# Hypersonics Prototyping — Program Element 0604033F

**Program element:** 0604033F  
**Component:** U.S. Air Force  
**Appropriation:** 3600 — RDT&E, Air Force  
**Budget Activity:** 4 — Advanced Component Development & Prototypes  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604033F

## Summary

U.S. Air Force requests $345.8M in FY2027 against nothing enacted in FY2026, with nothing planned by FY2031. In the FY2027 defense authorization, the House funded it in full; the Senate funded it in full; House appropriators cut 24% (to $261.7M).

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 0.0 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 0.0 |
| FY2027 | Request | 345.8 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 548.6 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 620.5 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 242.6 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 0.0 |

> 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 | 345.8 | — |
| House NDAA (HASC) | 345.8 | +0.0 |
| Senate NDAA (SASC) | 345.8 | +0.0 |
| House Approps (HAC-D) | 261.7 | −84.0 |

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

## Projects (1)

| Project | Title | FY2025 actual | FY2026 enacted | FY2027 request | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 643882 | Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 345.8 | new start |

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

### Project 643882 — Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW)

The Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) project integrated Air Force and DARPA enabled system technologies enabled this concept to be fielded as a long range prompt strike capability. ARRW designed, developed, manufactured, and tested a number of prototype vehicles to inform decisions concerning ARRW acquisition and production. Future hypersonics development will incubate, mature, and integrate new technologies, processes, and resources for the development and demonstration of hypersonic technology including, but not limited to, infrastructure advancements, digital engineering, open systems architecture, modeling and simulation, analytics, and high performance computing environments. Additionally, future developments will look to mature and integrate existing technologies to improve performance and capability of hypersonic weapons. Investing in hypersonics development will enable the collection of valuable data, building of capacity and capability, allowing hypersonic programs to leverage and build upon each other, and project the overall technology forward. In FY 2022, PE 0101101F, Project ARRW00/AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon, efforts were transferred to PE 0604033F, Hypersonics Prototyping, Project 643882, Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon, in order to mitigate the testing shortfall (PE 0604033F remains RDT&E only). In FY 2026, ARRW Procurement was added to PE 0101101F. The FY 2026 spend plan amount for RDT&E includes 0 thousand of discretionary and 133,334 thousand of mandatory (reconciliation) for a total of 133,334 thousand. This program element included all necessary expenses required to manage, execute, and deliver weapon system capability. The use of such programs funds would be in addition to the civilian pay expenses budgeted in program elements 0605829F, 0605831F, 0605833F, and 0605898F. The Air-Launched Ballistic Missile (ALBM) project integrates Air Force and other system technologies to develop, design, test, manufacture, and field an air-launched, long-range strike capability that complements existing hypersonic weapons. ALBM will mature existing hypersonic weapon technologies to rapidly test, which will inform future production decisions early in the acquisition lifecycle.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) Increment (INC) 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 296.3 |
| ALBM Program | — | 0.0 | 49.5 |

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

## Where the FY2027 request goes

| Category | Share | $M |
|---|---|---|
| Other / unspecified | 100% | 345.8 |

> R-3 exhibit contract funding, not USAspending obligations.

## Mission & acquisition strategy

The Hypersonics Prototyping (Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon) program enables development, integration and demonstration of hypersonic technologies and other key technologies in an operational or operational-like environment to capitalize on successful hypersonic research and development efforts with high warfighter priority. Integration and demonstration of developed technologies and prototype technologies into a hypersonic system allows leadership to make informed strategy and resource decisions for future programs based on the results of such hypersonic demonstrations.

FY27 plans to continue post-MTA technology efforts such as but not limited to integrating pre-planned product improvements, design, trade studies, hardware upgrades, new hardware to increase capability and testing. Acquisition Decision Memorandum (signed 5 Mar 2026) approved Hypersonic Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) Post- Middle tier Acquisition (MTA) Technology Efforts to continue Hypersonic boost glide technology developing and prototyping. Acquisition Decision Memorandum (signed 18 Mar 2025) approved Hypersonic Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) Post- Middle tier Acquisition (MTA) Technology Efforts to continue Hypersonic boost glide technology developing and prototyping.

## Related program elements

- [0605518N — Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS)](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605518N) (Navy)
- [1203154SF — Long Range Kill Chains](https://hitchintel.com/programs/1203154SF) (Space Force)
- [0605232A — Hypersonics EMD](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605232A) (Army)
- [0604874C — Improved Homeland Defense Interceptors](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604874C) (Defense-Wide)

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-3, PE 0604033F (PB PB2027); FY2027 NDAA committee marks (as of 2026-07-27).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0604033F")`.

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