Advanced Weapons Technology

Advanced Weapons Technology (PE 0603605F) is an Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) program that develops and demonstrates integrated directed-energy weapon systems for Department of the Air Force missions. It sits in the Research, Development, Test & Evaluation, Air Force appropriation under Budget Activity 3, Advanced Technology Development. That category supports subsystem and component development and their integration into prototypes for field experiments or simulated-environment tests. The program addresses counter-unmanned aerial systems (c-UAS), counter-intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (c-ISR), counter-missile, counter-electronics, and other missions using high-energy laser (HEL) and high-power electromagnetic technologies.

AFRL conducts the research as part of its broader effort to align Department of the Air Force science and technology work with priority operational needs. Technologies from PE 0602605F, Directed Energy Technology, feed into this program for system-level development and demonstration. The work has also been coordinated through the Department of War Science and Technology Executive Committee process to harmonize efforts and avoid duplication. Program funds may support specified technology investigations in the air, space, or cyber domains, along with the personnel, facilities, travel, supplies, and information technology needed to execute the research.

Directed Energy Technology Development (Project 633151) is the funded project for FY 2027. Previously titled High Power Solid State Laser Technology, it was renamed to reflect an expanded scope that now includes the high-power microwave work transferred from Project 633152. The consolidation is intended to improve congressional visibility and traceability of distinct directed-energy technology areas within Budget Activity 3. Its laser work targets protection of high-value airborne assets and point defense, while its microwave and other electromagnetic work also addresses air-base defense and effects against adversary electronic infrastructure. The project supplies data to Department of War susceptibility, vulnerability, and lethality databases used to assess thresholds for scalable directed-energy effects.

High Energy Laser/Beam Control resumes in FY 2027 after a pause in FY 2025 and FY 2026, when testing of a packaged HEL and beam-control subsystem and planning for a compact airborne weapon system stopped. The effort integrates laser sources, optical beam-combination and control techniques, and beam-propagation methods developed under PE 0602605F's Laser Technology project onto ground-mobile and airborne platforms. FY 2027 work resumes design and simulation of an optimized airborne demonstrator for c-UAS and c-ISR missions. Using validated predictive multiphysics models, model-based systems engineering, and digital engineering, the team will select a leading concept, define subsystem interfaces and platform requirements, and begin hardware integration toward a planned FY 2028 capability demonstration.

High Power Microwave Technologies develops integrated high-power microwave (HPM) demonstrators for c-UAS, c-ISR, counter-missile, counter-electronics, and point-defense missions. In FY 2027, the team plans to complete Navy-collaborative base-defense demonstrations of the Directed Energy Frontline Electromagnetic Neutralization and Defeat (DEFEND) system. Testing will demonstrate the full kill chain, while work with warfighters develops concepts of operations and employment, as well as tactics, techniques, and procedures. The effort advances operational use as well as hardware performance.

The HPM work will continue airborne system design for counter-missile and c-UAS missions, including building and testing conformal antennas and packaging sources to reduce size and weight. Foldable antennas for base-defense and airborne applications will be assessed for greater range without increasing system size or setup time. Source development aims to raise output power while reducing maintenance and logistics demands, with an objective of retaining DEFEND's lethality and capability in one-third of its footprint to support Agile Combat Employment. FY 2027 work also begins vehicle integration for a fully mobile, fire-on-the-move c-UAS capability and live operational baselining through additional system deployment and transition out of the laboratory to a program executive office.

High Power Microwave Development and Integration (Project 633152) carried the HPM effort in FY 2025 and FY 2026 but receives no FY 2027 funding after its activities move to Project 633151. Its FY 2026 work included government development of more reliable, lower-maintenance power sources; a Navy-collaborative DEFEND base-defense demonstration; conformal antenna design; and investigation of new frequencies and waveforms for airborne sources. A separate FY 2026 congressional addition supports special-purpose power generation for novel effectors. Following approval of its congressional spending plan, an internal reprogramming is planned to align that funding with PE 0602605F for execution; the project transfer itself does not end the continuing HPM effort.