# Project 652895 — Civil Engineering Readiness

**Program element:** 0604617F — Agile Combat Support  
**Project:** 652895  
**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/0604617F/652895  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604617F

## Summary

Project 652895 — Civil Engineering Readiness requests $17.9M in FY2027, 92% of the $19.3M requested for program element 0604617F, down 17% on FY2026. 3 R-2A activities decompose the request. AFCEC is the largest named R-3 performer at $6.7M, 37% of the project's FY2027 R-3 total.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 20.9 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 21.5 |
| FY2027 | Request | 17.9 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 18.6 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 19.0 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 19.4 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 19.7 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 0604617F; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project 652895 buys

This Civil Engineering (CE) Readiness project develops Airbase Technologies (ABT), Airfield Damage Repair (ADR), Airfield Protection (AP), Energy & Utilities (E&U), and CE Materials (CEM) solutions for in-garrison, expeditionary, and contingency installations and airbases. This includes: technologies for airfield assessment, pavement repair and unexploded ordnance identification and mitigation to enable rapid recovery and regeneration of airfield operations; infrastructure design criteria, construction methods, hardened shelters, evaluation tools, materials, aviation firefighting, force protection, expeditionary energy, waste water recycling/treatment, CE materials applications and systems for improved resiliency and rapid recovery of airbase and airfield operations following an attack. This program element may include necessary civilian pay expenses required to manage, execute, and deliver weapon system capability. The use of such program funds would be in addition to the civilian pay expenses budgeted in program element 0605827F, 0605828F, 0605829F, 0605831F, 0605832F, 0605833F, 0605898F, and 0606398F.

**R-3 lines of work:** Product Development; Support; Management Services.

## Named R-3 performers

| Performer | $M | Share of this project's FY2027 R-3 total |
|---|---|---|
| AFCEC | 6.7 | 37% |
| Battelle | 5.3 | 30% |
| Torch | 3.1 | 17% |
| DS2 | 1.5 | 8.6% |

> Budget-justification contract funding, not obligations. Shares need not reach 100% — unnamed and government work is in the denominator.

## Activities (R-2A) — 3

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airfield Damage Repair | 8.3 | 7.9 | 7.2 | −9% | — |
| Airbase Technologies | 7.4 | 8.3 | 5.3 | −36% | — |
| Basing & Protection | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.3 | +2% | — |

> 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.

### Airfield Damage Repair

**FY2027 planned work.** Continue to accelerate and transition rapid airfield damage recovery (ADR) solutions through robust RDT&E. Advance small unmanned aircraft systems (SUAS), mobile towers, handheld platforms, and automated damage detection software with improved sensors for faster and more accurate damage and UXO detection. Explore new platforms to meet future sensor requirements. Develop, test, and evaluate unmanned systems for airfield damage repair and base infrastructure maintenance. Develop, test, and transition materials and equipment sets for rapid runway repair after battle damage. Develop tactics, techniques, and procedures for manned and unmanned Rapid Explosive Hazard Mitigation (REHM) systems. Enhance blast resistance for heavy equipment, advance stand-off UXO destruction methods, and improve Subsurface Location, Access, and Mitigation (SLAM) of buried UXO. Develop and test new materials and techniques using indigenous resources to minimize reliance on shipping and logistics while achieving equal or greater strength compared to current ADR methods. Develop and test new systems to provide similar or greater repair speeds with smaller logistic footprints. Prioritize equipment testing and operation in extreme weather conditions and develop repair methods that support Agile Combat Employment (ACE) operations and strategies.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Increase for development and testing of lighter equipment/materials with smaller logistics footprint and development of technologies that use indigneous materials for faster recovery of damaged airifelds.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Continue to mature and transition rapid assessment, mitigation, and repair tools and material solutions for airfield damage recovery through research, development, testing, and evaluation. Rapid assessment includes spiral development and integration of small unmanned aircraft systems (SUAS), mobile towers, and handheld platforms to utilize various sensors, to provide data for automated damage detection software solutions to significantly decrease damage assessment time and improve automated detection of unexploded ordnance (UXO). In order to meet improved sensor requirements for enhanced detection and classification of damage/debris, new platforms will be identified to meet current and future needs. Develop, test and evaluate unmanned systems for use in Airfield Damage Repair as well as base infrastructure maintenance. Repair of damage focuses on development, testing, and transition of materials and equipment sets for rapid recovery of enemy induced battle damaged runways. Develop tactics, techniques and procedures for manned and unmanned systems for Rapid Explosive Hazard Mitigation (REHM). Continue to develop and test improved blast resistance capability to fit on both new and existing heavy equipment, physical destruction of UXO through stand-off methods, and Subsurface Location, Access, and Mitigation (SLAM) of buried UXO. Continue to develop new materials with minimal dependence on shipping and logistics through use of indigenous materials, with new techniques and procedures to place locally sourced materials to provide equal or greater strength to current ADR methodologies. Continue to develop and test new systems to provide similar or greater repair speeds with smaller logistic requirement, and current equipment test and evaluation will focus heavily on testing and operation in extreme weather conditions, along with methods for repair that will support current Agile Combat Employment (ACE) operations and strategies.

### Airbase Technologies

**FY2027 planned work.** Continue to innovate and deliver advanced civil engineer material technologies for resilient infrastructure, warfighter protection, and resource optimization including additive manufacturing technologies and systems for Air Force infrastructure and CE applications. Develop and test advanced composites for infrastructure and runways, next-generation fire extinguishment agents and detection systems, technologies to protect warfighters from hazardous scenarios, and solutions for resource limitations, waste reuse, and reduction in theater. Test & evaluate novel expeditionary energy, utility, and infrastructure technologies, energy storage systems, and the incorporation of renewable energy systems with USAF assets. Replace/repair critical RDT&E lab equipment and fund program management support, RDT&E IT systems, and software.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Increase for development of equipment, materials & processes that optimize civil engineer operations.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Continue development and testing of new civil engineer material technologies and minimal basing processes including bio-based cementation for expeditionary ADR, test and evaluation of low resource manufacturing technologies for reduced life cycle costs, development and testing of additive manufacturing approaches for CE applications, development of functionalized materials for hardened infrastructure and force protection applications, evaluation, treatment, and mitigation technologies for Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) and development and testing of next generation fire-fighting and fire suppression agents, evaluation of expeditionary energy, utility, and infrastructure improvements, energy storage systems and incorporation of renewable energy systems with USAF assets. Replace/repair critical RDT&E lab equipment. Fund program management support, RDT&E IT systems and software required to conduct CE RDT&E.

### Basing & Protection

**FY2027 planned work.** Continue to enhance infrastructure and personnel protection against evolving threats. Upgrade and modernize personnel protective bunkers and Air Force infrastructure hardening standards. Conduct RDT&E of new, lighter, and less expensive protection materials. Test and evaluate technologies like inflatable aircraft shelters and infrastructure camouflage, concealment, and deception technologies. Test and evaluate technologies against penetrating munitions (e.g., cruise missiles) and improve expedient sheltering. Provide design and technical assistance for fielding the next generation expedient shelter systems and test selective hardening systems. Continue R&D of aviation firefighting technologies for AFFF treatment/replacement, clean firefighting agents, and aviation firefighting equipment. Continue R&D of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technologies for UXO neutralization and transition into service. Conduct bench and lab-scale testing of new energy and utilities technologies before scaling up to full-scale test & evaluation. Conduct field demonstrations of innovative expeditionary water and waste disposal systems for Arctic environments. Test & evaluate commercial technologies/systems, including: expeditionary shelters, environmental conditioning systems, hybrid renewable energy systems, energy storage, power generation and management systems, and water/waste stream processing systems.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Increase for development of more resilient and rapidly deployable protective and expeditionary infrastructure.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Continue to upgrade/modernize existing personnel protective bunkers and Air Force infrastructure hardening standards to meet current threat(s). Continue RDT&E of new concepts for protection materials for lighter, less expensive solutions for infrastructure hardening. Test and evaluate unconventional countermeasures technology for transition, including inflatable air craft shelters and other infrastructure camouflage, concealment and deception technologies. . Test and evaluate technologies against penetrating munitions including cruise missile hardening and improve expedient sheltering to address advanced threats. Provide design and technical assistance for fielding of the next generation Expedient Small Asset Protection (ESAP) systems. Perform testing of selective hardening systems for infrastructure. Continue research and development of aviation firefighting technologies for treatment and replacement of the perfluorinated aqueous film forming foams (AFFF), clean firefighting agents - Halon replacement and aviation firefighting equipment. Continue RDT&E of EOD technologies for neutralization UXO threats for transition into service. Continue bench and lab scale testing of new energy and utilities technologies prior to scaling up to full scale test and evaluation. Continue test and evaluation of expeditionary energy storage and shelter technologies that incorporate resiliency and sustainability capabilities for USAF expeditionary assets. Conduct field demonstration of innovative expeditionary water and waste disposal systems designed for use in arctic environments, in order to support current Arctic strategy needs. Support test and evaluation of commercial technologies/systems that includes: expeditionary shelters, environmental conditioning systems, hybrid renewable energy systems, energy storage, power generation and management system, water and waste stream processing systems.

## 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/0604617F.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 0604617F project 652895 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0604617F")`.

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