# Project MD71 — Advanced Concepts and Performance Assessments

**Program element:** 0603176C — Advanced Concepts and Performance Assessment  
**Project:** MD71  
**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/0603176C/MD71  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603176C

## Summary

Project MD71 — Advanced Concepts and Performance Assessments requests $0.0M in FY2027, down 100% on FY2026. 1 R-2A activity decomposes the request.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 16.6 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 26.2 |
| FY2027 | Request | 0.0 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 0.0 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 0.0 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 0.0 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 0.0 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 0603176C; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project MD71 buys

ACPA centralizes advanced technology concept modeling, simulation, software, and analysis. Integrating models of promising disruptive technical solutions into Missile Defense System system-level simulations enables leadership to make data driven acquisition and technology investment decisions. Assess concepts that improve or adapt existing systems to address capability gaps and increase readiness to act in defending the Homeland and its Allies. Examples of efforts required to quantify the contribution of disruptive technologies may include, but are not limited to, environmental experimentation and phenomenological characterization required for new sensor concepts, advanced weapon technologies, and emerging directed energy concepts. In addition, facilitate stakeholder collaboration on advanced concepts to ensure transition into functional areas and programs of record. Using a technology development testbed approach, ACPA enables assessment and characterization of disruptive and incremental technology improvements to inform requirements and evaluate missile defense elements, components, and/or sub-component technologies and to assess maturity as it relates to readiness for transition to the future Missile Defense System. ACPA promotes informed decision making early in the acquisition life-cycle to maximize investments and successful transition into the Missile Defense System.

## Activities (R-2A) — 1

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Concepts and Performance Assessment | 16.6 | 26.2 | 0.0 | −100% | — |

> 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.

### Advanced Concepts and Performance Assessment

**FY2027 planned work.** No funding is requested in FY 2027.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Decrease from FY 2026 to FY 2027 reflects the transfer of requirements from PE 0603176C ACPA into PE 0603180C Advanced Research. This action provides for accelerated development of advanced capabilities, demonstrations, and prototypes to counter rapidly evolving threats by utilizing investments in disruptive technologies.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Congressional Add: Magnesium Coating for Aerospace ($5.0 million) - Develop, optimize, test, and scale up magnesium coating process for relevant missile defense applications. Congressional Add: Power Source for Directed Energy Orbital Missile Defense Systems ($3.0 million) - Demonstrate technology feasibility of critical components within power source design. Congressional Add: Guam Defense System Engagement Enhancement ($1.5 million) - Enhances Guam's defense readiness against the demand of evolving Indo-Pacific threats by optimizing defensive engagements and producing automated time series of engagement decisions. This effort supports the Pacific Deterrence Initiative.

## 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/0603176C.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Office of the Secretary of Defense RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 0603176C project MD71 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0603176C")`.

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