# Soldier Lethality Advanced Technology — Program Element 0603118A

**Program element:** 0603118A  
**Component:** U.S. Army  
**Appropriation:** 2040 — RDT&E, Army  
**Budget Activity:** 3 — Advanced Technology Development  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603118A

## Summary

U.S. Army funding falls 25% to a $125.1M request in FY2027 (down from a FY2026 peak), sustained across the five-year plan. In the FY2027 defense authorization, the House cut 4.0% (to $120.1M); the Senate funded it in full; House appropriators added 54% (to $192.8M).

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 100.3 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 166.2 |
| FY2027 | Request | 125.1 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 146.7 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 151.4 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 154.1 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 154.4 |

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

## Congressional marks (FY2027)

| Stage | Marked ($M) | Change ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| Request | 125.1 | — |
| House NDAA (HASC) | 120.1 | −5.0 |
| Senate NDAA (SASC) | 125.1 | +0.0 |
| House Approps (HAC-D) | 192.8 | +67.7 |

> FY2027 NDAA authorization marks, as of 2026-07-27. Not appropriations or final law.

## Projects (11)

| Project | Title | FY2025 actual | FY2026 enacted | FY2027 request | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BC1 | Human Performance AdvTech for Mobility & Lethality | 7.1 | 10.8 | 54.8 | +405% |
| BC9 | Adv Soldier Sensors/Displays AdvTech for Dismounts | 19.0 | 25.7 | 49.0 | +91% |
| AY5 | Soldier Squad Small Arms Armaments Advanced Tech | 9.1 | 4.0 | 11.7 | +191% |
| BB3 | Dismounted Soldier Survivability Equip/Tech Integ | 13.3 | 9.4 | 9.6 | +2% |
| BS8 | Soldier Lethality Advanced Technology | 12.0 | 71.0 | — | −100% |
| BC8 | Training Advanced Technology (Other than STE) | 7.8 | 22.6 | — | −100% |
| BE5 | Personnel & Airdrop Safety Advanced Technology | 6.5 | 9.8 | — | −100% |
| BD7 | Soldier Sys Interfaces/Integration-Sensor AdvTech | 13.0 | 4.7 | — | −100% |
| AY9 | Body Armor & Integrated Headborne Advanced Tech | 5.5 | 4.6 | — | −100% |
| BE2 | Joint Service Combat Feeding Advanced Technology | 2.6 | 2.7 | — | −100% |
| BE9 | STE Advanced Technology | 4.4 | 0.8 | — | −100% |

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

### Project BC1 — Human Performance AdvTech for Mobility & Lethality

This project matures technologies, methodologies and models to enhance Soldier and small unit performance, survivability, and effectiveness across operational and training environments. By integrating innovative methodologies, advanced materials, and cutting-edge technologies and training techniques, the project addresses critical challenges in Soldier and small unit mobility, sustainment, lethality, and readiness. It optimizes and integrates Soldier Performance through the development of methods, metrics, and modeling tools that quantify Soldier-system interactions, improve physical and cognitive capacity, and enhance resiliency under combat stress, while improving the collection, aggregation, processing and display of data to inform operationally relevant decisions within the Command. Combat ration and field feeding technologies are optimized to enhance Warfighter performance, mitigate risks from chemical and biological contaminants, and reduce logistical burdens to enable semi-independent operations. It matures advanced manufacturing technologies and novel materials to meet the Army's unique needs in future operating environments, including sustaining distribution operations in contested areas. This project matures live, virtual and constructive training technologies for dismounted Soldiers by reducing computational burden and enhancing scalability of training exercises as well as architectures to integrate cyberspace and information warfare effects across these environments. Precision aerial delivery systems are advanced to improve the accuracy of cargo delivery in GPS-denied environments and enhance personnel insertion safety, supporting tactical resupply and operational concepts. This project also advances integration of power and energy technologies to support dismounted Soldier and small unit operations, enabling effective use of command, control, communications, computers, and sensor devices while reducing physical burden. This project also complements and is fully coordinated with work performed across Army, Navy, and Air Force under the Human Systems Community of Interest: Systems Interfaces & Cognitive Processes and Protection, Sustainment, and Warfighter Performance.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operational Unit Partnership and Soldier Touch Point | 2.7 | 5.3 | — |
| Soldier/Squad Performance Metrics for Lethality | 4.4 | 5.6 | — |
| Soldier/Squad-System Technology Integration for Lethality & Readiness | — | — | 15.6 |
| Training and Simulation Technology, AdvTech | — | — | 14.3 |
| Joint Service Combat Feeding Advanced Technology | — | — | 2.1 |
| Personnel and Airdrop Safety Advanced Technology | — | — | 10.6 |
| Institute for Advanced Composites Engineering - Advanced Technology Development | — | — | 6.1 |
| Blast Overpressure Data Movement & Display Technologies | — | — | 2.5 |
| Domestically Sourced Next Generation Batteries Advanced Technology | — | — | 3.7 |

> 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 BC9 — Adv Soldier Sensors/Displays AdvTech for Dismounts

This project matures, optimizes, and demonstrates fully digital sensor systems, architectures, and interfacing capabilities to fuse sensors, and network situational understanding information and targeting capabilities to enable maintained mounted and dismounted visual advantage, increased situational awareness, decreased fratricide, and decreased response times to all threats in all environments. This project complements work done in Program Element (PE) 0602143A (Soldier Lethality Technology) / BD1 (Advanced Soldier Sensors/Displays Tech for Dismounts). Work in this project is performed by the Command, Control, Communication, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) Center and the Soldier Center.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Soldier Sensors/Displays Advanced Technology for Dismounts | 19.0 | 25.7 | 34.3 |
| Advanced Tactical Power and Battery Technologies | — | — | 14.6 |

> 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 AY5 — Soldier Squad Small Arms Armaments Advanced Tech

This project demonstrates individual and crew-served weapon designs and technologies that enhance the fighting capabilities and survivability of the dismounted Warfighter in support of the Army's Soldier Lethality Modernization priority and all of the Services. This project matures blast overpressure characterization, monitoring and a wearable system that captures real-time physiological and blast exposure data to enable integrated Soldier monitoring in operational environments. All work is led by the Joint Service Small Arms Program (JSSAP) and is based upon the Joint Service Small Arms Master Plan (JSSAMP) and the Joint Capabilities Integration Development System's Small Arms Analyses. Work in this project complements Program Element (PE) 0602143A (Soldier Lethality Technology) / AY6 (Soldier Squad Small Arms Armaments Technology). Work in this project is performed by the Armaments Center (AC).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Arms Technology Demonstration | 6.9 | — | — |
| Medium Machinegun for Maneuvers (Mounted and Dismounted) Technology (M4DT) | 2.1 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Joint Small Arms Advanced Tech (JSAAT) | — | — | 4.6 |
| Enhanced Range & Lethality Mortar System | — | — | 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.

### Project BB3 — Dismounted Soldier Survivability Equip/Tech Integ

This project focuses on improving dismounted Soldier survivability, mobility, and operational effectiveness by advancing materials, technologies, and systems. It addresses key challenges such as reducing the weight and bulk of Soldier-worn equipment while enhancing integration, performance, and protection against combat threats (e.g., flame, thermal, blast, ballistic, multispectral sensors, and lasers) and environmental threats (e.g., extreme temperatures, wet conditions, vectors, water contamination, and concealment). The project matures and demonstrates advancements in body armor, helmets, personal protective equipment, camouflage, concealment, deception technologies, and Soldier-borne systems to ensure protection and readiness in diverse environments. By leveraging innovations in materials science and engineering, this effort reduces Soldier detectability, susceptibility, and vulnerability while improving system integration and mission performance. Additionally, it validates water purification devices and advanced water quality sensors to support operational readiness in contaminated environments. This project complements work done in Program Element (PE) 0602143A (Soldier Lethality Technology) / Project BB4 (Dismounted Soldier Survivability Materials). Work in this project is performed by the Soldier Center (SC).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dismounted Soldier Survivability Equipment and Technology Integration | 13.3 | 9.4 | 9.6 |

> 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 BS8 — Soldier Lethality Advanced Technology

Congressional Interest Item funding provided for Soldier Lethality Advanced Technology. The cited work is consistent with the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering priority focus areas and the Army modernization strategy.

### Project BC8 — Training Advanced Technology (Other than STE)

This project matures and demonstrates advanced training technologies in support of the Army's need for simulations that accurately replicate and realistically represent the effects of current and future weapons systems during live and synthetic training. Integration of the live and synthetic environments into a single synthetic training environment will modernize the current Live Training Environment and allow fair fight engagements across all training environments and training devices. This project complements work done in Program Element (PE) 0602143A (Soldier Lethality Technology) / Project BC7 (Training Technology (Other than STE) and Program Element (PE) 0603118A (Soldier Lethality Advanced Technology) / Project BE9 STE Advanced Technology. Work in this project is performed by the Soldier Center (SC).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Processing Technologies for Live Training | 2.4 | 4.1 | — |
| Synthetic Cyberspace Effects for Training | 3.4 | 3.3 | — |
| Advanced Simulation Management Technologies | 2.0 | 5.6 | — |
| Advanced Multi-Domain Environments for Training | — | 2.7 | — |
| Advanced Digital Terrain for LIve Training | — | 6.2 | — |
| Advanced Medical Training Technology | — | 0.8 | — |

> 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 BE5 — Personnel & Airdrop Safety Advanced Technology

This Project matures and demonstrates equipment and innovative techniques for precision aerial delivery of cargo and personnel. Technologies support Army Modernization Priority, Soldier Lethality. Aerial delivery is a key capability for rapid force projection and global precision delivery to support the mission readiness profile for Global Response Force (GRF). These efforts are designed to advance state of the art precision delivery technologies such as parachutes; guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) components and subsystems; tracking sensors; software algorithms; and safety rigging that integrates with currently equipped aircraft, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and advanced rotary wing aircraft. These efforts provide the Warfighter with highly accurate, timely cargo/payload delivery and resupply in all terrain and weather conditions. Precision delivery/resupply reduces vulnerability of ground Soldiers, aircraft, and aircrew. Precision aerial delivery supports remote warfare with activities such as placement of battlefield sensors and reduction of Soldier load. Research in this Project supports key Army needs and complements the technical research in Program Element (PE) 0602143A (Soldier Lethality Technology) / Project BR9 (Personnel & Airdrop Safety Technology). This Project also complements research done in the Science & Technology Precision, Navigation and Timing Modernization priority. The cited research is consistent with the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering priority focus areas and the Army modernization strategy. Research work in this Project is performed by the Soldier Center (SC).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personnel & Airdrop Safety Advanced Technology | 6.5 | 9.8 | — |

> 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 BD7 — Soldier Sys Interfaces/Integration-Sensor AdvTech

This Project will integrate and mature technologies for sensing, processing, displaying information, interfacing with users, and cognitive improvement to enhance Soldier & Small Unit situational awareness & understanding. This Project will integrate and demonstrate battlefield, body-worn sensors, and data fusion algorithms to provide the dismounted Small Unit leader with clear, actionable information for making well informed, rapid, tactical decisions over long duration in extreme conditions. This Project will also mature and integrate advanced dismounted Soldier robotic and autonomous systems technologies to demonstrate autonomous navigation, manned-unmanned teaming, and networked reconnaissance to improve Soldier lethality, situational awareness, and survivability during tactical operations in extreme conditions. Research in this Project complements several Program Elements (PEs) and Projects to include PE 0602143A (Soldier Lethality Technology) / BD6 (Soldier Sys Interfaces/Integration - Sensor Tech), PE 0603118A (Soldier Lethality Advanced Technology) / Project BC1 (Human Performance AdvTech for Mobility & Lethality) and Project BC9 (Adv Soldier Sensors/Displays AdvTech for Dismounts). The cited research is consistent with the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering priority focus areas and the Army modernization strategy. Research in this Project is performed by the Soldier Center (SC).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soldier Situational Awareness AdvTech | 13.0 | 4.7 | — |

> 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 AY9 — Body Armor & Integrated Headborne Advanced Tech

This project matures and demonstrates body armor weight reductions and improves the performance of personal protection and survivability equipment. It also demonstrates combat helmet ballistic, blast, and small arms protection performance enhancements and the integration and optimization of power, energy, and digital sensor and display headborne technologies. This project supports Force Protection capability demonstrations for Soldiers and Small Units and demonstrated technologies from this effort transition to various Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier programs. This project complements work done in Program Element (PE) 0602143A (Soldier Lethality Technology) / AZ2 (Body Armor & Integrated Headborne Technology). Work in this project is performed by the Soldier Center (SC).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body Armor and Integrated Headborne Advanced Technology | 5.5 | 4.6 | — |

> 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 BE2 — Joint Service Combat Feeding Advanced Technology

This project matures and demonstrates combat ration and field feeding technologies to optimize Warfighter performance, decrease the risk of exposure to chemical and biological contaminants in foods, and reduce the logistics burden to enable semi-independent operations. The Army serves as the Executive Agent for this Department of War (DoW) program, with oversight and coordination provided by the DoW Combat Feeding Research and Engineering Board. This project matures and demonstrates research done in Program Element (PE) 0602143A (Soldier Lethality Technology) / Project BE3 (Joint Service Combat Feeding Technology). Research work in this project is performed by the Soldier Center (SC).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joint Service Combat Feeding Advanced Technology Demonstration | 2.6 | 2.7 | — |

> 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 BE9 — STE Advanced Technology

This Project matures and demonstrates technologies supporting the Army's Synthetic Training Environment (STE). The STE is the next generation holistic collective training capability that will train units where they will fight, with whom they will fight with, and in complex operational environments to include dense urban and sub- terrain; within the entire range of combined arms maneuver tasks in support of Multi- Domain Operations. STE Information Systems (STE-IS) delivers the Common Synthetic Environment consisting of Global Terrain/One World Terrain (OWT), Training Simulation Software (TSS), and Training Management Tools (TMT). The STE will be available where training occurs (home station, combat training centers, armories, institutions, shipboard, deployed) and will include Air and Ground Reconfigurable Virtual Collective Trainers (RVCTs), a Soldier/Squad Virtual Training (S/SVT), and a live training capability. The STE will be cloud-enabled, compatible with the Army Enterprise Network, and service-based through the Common Operating Environment, including Live and Constructive. The STE will provide the realistic repetitions necessary to fight 25 bloodless battles before the first battle. The cited research is consistent with the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering priority focus areas, the Army modernization strategy, and supports the STE Cross Functional Team efforts. Work in this Project is performed by the Soldier Center (SC).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| STE Training Management Tool | 1.4 | — | — |
| STE One World Terrain | 3.0 | 0.8 | — |

> 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

This Program Element (PE) matures and demonstrates Soldier Lethality technologies that improve Soldier operational performance by increasing lethality, mobility, protection, and optimizing situational awareness across the spectrum of operating environments and missions. This PE matures Soldier weapons and enabling components / subsystems, demonstrates lethal weapons systems with potential to provide greater lethality, target acquisition, fire control, and range at a significantly reduced weight for optimized Soldier and Small Unit system performance.

## Related program elements

- [0604774D8Z — Defense Readiness Reporting System (DRRS)](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604774D8Z) (Defense-Wide)
- [0604617F — Agile Combat Support](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604617F) (Air Force)
- [0605038A — Nuclear Biological Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle (NBCRV) Sensor Suite](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605038A) (Army)
- [0603116A — Lethality Advanced Technology](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603116A) (Army)

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Army RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-3, PE 0603118A (PB PB2027); FY2027 NDAA committee marks (as of 2026-07-27).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0603118A")`.

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