# Project 650099 — Cognitive Electronic Warfare

**Program element:** 0604270F — Electronic Warfare Development  
**Project:** 650099  
**Component:** U.S. Air Force  
**Appropriation:** 3600 — RDT&E, Air Force  
**Budget Activity:** 5 — System Development & Demonstration  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604270F/650099  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604270F

## Summary

Project 650099 — Cognitive Electronic Warfare requests $125.9M in FY2027, 48% of the $260.2M requested for program element 0604270F — a new start, with no prior-year and no current-year money. 3 R-2A activities decompose the request, 3 new this cycle.

**Markets:** Airborne Electronic Warfare, Comms, Radar & EW Electronics — 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 | 125.9 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 61.9 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 65.4 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 65.4 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 65.4 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 0604270F; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project 650099 buys

Cognitive Electromagnetic Warfare (Cog EW) integrates multiple projects to achieve massed non-kinetic warfare dominance for the DoW Counter Long-Range Kill Chain (C-LRKC) and Counter-Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, & Reconnaissance (C-C5ISR) constructs. This funding increase adds two new interrelated activities and more expenditures on a current project in order to capture, employ, and exploit EW effectiveness improvements/synergies in contested/congested battlespaces. The Modular Electromagnetic Attack Payloads (MEAP) project will, as part of the overall Cognitive EW Capabilities program, demonstrate and deliver advanced (e.g., using AI, ML, and Cognitive technologies) modularized (defined by size, weight, power/cooling, function, and interface standards) techniques for one (or more) threshold platform s. The intent is to provide an Electromagnetic Attack capability that can be adapted to a number of appropriate platforms to yield a massed non-kinetic fires effect. The Exploitation Application project is the transition of two Air Force Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities (TENCAP) programs to the operational Air Force. TENCAP increases warfighter effectiveness and promotes cross-domain integration by pursuing multiple small projects then transitioning them via rapid prototyping and capability demonstrations. This project consists of an aiming system to enable a separate firing system designed to effect satellite operations. The Talon LURCHER system will fil key requirement for engaging targets at hypersonic speeds and extended ranges while synchronizing the entire effects chain. The management of these effects must be based on a multi-variable solution that accounts for time, space, range, and velocity relative to the target's specifications. Delivering non-atmospheric effects against targets moving at speeds greater than Mach 20 introduces significant challenges related to data latency. Therefore, this effort will develop and integrate technology specifically designed to alleviate these delays in the track and fire control loop while enabling consistent and accurate delivery of effects to fast-moving, long-range targets, serving as the key technical enabler to properly AIM the weapon system.

**R-3 lines of work:** Product Development; Support; Test and Evaluation.

## Activities (R-2A) — 3

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Talon LURCHER | — | 0.0 | 70.4 | new | — |
| Talon UPCYCLE | — | 0.0 | 51.0 | new | — |
| Modular Electromagnetic Attack Payloads (MEAP) | — | 0.0 | 4.5 | 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.

### Talon LURCHER — NEW START

**FY2027 planned work.** Software and aircraft integration with system testing and demos with three operational prototypes via connection to the FIRE portion of the Exploitation Application.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** New Start

**FY2026 plans — current year.** New Start in FY2027

### Talon UPCYCLE — NEW START

**FY2027 planned work.** Repurposing existing pods and software integration efforts to develop three operational prototypes available for OT&E and system integration work soonest

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** New Start

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Funding begins in FY2027

### Modular Electromagnetic Attack Payloads (MEAP) — NEW START

**FY2027 planned work.** Accelerating the development program in response to OFF Needs Statements and will transition several identified on-the-shelf EW capabilities to systems on diverse flying systems.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** In FY2026, MEAP efforts were executed in PE 0207039F, Cognitive Electronic Warfare, Project 650099.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** In FY2026, MEAP efforts were executed in PE 0207039F, Cognitive Electronic Warfare, Project 650099.

## 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/0604270F.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 0604270F project 650099 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0604270F")`.

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