Conventional Munitions

PE 0602602F: Conventional Munitions is an Air Force Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) program element focused on applied research to advance conventional munitions technologies. The overarching goal is to investigate, develop, and establish the technical feasibility and military utility of guidance and ordnance technologies for air-delivered conventional munitions. This program supports core technical competencies such as munitions aerodynamics, guidance, navigation and control, terminal seeker sciences, fuze technology, energetic materials, damage mechanisms, and munition systems effects. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) leads these efforts, aligning science and technology (S&T) initiatives with Department of the Air Force (DAF) priorities to accelerate delivery of innovative capabilities for current and future operational needs.

A major line item within PE 0602602F is dedicated to developing and evaluating guidance technologies for conventional munitions. Its objectives include advancing seeker technologies for high-confidence target discrimination, robust terminal tracking, and precise target location, even in GPS-denied or degraded environments. The program also focuses on integrating multi-function sensors, biology-inspired information processing, and low-power computation to improve seeker performance and reduce costs. Additional goals involve developing algorithmic approaches for flexible targeting, enhancing weapon radomes and apertures, and maturing radio frequency (RF) systems for networked collaborative autonomous weapons. The program supports both hardware and software-in-the-loop simulation technologies for risk reduction and digital evaluation of novel guidance concepts.

This line item also encompasses research in aerodynamics, navigation, and control to enable precise, agile flight and resilience against countermeasures. This includes developing navigation solutions for GPS-denied environments, cooperative and autonomous weapon behaviors, and swarming algorithms for multi-weapon engagements. The program investigates kinetic and electronic attack swarm plays, machine learning for tactics development, and synthetic aperture radar-based alternative navigation. It also supports post-deployment analytics to refine guidance and control models, and initiates research into software-enabled weapons for accelerated data-driven updates. The guidance technologies sub-project further develops subsystem integration and evaluation tools, constructive and virtual analysis environments, and simulation capabilities for advanced missile concepts.

A second major line item focuses on the development and evaluation of ordnance technologies including advanced explosives, fuzes, warheads, sub-munitions, and weapon airframes. The objectives are to improve storage and transportation safety, enhance warhead and fuze effectiveness, optimize sub-munitions dispensing, and reduce weapon drag and subsystem costs. Energetic materials research aims to increase energy density, survivability, and lethality, with efforts in nano-intermetallic compounds, additive manufacturing, and digital engineering. The program also investigates electrical and electromagnetic effects in explosives, aging prediction models, and qualification of new combined effects explosives for mass- and volume-constrained applications.

This line item includes dedicated research into fuze technologies to maximize reliability and lethality across engagement scenarios. This involves digital engineering for fuze design, alternative packaging for survivability, tailored lethal effects, distributed and multi-point fuzing, and additive manufacturing for increased reliability. The program also advances sensor materials for radar and infrared applications, and explores wireless fuze concepts. Warhead technologies research focuses on multi-output designs for soft and hardened targets, high-speed penetration capabilities, cumulative damage mechanisms, and rapid-design modular warheads for low-cost cruise missile concepts.

Modeling and simulation efforts support the development of validated mesoscale modeling tools, engineering-level simulation architectures, and predictive techniques for munition effectiveness. The program enables rapid transition of warhead technologies, explores trade-space for low-cost, long-range munitions, and develops test capabilities for lethality and survivability characterization. Machine learning and computational intelligence are leveraged to shorten design cycles and enhance predictive modeling. Integration with the digital engineering ecosystem and development of maritime lethality analysis tools are also key objectives, optimizing S&T investments to meet warfighter needs.

Throughout PE 0602602F, strategic realignments and budget adjustments reflect ongoing efforts to optimize core research areas and improve resource efficiency. Congressional adds have supported specific initiatives such as university-led hyper-velocity test capabilities and convergence technology research. The program also funds the necessary civilian workforce and facility operations to ensure successful execution of its research objectives.