# Project 633151 — Directed Energy Technology Development

**Program element:** 0603605F — Advanced Weapons Technology  
**Project:** 633151  
**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/0603605F/633151  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603605F

## Summary

Project 633151 — Directed Energy Technology Development requests $13.7M in FY2027, 100% of the $13.7M requested for program element 0603605F — a new start, with no prior-year and no current-year money. 2 R-2A activities decompose the request, 2 new this cycle.

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

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 0.0 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 0.0 |
| FY2027 | Request | 13.7 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 14.6 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 19.4 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 20.7 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 20.8 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 0603605F; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project 633151 buys

This Project develops and demonstrates integrated, state of the art, high energy laser (HEL) weapon demonstrator systems to satisfy Department of the Air Force requirements in areas including, counter unmanned aerial systems (c-UAS), counter intelligence/surveillance/reconnaissance (c-ISR), and counter missiles (c-Missile) for High Value Airborne Asset (HVAA) protection and point defense. In addition, this Project develops and demonstrates high power microwave and other unconventional electromagnetic field generation and transmission technologies that can be integrated into future weapon systems to support a wide range of the Department of the Air Force missions such as air base defense or the damage/destruction of an adversary's electronic infrastructure. It also provides inputs to the susceptibility, vulnerability, and lethality databases used across the Department of War to understand thresholds for scalable effects of directed energy weapons. Technologies developed under Program Element 0602605F / Directed Energy Technology feed directly into this Project.

## Activities (R-2A) — 2

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Power Microwave Technologies | 0.0 | 0.0 | 10.3 | new | [a1](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603605F/633151/a1) |
| High Energy Laser/Beam Control | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.4 | 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.

### High Power Microwave Technologies — NEW START

- Complete base defense demonstrations of Directed Energy Frontline Electromagnetic Neutralization and Defeat (DEFEND) system in collaboration with the Navy. Activities include: Demonstrating of full kill chain in testing; Work with warfighters to develop CONOPS, CONEMPS, and TTPs. - Continue design effort of airborne HPM systems. This…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603605F/633151/a1

### High Energy Laser/Beam Control — NEW START

**FY2027 planned work.** - Resume design and simulation of an optimized airborne laser weapon system demonstrator for counter unmanned aerial systems (c-UAS) and counter intelligence/surveillance/reconnaissance (c-ISR) missions. Activities include: employing the validated predictive, multi-physics, modeling tools and model-based systems engineering (MBSE) and digital engineering practices/constructs developed under PE 0602605F / Directed Energy Technology, Project 625173 / Laser Technology, to develop optimized system concepts and down-select the top candidate for the capability demonstration planned for FY 2028. - Commence integrated airborne laser weapon system demonstrator hardware development for counter unmanned aerial systems (c-UAS) and counter intelligence/surveillance/reconnaissance (c-ISR) missions. Activities include: identifying the necessary subsystem technologies developed under PE 0602605F / Directed Energy Technology, Project 625173 / Laser Technology, defining subsystem interfaces and platform integration requirements, and initial system integration activities. Final capability demonstration projected to occur in FY 2028.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** FY 2027 increased compared to FY 2026 by $3.423 million due to resumption of the previously paused effort to perform an airborne demonstration for counter unmanned aerial system (cUAS).

**FY2026 plans — current year.** - Stop work on testing and demonstrating a packaged high-energy laser (HEL) and beam control subsystem. - Stop work on planning for next phase of advanced integrated technologies for compact, low-size, weight and power (SWaP) airborne laser weapon system.

## 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/0603605F.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 0603605F project 633151 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0603605F")`.

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