technology: Develop technologies that improve component-level performance and enable fieldable directed energy systems. Some of these include: cameras, illuminators, fast-steering mirrors, deformable mirrors, and high-power coatings needed for advanced prototypes such as the Joint Laser Weapon System. Utilize government and industry labs to perform proof of concept tech demonstrations. High Power Microwave Technology: Study high power microwave effects and techniques for improved lethality and, in turn, develop high power microwave sources with agile waveforms. Effort will utilize government and industry labs to perform proof of concept technology demonstrations. The effort will investigate next-generation, high-power, multi-frequency antenna and propagation approaches for agile waveforms, as well as next-generation pulsed power concepts that lead to improved size, weight, power, and scalability. This includes the development of high power microwave radiation sources to achieve higher power levels, increase manufacturing producibility, and improve military readiness. Modeling and Simulation: Effort will advance models for technology trade studies to guide research and development, enable systems engineering, and support mission-level modeling.

Money

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.

2550047.1FY26ENACTED50.4FY27REQUEST
Enacted Request
Fiscal YearEstimate TypeAmount ($M)
FY2026Enacted47.1
FY2027Request50.4

This activity is 100% of project 890's FY2027 request and 100% of PE 0602890D8Z'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.

Where this sits

2 activities in project 890

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 program-element page.

Directed Energy Technology Development — this activity$50.4M ▲ 7%
Directed Energy Applied Research
Source
FY2027 Office of the Secretary of Defense RDT&E Budget Justification · Exhibit R-2A · PE 0602890D8Z, project 890 (President's Budget PB2027). Congressional marks are recorded on the program element, never on an activity.
Machine access
Markdown twin /programs/0602890D8Z/890/a1.md · MCP mcp.hitchintel.combudget_get_activity