Soldier Applied Research

The Soldier Applied Research program (PE 0602184A) is a U.S. Army research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) line item focused on applied research to enhance the capabilities of individual Soldiers and squads. Its overarching goal is to investigate, design, and validate foundational technologies that will maximize Soldier and squad performance, lethality, mobility, and survivability in future operational environments. The program supports long-term capability enhancements that extend beyond the near-term focus of the Soldier Lethality Cross-Functional Team. Outputs are intended to transition into advanced research and technology demonstration efforts.

CK9: Advancing Concepts and Technology Forecasting Tech is a project within this program that collaborates across Army Futures Command, DEVCOM, and the Futures & Concepts Center. Its objective is to identify and translate emerging and disruptive applied scientific research into actionable insights for Army warfighting concepts. The project conducts long-range technology forecasting and trend analysis, integrating scientific advances with Army operational concepts to inform decision-making and mitigate future capability risks.

In FY 2026, the project will focus on integrating research outcomes with Army Warfighting Concepts, supporting learning events, and providing objective estimates of advances in areas such as human performance enhancement, quantum technologies, and cybersecurity.

CN2: Intelligent Weapons Concepts and Technologies aims to advance far-term lethality technologies by enabling Soldiers to guide the adaptation of intelligent small arms in response to changing mission requirements and adversarial actions. Research areas include cognition-centric displays for augmented reality, shooter sensing, and interactive machine learning for adaptive small arms. The project will mature algorithms for fusing data from Soldier systems to enhance situational awareness and inform tactical options. It will also validate experimental approaches for joint adaptation between Soldiers and autonomous systems in threat scenarios.

CN9: Soldier Enabling University Applied Research funds collaborative research with universities to investigate technologies that improve Soldier and squad performance, protection, agility, and situational awareness. The project supports university-based technical alliances with Army research teams, focusing on human systems integration, robotics, synthetic training environments, advanced materials, and power management.

In FY 2025, the project supported efforts to capture and manipulate synthetic training data and to monitor Warfighter health and readiness using biosensors. Funding is being realigned in FY 2026 to other innovation initiatives.

CO1: Soldier Power and Energy Concepts and Technologies is dedicated to developing safe, efficient, lightweight, and energy-dense power sources for both mounted and dismounted forces. The research encompasses electrochemical energy storage, high-specific energy conversion, and novel materials for energy systems. The aim is to reduce the physical and cognitive burden on Soldiers while supporting advanced sensors and communications. While this project was funded in FY 2024, it does not have planned funding in FY 2026.

CV9: Technical-SA VVY Soldier Applied Research focuses on developing models, assessments, and training approaches to maximize technological fluency (TF) among Soldiers, including the ability to rapidly adapt to new and intelligent technologies without formal training. The project is coordinated by the Army Research Laboratory and the Army Research Institute. In FY 2026, it will investigate training methods to enhance TF, integrate field data with personnel testing, and refine competency models to support talent management and team performance.

CW9: Syn Bio for Reactive-Resp Matls-Soldiers & Sys explores the application of synthetic biology to develop materials that can sense, respond, and adapt to environmental stimuli. The project aims to create self-monitoring, self-healing, and self-sustaining materials for Soldier protection and situational awareness.

In FY 2026, research will focus on designing protective materials using synthetic biology, developing bio-reactive surfaces, and engineering organisms for environmental sensing and reporting in military contexts.

DN1: Directed Energy Biological Effects is a new start in FY 2026, investigating the biological impacts of emerging anti-personnel energy field threats. The project will design sensors and instrumentation to understand how energy fields affect biological systems, with the goal of characterizing, mitigating, and validating these effects. This research supports the Army's need to address vulnerabilities and develop protective measures against directed energy threats.

DN2: Joint Service Small Arms Enabling Tech supports research into individual and crew-served weapon components, munitions, and fire control technologies to increase lethality and survivability for dismounted Warfighters across all Joint Services. In FY 2026, the project will focus on developing small arms characterization techniques, machine gun component technology, advanced ballistics algorithms, and fire control methodologies to improve system performance and emission reduction.

DO1: Modernized Composites & Manufacturing is another new start for FY 2026, investigating advanced manufacturing sciences and automation for novel composite materials. The project aims to deliver durable, high-performance structural materials for broad DoD applications, with a focus on contested environments. It will leverage machine learning, foundational university research, and partnerships with national manufacturing institutes to accelerate technology transition.