Chemical and Biological Defense Program - Advanced Development

The Chemical and Biological Defense Program - Advanced Development is a Department of Defense (DoD) initiative focused on research, development, and advanced technology demonstration to counter chemical and biological threats. The program is structured into several portfolios Understand, Protect, Mitigate, Enabling Investments, and Emerging Threats each with distinct goals and objectives aimed at enhancing the DoD's ability to operate in chemical and biological environments. The aim is to provide integrated, layered capabilities for detection, protection, hazard mitigation, and rapid response to emerging threats, supporting both combat operations and domestic incident response.

Understand is dedicated to improving chemical and biological threat detection, situational awareness, and diagnostic capabilities. Objectives include developing wearable early warning systems, leveraging artificial intelligence for exposure prediction, and expanding biosurveillance for pathogen detection. The program also focuses on rapid diagnostic platforms, molecular and immunological tests, and field-forward biological agent identification. Key thrust areas include battlespace sensing, decision aids, situational awareness, chemical and biological diagnostics, and readiness platforms, with investments in technologies such as remote sensing, cloud-based data analytics, and machine learning for rapid assay development and threat characterization.

Protect aims to enhance mission performance by providing effective protection against chemical and biological hazards. Goals include developing vaccines and prophylactic platforms for biological warfare defense, nerve agent countermeasures, and advanced air purification systems. The program supports the development of protective garments, multifunctional materials, and respiratory protection systems that reduce burden and increase operational effectiveness. Efforts also focus on integrating new filter technologies, antimicrobial textiles, and scalable manufacturing processes, as well as accelerating vaccine development through modular progression and interagency collaboration.

Mitigate is focused on preserving combat power by mitigating exposure to chemical and biological hazards and restoring readiness. This includes biomedical research for therapeutic countermeasures, repurposing FDA-approved drugs, and developing host-directed therapies. The program advances medical countermeasures against new and emerging threats using AI and organoid platforms, develops chemically reactive therapeutics for skin and wound decontamination, and supports autonomous systems for equipment and personnel decontamination. Additional objectives include enhancing survivability coatings, wide-area decontamination, and mapping biological contamination for efficient response.

Enabling Investments supports early and continued warfighter involvement in technology development, aligning science and technology activities with operational needs. This portfolio funds infrastructure, demonstrations, and user assessments to ensure functional design and transition readiness. Key objectives include validating alternative safety and efficacy models for medical countermeasures, conducting advanced technology demonstrations in joint operational scenarios, and exploring emerging technology concepts through user engagement and experimental analysis. The program also supports diagnostic building blocks, battlefield readiness, and regulatory science integration to accelerate medical product development and approval.

Emerging Threats is designed to rapidly identify and develop scientific solutions for newly arising chemical and biological threats. The project invests in high-throughput technologies for rapid threat characterization and medical countermeasure development, supporting integrated detection, protection, and hazard mitigation options. Emerging Threats collaborates across DoD and interagency partners to modernize doctrine, equipment, and training, and funds innovation challenges to deliver transformational capabilities that enable the force to respond effectively in strategic environments.

The Chemical and Biological Defense Program - Advanced Development leverages partnerships with Army, Navy, Air Force, Department of Energy laboratories, and other agencies to maintain strategic collaboration and budget assurance. The program is structured to transition successful technologies to advanced component development and system demonstration phases, providing risk reduction and supporting future acquisition strategies. Congressional adjustments and interagency transfers are reflected in annual budget changes, ensuring alignment with evolving defense priorities and efficiency initiatives.