# Operational Energy Prototyping

**R-2A activity** of project 035 — Operational Energy Prototyping  
**Program element:** 0604555D8Z — Operational Energy Prototyping  
**Component:** Defense-Wide · **Budget Activity:** 4  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604555D8Z/035/a0  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604555D8Z

## Summary

This activity requests $53.5M in FY2027, 100% of project 035, down 1.5% on FY2026. The R-2A exhibit describes it across FY2025–FY2027, including what the FY2027 money is planned to buy.

## What the FY2027 request buys

**FY2027 planned work.** FY 2027 projects focus on accelerating the acquisition of energy solutions needed to support modern capabilities in operational environments. Projected efforts include: - Prototyping and demonstrating low-cost aerodynamic modifications that increase the operational range and endurance of several military aircraft fleets. - Demonstrating and validating energy storage and distribution solutions in the USCENTCOM theater. - Demonstrating power and energy sensing for multiple operational applications. - Prototyping and demonstrating a novel tactical vehicle drivetrain for use in a set of high priority and sensitive missions. - Continues to mature a compact radioisotope power system prototype, demonstrating it in operationally-relevant environments to validate performance and de-risk its use for distributed ground sensors. - Demonstrating military-specific battery formats in the arctic and other operationally relevant environments. - Demonstrating high-volume transmission over air via lasers for operational units in the USINDOPACOM theater. - Prototyping an extended range silent mobility vehicle supporting operational missions. - Validating a new mobile compact generator with greatly improved size, weight, and power performance. - Developing energy monitoring vehicle kits for tactical vehicles. - Modeling and simulation for applicable projects enabling data-driven acquisition and requirements decisions and accelerating capability deployment at scale. Emphasis is on energy-informed mission planning and providing power and energy input into combined joint all-domain command and control (CJADC2). In FY 2027, OEPF continues performing warfighter demonstrations at both CONUS and OCONUS locations and collecting warfighter input utilizing the OEPF developed Warfighter Touchpoint application. This data informs requirements, shapes acquisition strategies, and provides validation analytics, accelerating the transition of advanced Operational Energy capabilities across the Services and into programs of record.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** The FY 2027 decrease reflects the completion of the accelerated prototyping and transition of innovative operational energy capabilities related to low-cost weapons and does not continue in FY 2027.

## Before the request year

**FY2026 plans — current year.** In FY 2026, the program leverages a significant one-time funding increase to accelerate a larger, more ambitious portfolio of projects and conduct more frequent, higher-fidelity operational demonstrations. The focus is on rapidly transitioning operational energy capabilities that support the development, employment, and logistics of low-cost weapons. Key technology transitions include: - Long-duration persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance power for low-cost uncrewed aviation platforms and their kill chains. - Matures a compact radioisotope power system prototype for long-lived, persistent, and autonomous power applications. This technology directly improves distributed ground sensors used by intelligence partners for low-cost targeting. In FY 2026, this project transitioned from PE 0604055D8Z. - Prototypes and demonstrates a low SWAP-c high power microwave power supply for low-cost offensive and defensive weapons. - Power beaming technologies capable of powering low-cost UAS platforms for persistent surveillance. - Increasing operational range of an uncrewed logistics delivery platform in a GPS-contested environment. - Powering long-range energy delivery capabilities that autonomously transit contested environments. - Prototyping and demonstrating a national mission capability solution with US Special Operations Command. - Powers a Space System using a novel low-cost manufacturing technology for high-efficiency solar cell production. Weight and cost are limiting factors in Space-based capability proliferation. - Vehicle batteries that can operate in extreme arctic environments. - Energy-sensor monitoring that enable diagnostic and preventive maintenance at key global locations. - High power density flight-rated aircraft batteries that enable expeditionary basing and extend flight time in emergency situations. - Demonstrating and validating a package of software innovations and in-flight mission planning capabilities that are integrated and validated across the fleets of KC-135 and KC-46 refueling aircraft that increase range, endurance, and operational impact. In FY 2026, OEPF continues to validate these technologies in appropriate exercises, utilizing the Warfighter Touchpoint application and capturing operator input. This application, which directly addresses Government Accountability Office recommendations (GAO-23-105868) for improving transition planning, provides a scalable and repeatable workflow for any DoW agency to conduct meaningful warfighter engagements and accelerate the transition of advanced capabilities.

**FY2025 accomplishments.** Planned efforts in FY 2025 include: Inserting operational energy OECI Non S&T-sponsored technology into NORAD&USNORTHCOM’s Arctic Edge exercise; Establishing a specialized warfighter network chartered to provide feedback on transitioning operational energy technologies; Validating a high altitude Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) endurance enabler; Demonstrating a long-endurance Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platform to extend the range of the operational mission; Optimizing uncrewed, autonomous, continuous-powered counter-intrusion intelligence platform; Storing dynamic energy for critical operational energy systems; Validating a lithium ion battery thermal runaway solution enabling longer endurance missions; Prototyping an energy-precise munitions loader that mitigates existing health hazards to warfighters and is approved for nuclear munitions loading; Optimizing an aviation battery standardization effort addressing unmet mission requirements and lowering battery procurement costs to DOD; Prototyping tactical vehicles with a power-generating engine block to reduce the need for towed generators in the battlespace; Demonstrating production capability for > 30% efficient III-V solar cells grown using dynamic hydride vapor phase epitaxy at pilot industrial scale; Enabling persistent UAV operations through wireless power transfer; Expanding the domestic industrial base for Gen 6T lithium ion batteries that can be safely transported and stored at zero-volts enabling long-term pre-positioning of strategic energy resources capable of charging in sub-zero temperatures; and, Creating a standardized lithium ion aviation battery that reduces the number of batteries needed from nine to one.

## Funding

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 48.7 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 54.3 |
| FY2027 | Request | 53.5 |

> Prior, current and budget year only — an R-2A activity carries no five-year plan. It sums exactly into its project in the request year and not necessarily in any other.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Office of the Secretary of Defense RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibit R-2A, PE 0604555D8Z project 035 (PB PB2027). Narrative is the government's own text.
- **No marks, no contractors at this grain** — congressional marks land on the program element and R-3 performers on the project.
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_activity`.

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