# Battlespace Knowledge Development and Demonstration — Program Element 0603788F

**Program element:** 0603788F  
**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/0603788F

## Summary

U.S. Air Force requests $31.9M in FY2027, sustained across the five-year plan. In the FY2027 defense authorization, the House added 47% (to $46.9M); the Senate funded it in full; House appropriators added 119% (to $69.9M).

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 53.5 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 32.4 |
| FY2027 | Request | 31.9 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 34.5 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 35.8 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 36.6 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 37.4 |

> Estimate types are not summed — the profile mixes actuals, enacted law, the request, and outyear projections.

## Congressional marks (FY2027)

| Stage | Marked ($M) | Change ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| Request | 31.9 | — |
| House NDAA (HASC) | 46.9 | +15.0 |
| Senate NDAA (SASC) | 31.9 | +0.0 |
| House Approps (HAC-D) | 69.9 | +38.0 |

> FY2027 NDAA authorization marks, as of 2026-07-27. Not appropriations or final law.

## Projects (2)

| Project | Title | FY2025 actual | FY2026 enacted | FY2027 request | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 635321 | C4I and Cyber Battlespace Development & Demonstration | 44.3 | 19.9 | 31.9 | +60% |
| 635329 | Cyber Battlespace Dev & Demo | 9.2 | 12.5 | 0.0 | −100% |

> Projects are the summable leaves: the program element total is their sum, never added to it.

### Project 635321 — C4I and Cyber Battlespace Development & Demonstration

This Project supports the Department of the Air Force's (DAF) strategic objectives by advancing cutting-edge research technologies critical for achieving multi-domain superiority and operational agility across the full spectrum of military operations. Specifically, it enables the DAF and DoW to: (1) develop and implement Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) capabilities, ensuring seamless integration across land, air, space, and cyber domains for effective joint decision making, command, and operational execution; (2) field and sustain assured, resilient, and high-capacity communications and networks, providing enduring support for global, persistent, and survivable military operations—both kinetic and non-kinetic—critical to maintaining a strategic advantage and operational continuity in contested environments; and (3) design and deploy advanced systems to process, fuse, and exploit real-time data from diverse sources, empowering decision-makers with enhanced situational awareness and enabling rapid, data-driven decisions to outpace adversaries. Beginning in FY 2027, this Project will support the development and deployment of advanced cyber capabilities to ensure superiority in both offensive and defensive operations, as well as to maintain resilience in contested cyber environments. This will ensure operational continuity and effectiveness of military forces across all domains, both in peacetime and in conflict. This will include: (i) Cyber offense capabilities - enabling access, stealth, and persistence within adversary networks, while leveraging advanced intelligence collection and non-kinetic weapons to disrupt, degrade, or destroy enemy capabilities, ensuring strategic advantage in both peacetime and conflict scenarios. (ii) Cyber defense capabilities - establishing robust defenses to detect, attribute, and respond to cyberattacks, ensuring the integrity of critical systems, networks, and data, while actively mitigating threats and neutralizing adversary attempts to compromise U.S. cyber infrastructure. (iii) Cyber resilience capabilities - developing systems and protocols for rapid adaptation, recovery, and sustained survivability of critical assets and operations, ensuring the DAF can continue to function effectively even in the face of sophisticated and persistent cyber threats.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combined Joint All-Domain Command & Control | 4.8 | 5.9 | 4.2 |
| Multi-Domain Sensemaking | 0.0 | 6.0 | 5.3 |
| Data to Decisions | 4.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Game Changing Computing Power | 1.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Assured Communications & Networks | 6.9 | 6.0 | 7.1 |
| Cyber Offensive and Defensive Technologies | 0.0 | 0.0 | 15.4 |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project 635329 — Cyber Battlespace Dev & Demo

This Project supports the Department of the Air Force's (DAF) strategic objectives by advancing cutting-edge research technologies critical for achieving total dominance in cyberspace. The DAF requires the development and deployment of advanced cyber capabilities to ensure superiority in both offensive and defensive operations, as well as to maintain resilience in contested cyber environments. This includes: 1) Cyber offense capabilities - enabling access, stealth, and persistence within adversary networks, while leveraging advanced intelligence collection and non-kinetic weapons to disrupt, degrade, or destroy enemy capabilities, ensuring strategic advantage in both peacetime and conflict scenarios. 2) Cyber defense capabilities - establishing robust defenses to detect, attribute, and respond to cyberattacks, ensuring the integrity of critical systems, networks, and data, while actively mitigating threats and neutralizing adversary attempts to compromise U.S. cyber infrastructure. 3) Cyber resilience - developing systems and protocols for rapid adaptation, recovery, and sustained survivability of critical assets and operations, ensuring the DAF can continue to function effectively even in the face of sophisticated and persistent cyber threats. The efforts in this Project directly support the DAF's and DoW's imperative to secure and maintain dominance in the cyber domain, ensuring the operational continuity and effectiveness of military forces across all domains, both in peacetime and in conflict.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cyber Offensive and Defensive Technologies | 9.2 | 12.5 | 0.0 |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

## Mission & acquisition strategy

This program is accomplished by Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). AFRL is focused on high-impact, multi-domain science & technology (S&T) solutions that drive innovation now while laying the groundwork for the Air and Space Force to win the future fight. AFRL effectively synchronizes the Department of the Air Force (DAF) S&T enterprise and workforce to align towards the most consequential DAF priorities and accelerate the delivery of game-changing S&T. Funds in this PE may be used to investigate specified technology advancements in air, space and/or cyber domains.

## Related program elements

- [0603605F — Advanced Weapons Technology](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603605F) (Air Force)
- [0602204F — Aerospace Sensors](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602204F) (Air Force)
- [0602184A — Soldier Applied Research](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602184A) (Army)
- [0602213A — C3I Applied Cyber](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602213A) (Army)

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-3, PE 0603788F (PB PB2027); FY2027 NDAA committee marks (as of 2026-07-27).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0603788F")`.

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