Chemical and Biological Defense Program - EMD

The Chemical and Biological Defense Program (CBDP) under Program Element (PE) 0604384BP is a Department of Defense (DoD) initiative focused on developing, demonstrating, and integrating advanced systems to enable military operations in chemical and biological environments. The program is structured into four main portfolios: Understand, Protect, Mitigate, and Enabling Investments. Each portfolio is designed to address specific capability gaps, ranging from early threat detection to protective equipment, medical countermeasures, and infrastructure support for rapid response to emerging threats.

Understand aims to provide the Joint Force with the ability to detect, identify, and analyze chemical and biological hazards in real time. Key objectives include developing advanced diagnostics, wearable sensors for physiological monitoring, and integrating chemical/biological sensors onto unmanned platforms. The program also supports rapid sequencing technologies to identify known and emerging threats, and maintains a repository of validated biological assays and reference materials. These efforts are coordinated with agencies such as the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command and the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.

Protect focuses on preventing the effects of exposure to chemical and biological hazards by developing next-generation protective equipment and medical countermeasures. This includes improved respiratory and ocular protection, post-exposure prophylaxis, and protective ensembles for gloves and suits. The portfolio also supports shipboard and portable isolation systems for infected personnel and accelerates fielding of medical countermeasures. Efforts are designed to reduce physiological and logistical burdens, enhance interoperability, and ensure readiness against a broad spectrum of threats.

Mitigate is dedicated to enabling rapid recovery and restoration of combat power following exposure to chemical or biological hazards. Objectives include developing autoinjectors for nerve agent antidotes, broad-spectrum antiviral therapeutics, and repurposing existing drugs for chemical and biological defense. The portfolio also advances decontamination systems for equipment and personnel. These programs emphasize operational testing, manufacturing readiness, and regulatory compliance to ensure timely deployment of mitigation capabilities.

Enabling Investments provides foundational support for the entire CBDP by sustaining advanced development and manufacturing infrastructure. Threat characterization and medical countermeasure development are enhanced through secure biolaboratory consortium efforts. Chemical and biological survivability support for mission-critical systems includes technical requirements analysis, systems engineering, and compliance reviews. These enabling efforts ensure that the CBDP can rapidly respond to emerging threats and integrate chemical/biological defense capabilities into major acquisition programs.

Each portfolio leverages a mix of acquisition strategies, including Other Transaction Authority agreements, competitive prototyping, and partnerships with government agencies and industry. The program emphasizes rigorous developmental and operational testing, milestone-based decision processes, and alignment with regulatory pathways for medical products. Funding adjustments reflect congressional priorities, execution risks, and efficiency initiatives, with a focus on accelerating diagnostics, protection, and mitigation capabilities in response to evolving biothreats.