# Project 635323 — Human Effectiveness Technology Demonstrations

**Program element:** 0603456F — Human Effectiveness Advanced Technology Development  
**Project:** 635323  
**Component:** U.S. Air Force  
**Appropriation:** 3600 — RDT&E, Air Force  
**Budget Activity:** 3 — Advanced Technology Development  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603456F/635323  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603456F

## Summary

Project 635323 — Human Effectiveness Technology Demonstrations requests $20.3M in FY2027, 100% of the $20.3M requested for program element 0603456F, up 315% on FY2026. 4 R-2A activities decompose the request, 3 new this cycle.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 5.9 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 4.9 |
| FY2027 | Request | 20.3 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 17.8 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 21.4 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 21.8 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 22.3 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 0603456F; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project 635323 buys

This Project develops, demonstrates, and transitions Human Effectiveness technologies required for Department of the Air Force (DAF) warfighters to win future wars through enabling, augmenting and protecting warfighter performance. This project demonstrates technologies to predict, evaluate, and mitigate the effects of novel weapon systems on personnel and mission performance, and exploits the offensive capabilities of directed energy systems, developing modeling and simulation tools to unite bioeffects and human performance models from across the Department of the Air Force (DAF) in support of Digital Transformation initiatives. In addition, this Project develops, demonstrates, and prepares for transition technologies that provide Airman-integrated capabilities to sustain, enhance, and augment airmen physical and cognitive performance under challenging and adverse operational and training mission environments; maturing technologies to provide commanders real time status monitoring and assessment of individual's mission ready status and intervention protocols to accelerate restoral to combat readiness. Further, this Project develops, demonstrates, and transitions advanced training, simulation, mission rehearsal, and other performance-aiding methods and technologies to enhance warfighter readiness focusing on integrated high-fidelity weapon systems training technologies; tailored immersive simulation environments for airmen at the tactical and operational levels; and incorporation of performance assessment and feedback tools. Finally, this Project develops, demonstrates, and readies the transition of technologies to revolutionize the way airmen optimize multi-Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Battle Management Command and Control, Command, Control, Communications and Battle Management, and intel analysis capabilities of DAF systems, including autonomous machines, and adaptive teams of Airmen and machines.

## Activities (R-2A) — 4

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airman Machine Interfaces | 0.0 | 0.0 | 8.9 | new | — |
| Directed Energy Bioeffects | 5.9 | 4.9 | 4.9 | +0% | — |
| Readiness Technology Development | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.2 | new | — |
| Biotechnology for Performance Research and Demonstration | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.3 | new | — |

> 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.

### Airman Machine Interfaces — NEW START

**FY2027 planned work.** -Continue developing Advanced Command and Control software for distributed operations by advancing the long-range kill web-Enabling Technologies and developing the associated distributed Planning and Command and Control tools. -Continue developing Collaborative interfaces that leverage Artificial Intelligence, conducting a critical examination of the introduced Artificial Intelligence synthetic agents and expanding mission Planning tools for Autonomous assets. -Continue developing Artificial Intelligence-aided full-mission planning technology for Airmen and Guardians by conducting evaluations of the integrated mission planning, debrief, and Human-Machine Interfaces for contingency management. -Continue demonstrations of advanced joint all-domain battle management system technology, demonstrating further software system advancements to the Command, Control, Communications, and Battle Management program office and Joint Fires Network program office. -Continue developing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission planning tools by conducting evaluations of the transitioned cloud software tools with Air Combat Command, the Air Operations Center Program Office, and other Agency partners. -Continue Human-Machine Interface Development for Collaborative Combat Aircraft and integration with mission planning and debrief, conducting data analysis of the human effectiveness evaluations from tech demos like Fight Tonight and Resolute Sentry to inform mission feasibility. -Continue Human-Machine Interface Development for Air campaign Planning control between services and partner nations, delivering the Supervisory Handling Platform for Remote Direction System as a foundational Air and ground control interface. Includes collaborative work with Australia and Sweden under project agreements for shared interest in Human-Machine Interface in-cockpit Command and Control technology for Autonomous Collaborative Platforms / Collaborative Combat Aircraft.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** FY 2027 funding increased compared to FY 2026 by $8.937 million due to the transfer of the Airman Machine Interfaces effort and associated funding within this Program Element from Project 635325/Warfighter Interfaces to Project 635323/ Directed Energy Bioeffects Parameters. However, the overall funding for the Airman Machine Interfaces effort increased from FY 2026 by $4.538 million due to increased emphasis on accelerating human-machine teaming technology maturation and advancing next generation command and control interfaces.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** In the FY 2025 and FY 2026, the Airman Machines Interfaces effort and funding were reported in Program Element 0603456F/ Human Effectiveness Advanced Technology Development Project 635327 / Warfighter Interfaces. FY 2025 funding was $1.290 million, and FY 2026 funding is $4.399 million.

### Directed Energy Bioeffects

**FY2027 planned work.** -Continue providing hazard analysis for directed energy and novel weapon systems, maturing modeling capabilities to improve hazard assessments and conducting performance analysis to support the required directed energy weapon review and approval process for novel systems. -Continue providing human-based design requirements addressing operational and mission performance of counter-directed energy technologies, delivering expert analysis for the Nuclear Flash Blindness Protection and Aircrew Laser Eye Protection Block 4 programs. -Continue demonstrating and integrating high peak power radio frequency and laser human effects assessment models to address real world concerns, providing subject matter expertise for American National Standards Institute and NATO safety standards and transitioning validated modeling & simulation plugins to other AFRL directorates. -Complete integration of radio frequency and optical radiation hazards and behavioral analysis into engagement-level modeling, simulation and analysis tools, delivering plugins to the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Armament Directorate. Includes the development and testing an radio frequency propagator within Air Force Targeting Effects Software -Complete development of the agile laser Eye Protection tool and deliver tool to aid in the development of laser Eye Protection by modeling optical filter characteristics including optical radiation Protection requirements and visual performance parameters. -Commence advanced development and evaluation of Real-time Collateral Assessment Models of directed energy bioeffects demonstrating new validated capabilities for personnel hazard assessments. Includes maturing and testing the High Energy Laser Bioeffects Analysis Tool supporting the directed energy weapon review and approval process, in alignment with the OUSW (R&E) Directed Energy Roadmap. -Commence wargaming event participation to validate new directed energy vision effect models using Virtual Reality environments for man-in-the-loop scenarios. Includes identifying new scenarios, developing and testing plug-ins of bioeffects and vision models, and integrating them into wargaming and Advanced Research simulations.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** FY 2027 funding Increased compared to FY 2026 by 4.910 million due to the transfer of the Directed Energy Bioeffects effort and associated funding within this Program Element from Project 635323 / Directed Energy Bioeffects Parameters to Project 635323/ Human Effectiveness Technology Demonstration. However, the overall funding for the Directed Energy Bioeffects effort increased from FY 2026 by 0.010 million due to minor programmatic adjustments to the DAF Science and Technology portfolio. FY2025 funding was 5.858 million and FY2026 Funding is 4.900 million.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** -Continue to provide hazard analysis for directed energy and novel weapon systems under development, demonstrating new validated capabilities for personnel hazard assessments by conducting reflectance measurements and analysis to support the required directed energy weapon review and approval process. -Continue to provide human-based design requirements optimizing operational and mission performance for counter-directed energy weapon technologies by providing subject matter expertise and modeling & simulation analysis. -Continue to demonstrate and integrate high peak power radio frequency and laser human effects assessment models and tools to address real world concerns by providing modeling and simulation analysis as well as subject matter expertise for laser and radio frequency safety standards -Continue the integration of radio frequency and optical radiation hazards and behavioral analysis into engagement-level modeling, simulation and analysis tools for future transitions in mission-level tool suites to support formal studies and analyses. -Continue development of integrated vision modeling libraries to optimize agile laser eye protection technologies including integrating modeling and simulation capabilities into existing architectures for weaponeering and mission level analyses. -Continue development of the Agile Laser Eye Protection Analysis Tool to produce an integrated modeling environment for optimizing devices for optical radiation eye protection, and to mitigate the visual impact of optical radiation on airman-machine interfaces, visual performance, and operational effectiveness. -Continue the environment validation phase of operational reference mission analysis of directed energy collateral effects at advanced technology class of targets, enabling mid-term employment of directed energy weapons by delivering an updated probabilistic/deterministic laser risk assessment tool for airborne laser target designators. -Complete the Virtual Reality component for vision effects through transition of laser dazzle simulations into operational applications including development and testing of plug-ins of Bioeffects models and integrating them into wargaming and simulation laboratories.

### Readiness Technology Development — NEW START

**FY2027 planned work.** -Continue integrating training management, data tracking tools, and interfaces into the Synthetic training Infrastructure by improving and upgrading the specific exercise tracking and debrief tools at the Distributed Training Center and Distributed Mission Operations Center. -Continue field evaluations of the proficiency-based training infrastructure by updating hardware and software at the Distributed Training Center and Distributed Mission Operations Center based on lessons learned from effectiveness evaluations. -Continue systematic evaluations of live-virtual-constructive technology on operational readiness by expanding the deployment of simulator fidelity models to more Distributed Mission Operation locations and using analysis findings and lessons learned to guide optimal simulating/scenario training mixes. -Continue Research and Development to integrate Distributed Mission Operation and Joint Simulation Environment architectures in Air Force Research Laboratory testbeds, developing interoperability mechanisms to support Air Combat Command and Air Force Life Cycle Management Center goals for training across legacy and next-generation platforms. -Continue Modeling and Simulation Integration Lab work supporting the F-35 emulated non-operational Flight Program Interoperability Xperience program and Joint Simulation Environment advancements, conducting experimentation and testing in Air Force Research Laboratory testbeds to support Department of the Air Force Chief Modeling and Simulation Office and customer goals. -Continue secure fighter Integration blending training demonstrations, incorporating Autonomous Collaborative Platform models into events to evaluate the training and human machine interface for Command and control; transition to Department of the Air Force training bases and coalition forces. -Continue development of the Readiness Environment for All Domain Integration next-generation training architecture/framework by completing hardware acquisitions and tailoring network and continuous integration/continuous development software pipelines to support rapid, reconfigurable research. -Complete Joint Simulation Environment integration and interoperability development supporting Synthetic Command, Control, Communications and Battle Management training, delivering all integration code and performance analysis to document the demonstrated E-7 simulation capability. -Complete work to integrate and evaluate the just-in-time training demonstration, finalizing data analysis and reporting from exercise Northern Strike 25-2 to identify transition opportunities.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** FY 2027 funding increased compared to FY 2026 by $4.201 million due to the transfer of the Readiness Technology Development effort and associated funding within this Program Element from Project 635325 / Mission Effective Parameters to Project 635323 / Human Effectiveness Technology Demonstration. However, the overall funding for the Readiness Technology Development effort decreased from FY 2026 by $1.882 million due to reprioritization of the mission sets evaluated. This reduction reflects programmatic adjustments to the DAF Science and Technology portfolio for strategic realignment to optimize core research areas and improve resource efficiency.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** In the FY 2025 and FY 2026, the Readiness Technology Demonstration effort and funding were reported in Program Element 0603456F/ Human Effectiveness Advanced Technology Development Project 635325 / Mission Effective Performance. FY 2025 funding was $3.638 million, and FY 2026 funding is $6.083 million.

### Biotechnology for Performance Research and Demonstration — NEW START

**FY2027 planned work.** -Continue development of physio-cognitive state prototype system by executing high-altitude chamber and centrifuge testing to validate AI-enabled state assessment for aircrew. -Complete system development of the Fatigue Optimized Cognition Under Stress (FOCUS) fatigue Management system, delivering final data analysis, lessons learned, and identifying future transition opportunities with AFRL and other customers. -Complete the transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation (tVNS) fatigue countermeasure demonstration, delivering final test results, lessons learned, and user documentation to prepare for transition to DoW users.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** FY 2027 funding increased compared to FY 2026 by $2.290 million due to the transfer of the Biotechnology for Performance Research and Demonstration effort and associated funding within this Program Element from Project 635324/Biosciences Performance Demonstration to Project 635323/ Human Effectiveness Technology Demonstration. However, the overall funding for the Biotechnology for Performance Research and Demonstration effort decreased from FY 2026 by $1.877 million due to completion of three major activities: integration of eye-tracking fatigue assessment algorithm, development of secure, cloud-based data system for in-flight physiological data, and development of Airmen/Aircrew fatigue management system. This reduction also reflects programmatic adjustments to the DAF Science and Technology portfolio for strategic realignment to optimize core research areas and improve resource efficiency.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** In FY 2025 and FY 2026, the Biotechnology for Performance Research and Demonstration effort and funding were reported in Program Element 0603456F/ Human Effectiveness Advanced Technology Development Project 635324 / Biosciences Performance Demonstration. FY 2025 funding was $2.763 million, and FY 2026 funding is $4.167 million.

## 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/0603456F.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 0603456F project 635323 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0603456F")`.

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