# Project 095 — Directed Energy Test

**Program element:** 0603941D8Z — Test and Evaluation Science and Technology  
**Project:** 095  
**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/095  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603941D8Z

## Summary

Project 095 — Directed Energy Test requests $10.4M in FY2027, 0.3% of the $3.83B requested for program element 0603941D8Z, up 2.4% on FY2026. 1 R-2A activity decomposes the request.

**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 | 2.5 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 10.1 |
| FY2027 | Request | 10.4 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 10.6 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 10.8 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 11.0 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 11.2 |

> 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 095 buys

The Department is exploring the military utility, safety, and suitability of directed energy weapons. A robust test capability to assess directed energy weapons is essential to understanding their effectiveness and limitations, including determining their effectiveness in performing counter improvised explosive device (C-IED) operations and counter UAS operations. Such assessments will depend upon knowledge acquired through the test and evaluation (T&E) of directed energy technologies and testing of operational concepts. Directed energy weapon technologies, primarily consisting of high energy lasers (HEL) and high powered microwaves (HPM), are outpacing available test capabilities. Traditional test techniques for evaluating conventional munitions (with flight times ranging from seconds to minutes) are not sufficient for the T&E of directed energy weapons that place energy on target instantaneously. Consequently, new test technology solutions are needed to ensure that adequate developmental, live-fire, and operational test capabilities are available when directed energy programs are ready to test. Directed energy system and component testing requires three principal assessments: (1) energy or power on target; (2) the effects on the target; and (3) the propagation of the directed energy to the target through the atmosphere. In addition, the vulnerabilities of Blue systems to directed energy threats are required to be characterized, such as those requirements captured in Military Standard (MIL-STD)-464C. Equally as important, current test capabilities do not provide the detailed data required to understand U.S. directed energy system performance and effects. The technology development efforts within the Directed Energy Test (DET) project have been prioritized to align with Department guidance on science and technology priority investments. As such, the DET project is developing the technologies necessary for quantitative assessment of United States (U.S.) HEL and HPM performance, as well as the vulnerability of Blue weapon systems to enemy directed energy threats.

## Activities (R-2A) — 1

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Directed Energy Test | 2.5 | 10.1 | 10.4 | +2% | [a0](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603941D8Z/095/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.

### Directed Energy Test

In FY 2027, DET will continue to address test technology maturation needs addressing: - Kill chain assessment for Directed Energy systems in operationally relevant environments to include survivability assessments - Directed Energy Weapon systems testing shifts from demonstration of prototypes to fielded systems and programs of record

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603941D8Z/095/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 095 (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.*