# Project RD — NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGIES AND CAPABILITIES DEVELOPMENT

**Program element:** 0603160BR — Counter Weapons OF MASS Destruction Advanced Technology Development  
**Project:** RD  
**Component:** Defense-Wide  
**Appropriation:** 0400 — RDT&E, Defense-Wide  
**Budget Activity:** 3 — Advanced Technology Development  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603160BR/RD  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603160BR

## Summary

Project RD — NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGIES AND CAPABILITIES DEVELOPMENT requests $94.9M in FY2027, 19% of the $509.2M requested for program element 0603160BR, up 10% on FY2026. 1 R-2A activity decomposes the request.

**Markets:** Nuclear Modernization — matched on the project title only, and no market size is quoted.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 74.4 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 85.9 |
| FY2027 | Request | 94.9 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 93.1 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 93.8 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 94.8 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 96.5 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 0603160BR; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project RD buys

The Nuclear Technologies and Capabilities Development project encompasses the following areas: RDT&E to identify, develop, and exploit signatures associated with nuclear threats in support of U.S. capabilities that detect and interdict such threats; and locate, identify, and track special nuclear material and improve detection factors such as range, time, sensitivity, and accuracy to enhance Service and Special Mission Unit capabilities. These efforts support Department of War (DoW) requirements for countering terrorism, counter proliferation, nonproliferation, countering rogue states, and homeland defense. RDT&E to systematically study signatures associated with adversary nuclear programs and nuclear detonations to gain knowledge or understanding necessary to: determine technical capabilities needed to improve DoW contingency planning activities; improve DoW situational awareness on the nuclear battlefield; and improve capabilities to attribute the source of a nuclear detonation. Research and develop innovative technologies for the protection of mission-essential personnel, critical military and national defense capabilities, and associated control and support systems during a nuclear event. Research under this project supports the mission critical systems identified under DoD Instruction 3150.09, Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Survivability Policy. System vulnerability research develops nuclear assessment capabilities to support operational planning, weapons effects predictions, and strategic system design. This activity also provides the DoW’s nuclear design and protection standards for new and existing systems, e.g., command and control facilities and aircraft. Key systems include the Nuclear Command and Control System, the net-centric thin-line, and both military and civilian satellites and associated support systems. Experimental capabilities research provides the warfighter with unique x-ray, gamma ray, and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) test capabilities in support of system survivability development, certification, and sustainment. These efforts also support international collaboration, user groups, case study reviews, and the Joint Atomic Information Exchange Group. The human survivability effort conducts research to develop and validate mortality and morbidity models associated with radiological and nuclear weapon effects.

## Activities (R-2A) — 1

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RD: Nuclear Technologies and Capabilities Development | 74.4 | 80.9 | 94.9 | +17% | [a0](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603160BR/RD/a0) |

> Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. In the request year they partition this project exactly; in earlier years they can under-cover it.

### RD: Nuclear Technologies and Capabilities Development

- Complete Interferometric Synthetic-Aperture Radar (InSAR) analyses as potential new space-based treaty verification regime. - Complete prototype development of a nuclear detection ground debris measurement tool/capability, demonstrate the capability at a forensics exercise. - Integrate planning tools into Mission Impacts of Nuclear…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603160BR/RD/a0

## What is NOT on this page

Congressional marks, the R-2 mission description and acquisition strategy, the industry vs government split of the whole request, and related program elements are recorded at **program-element** grain — an NDAA mark lands on a PE, never on a project. They are at https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603160BR.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Office of the Secretary of Defense RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 0603160BR project RD (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0603160BR")`.

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