# Scaled Hypersonics Studies and Concepts

**R-2A activity** of project ACX-01 — ADVANCED COMPLEX SYSTEMS  
**Program element:** 0603468E — Advanced Complex Systems  
**Component:** Defense-Wide · **Budget Activity:** 3  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603468E/ACX-01/a10  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603468E/ACX-01

> **NEW START.** $56.0M requested in FY2027 with no prior-year and no current-year funding.

## Summary

This activity requests $56.0M in FY2027, 11% of project ACX-01 — a new start with no prior-year and no current-year money. The R-2A exhibit describes it across FY2027, including what the FY2027 money is planned to buy.

## What the FY2027 request buys

**FY2027 planned work.** - Enhanced Propulsion Efficiency: Analyze new propulsion technologies, such as Rotating Detonation Engines (RDE) among others, that offer the potential for increased fuel efficiency in flight, leading to longer range and reduced operating costs. - Improved Thrust-to-Weight Ratio: Design a higher thrust-to-weight ratio that could enable more agile and responsive aircraft. - Advanced Flight Capabilities: Analyze unique characteristics of new technologies, e.g. RDEs, that could unlock new flight capabilities and operational scenarios. - Higher Thermodynamic Efficiency: Design new propellant methods for increased pressure that allows for more work to be extracted from the combustion process. - Compact Engine Design: Analyze new design spaces for increased efficiency to allow for a more compact engine design for a given power output. - Scalable Production: Develop processes and production lines for high throughputs of hypersonic components.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** The FY 2027 increase reflects studies and concepts initiations including, but not limited to, the advancement of new technologies to enable scalable, fast, and agile production of hypersonic components at significantly reduced costs through enhanced propulsion efficiency, improved thrust-to-weight ratio, advance flight capabilities, higher thermodynamic efficiency and compact engine design.

## Funding

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2027 | Request | 56.0 |

> 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 ACX-01

- [Longshot](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603468E/ACX-01/a1) — FY2027 151.5
- [Advanced Complex Systems Studies and Concepts](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603468E/ACX-01/a11) — FY2027 62.3
- [SPeed and Runway INdependent Technologies (SPRINT) X-Plane Demonstration Project](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603468E/ACX-01/a2) — FY2027 62.1
- [Otter](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603468E/ACX-01/a3) — FY2027 47.7
- Valley Forge — FY2027 37.1
- [Artificial Intelligence (AI) Reinforcements (AIR)](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603468E/ACX-01/a4) — FY2027 32.2
- More Opportunities with HAWC (MoHAWC) — FY2027 20.0
- [Process Intensified Energetics (PIE)](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603468E/ACX-01/a7) — FY2027 13.0
- Lunar Assay via Small Satellite Orbiter (LASSO) — FY2027 8.9
- Rubble to Rockets (R2) — FY2027 7.5
- Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) — FY2027 1.7
- DARPA Lift Challenge — FY2027 —
- Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors (CRANE) — FY2027 —

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Office of the Secretary of Defense RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibit R-2A, PE 0603468E project ACX-01 (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.*