# Project 091 — High Speed Systems Test

**Program element:** 0603941D8Z — Test and Evaluation Science and Technology  
**Project:** 091  
**Component:** Defense-Wide  
**Appropriation:** 0400 — RDT&E, Defense-Wide  
**Budget Activity:** 3 — Advanced Technology Development  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603941D8Z/091  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603941D8Z

## Summary

Project 091 — High Speed Systems Test requests $1.47B in FY2027, 38% of the $3.83B requested for program element 0603941D8Z, up 946% on FY2026. 1 R-2A activity decomposes the request.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 191.9 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 140.9 |
| FY2027 | Request | 1,473.5 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 1,451.7 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 1,373.3 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 1,238.1 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 1,139.8 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 0603941D8Z; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project 091 buys

High-speed/hypersonic weapons are being developed to ensure the continued military superiority and strike capability of the United States including freedom of movement and freedom of action in areas protected by anti-access/area denial defenses. Current weapon system demonstrations and technology development programs include high-speed and hypersonic air-breathing missiles, maneuvering reentry and boost-glide weapons, hypersonic gun-launched projectiles, and air-breathing space access vehicles. These systems require development of conventional and high-speed turbine, ramjet, scramjet, and combined cycle engines; high temperature materials; thermal protection systems (TPS); and thermal management systems. The High Speed Systems Test (HSST) project addresses test technology needs including propulsion, aerodynamic and aerothermal testing, so the test community has the technology to support the required test scenarios for concepts under development in the S&T community. The technology developments within the HSST project align with the Department’s S&T priority investments. As such, the HSST project is developing, validating and transitioning advanced T&E technologies for ground test, open-air range flight test, and advanced computational tools, along with instrumentation and diagnostics systems for use in both ground tests and flight tests of high speed systems. The HSST project develops technologies to enable robust, accurate, and timely T&E of these future weapon systems. Department acquisition regulations require weapon systems to undergo a thorough T&E process to detect deficiencies early and to ensure system suitability and survivability. However, the extreme environments in which these weapons operate preclude accurate determination of their performance and operability with today’s T&E assets. Current national test capabilities have deficiencies in data accuracy, flight condition replication and simulation, test methods, productivity, modeling and simulation (M&S) fidelity, and range safety. The HSST mission is to address these national test capability gaps by providing test technology solutions that will enable high-speed and hypersonic weapon systems to be successfully developed through accurate, robust, and efficient T&E.

## Activities (R-2A) — 1

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Speed Systems Test (HSST) | 154.9 | 77.9 | 1,473.5 | +1792% | [a0](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603941D8Z/091/a0) |

> 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 Speed Systems Test (HSST)

In FY 2027, HSST will continue to support the Department’s strategic goals of modernizing ground test facilities to “fly” hypersonic missions on the ground and accelerating the ability to conduct flight testing anywhere in the world. Highlights include: - Test the protype HAPCAT variable Mach nozzle in order to evaluate its performance…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603941D8Z/091/a0

## 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/0603941D8Z.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Office of the Secretary of Defense RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 0603941D8Z project 091 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0603941D8Z")`.

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