# ISR and Sensors Studies and Concepts

**R-2A activity** of project DAT-02 — ISR AND SENSORS  
**Program element:** 0603467E — DARPA Advanced Technology Development  
**Component:** Defense-Wide · **Budget Activity:** 3  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603467E/DAT-02/a3  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603467E/DAT-02

## Summary

This activity requests $103.1M in FY2027, 81% of project DAT-02, up 190% on FY2026. The R-2A exhibit describes it across FY2026–FY2027, including what the FY2027 money is planned to buy.

## What the FY2027 request buys

**FY2027 planned work.** - Review modeling and sensor designs for a novel sensor system. - Conduct critical design review on potential sensor system design. - Validate subsystem performance through laboratory and operational testing. - Develop hardware and processing prototypes for data collection, analysis, and verification. - Generate scaled models of target platforms and radar measurement system. - Develop and deploy radar measurement system to test ranges for platform measurements. - Assess algorithms for accuracy and computational power required. - Assess payload design trade study for power consumption and revisit times. - Integrate next generation technologies for capability capture and relocation technologies. - Investigate different approaches for swarm guidance algorithms. - Demonstrate swarm guidance algorithms in a constructive environment. - Conduct size, weight, and power tradeoffs study to enable system endurance. - Investigate opportunities for countermeasures to specific sensing systems.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** The FY 2027 increase reflects studies and concepts initiations including, but not limited to, the advancement of new technologies to model and design novel sensor systems, and to support development of swarm guidance algorithms, radar measurement systems, capability capture and relocation technologies and countermeasures.

## Before the request year

**FY2026 plans — current year.** - Conduct data collection to support concept development for imaging across the frequency spectrum. - Generate preliminary low-resolution and high-resolution images for further study. - Identify system models and software to integrate models with a sensor suite. - Develop robust sensor to test functionality and survivability in austere environments. - Demonstrate tactical use-case scenarios. - Investigate algorithms and modeling simulations for delivery. - Examine robust sensors to test functionality and survivability in austere environments. - Identify modeling and simulation approaches to initiate advancement of systems to achieve non-kinetic, radio frequency effects. - Quantify mission operational impact of photonically assisted wideband spatial-spectral processors.

## Funding

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | Enacted | 35.6 |
| FY2027 | Request | 103.1 |

> Prior, current and budget year only — an R-2A activity carries no five-year plan. It sums exactly into its project in the request year and not necessarily in any other.

## Other activities in project DAT-02

- [Frosty](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603467E/DAT-02/a2) — FY2027 18.2
- Track at Big Distances with Track-Before-Detect (TBD2) — FY2027 4.0
- Cancun — FY2027 1.7
- Large Area Photocathode (LAP) — FY2027 —
- Dynamic Optimization for Defense of Ground bases with Electromagnetic warfare (DODGEball) — FY2027 —

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Office of the Secretary of Defense RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibit R-2A, PE 0603467E project DAT-02 (PB PB2027). Narrative is the government's own text.
- **No marks, no contractors at this grain** — congressional marks land on the program element and R-3 performers on the project.
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_activity`.

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