What project 356 buys
U.S. weapons systems still largely rely on decades-old explosive and propellant technologies that limit Joint Force options to deter, and if necessary, defeat adversaries in conflict. The Energetics Technology project was established to expedite investigation, research, and transition of novel energetics materials, chemicals, and processes that enable improvements to existing and future munitions performance. The investments and efforts under this project enable modern manufacturing and processing while helping to bolster U.S. energetics supply chain resiliency. The Joint Enhanced Munitions Technology Program, Services, and OUSW(R&E) munitions stakeholders collaborate to generate technology roadmaps for advanced energetic research and development that include high-energy materials, such as Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane (CL-20), and missile delivered submunitions and payloads.
Project 356 funding, FY2025–FY2031
Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure. Projects carry the full five-year plan; the activities inside them stop at the budget year.
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 31.2 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 37.9 |
| FY2027 | Request | 54.0 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 81.9 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 76.4 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 58.4 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 60.1 |
4 accomplishments / planned programs
The R-2A exhibit — the only level of the budget that describes work that has not happened yet. Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only, no five-year plan. 2 of them describe FY2027 work in enough detail to have their own page; the rest are shown here in full. Coverage is partial across the corpus, so count activities, never total them.
- Develop methods via AIREX to create Maritime Fire Initiation and Fire Damage. - Demonstrate PBXIH-19 Reactive Material against dynamic targets showing improvements in blast effects. - Develop and demonstrate high energy pulse propulsion technology in tactical rocket motor configuration. - Develop an enhanced preformed fragmenting…
Read the FY2027 plan →- Complete and deliver CL-20 Military Specifications to developers and manufacturers that meets broader Department of War requirements and defines the necessary parameters to produce high quality, low sensitivity CL-20 feedstocks for reproducible explosive and propellant formulations at production scales. - Deliver two CL-20-based…
Read the FY2027 plan →FY2027 planned work Specific activities in this project include: development activities for novel propulsion components and electronic support systems; battery reliability and production risk mitigation; flight control and aerodynamic performance optimization; fuel system and kinetic energy management; advanced payload, fuzing, and target detection design; affordable and mass-manufacturable boost motor design. Development efforts will transition to propulsion technology demonstrations to include supporting and ancillary systems, resulting in a high-TRL flight demonstration of an integrated weapon system capable of long-range, supersonic flight.
FY2026 to FY2027 change Increase of $9.000 million from FY 2026 to FY 2027 is due to additional investment in affordable cruise missile technology development.
FY2027 planned work - Deliver missile submunition system test units for validation lethality and flight testing. - Conduct validation tests on submunition expulsion, dispersion and target lethality.
FY2026 to FY2027 change Increase of $3.000 million from FY 2026 to FY 2027 is due to additional investment in High Reliability Cluster Munitions technology development.