High Energy Laser Research Initiatives

OSDRDT&EPartial Reconciliation0601108D8Z

What it is

High Energy Laser Research Initiatives (0601108D8Z) is an OSD research & development line funded in the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide account. Its J-book detail breaks the line into 1 project.

What changed

+$299.0K FY25→26 R-1 TOA · PB2026

Who gets it

No award linkage at high confidence.

Budget Figures

FY24 Actuals

$15.8MR-1 TOA · PB2026

FY25 Total

$16.5MR-1 TOA · PB2026

FY26 Request

$16.8MR-1 TOA · PB2026

FY25→26 Change

+$299.0KR-1 TOA · PB2026

FY2026 award data is a partial year — USASpending awards are reported on a rolling basis and the fiscal year does not close until September 30. why partial FY2026 data? →

Budget Trajectory

The program's 3 summary figures for FY24 to FY26, plotted in fiscal-year order so the direction of travel is readable at a glance: this line ends higher than it starts. The points are the summary cards above, not a separate derivation; the table beside the chart carries each figure with its own citation.

Budget trajectory: one row per fiscal year, carrying the summary figure the sparkline plots. Every figure opens its own citation.
Fiscal year	Amount
FY24	$15.8M
FY25	$16.5M
FY26	$16.8M

All series figures: R-1 TOA · PB2026

Decade view — P-1/R-1 workbook TOA basis, shown compact in $B/$M (the workbook records USD thousands); each figure cites its own President's Budget edition

7 fiscal years of this program as published (FY2020–FY2026): a line through the actuals (filled dots), with the enacted (hollow circles) and request (diamonds) markers each edition reported. Read it for direction, not for precision — this program's actuals line rises across the span. The grid below is the same data as text, one cited figure per cell.

The vertical scale does not start at zero: the baseline sits just below this program’s smallest year, so a low point on this line is not a small amount. Read the shape for direction and the grid below for the figures.

● actuals (line) · ○ enacted · ◇ request — gaps are editions the program is absent from, never interpolated.

Decade series values by fiscal year and President's Budget edition: one row per series (actuals, enacted, request), one column per fiscal year. Every figure opens its own citation.
Series	FY20	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26
Actuals	$0	$0	$19.7M	$20.8M	$15.8M
Enacted	–	$0	$20.3M	$21.3M	$16.3M	$16.5M
Request	–	–	$15.4M	$16.3M	$16.3M	$16.5M	$16.8M

blank = series not published for this year; – = absent from that edition.

Asked vs spent: the PB2023 book requested $16.3M for FY2023; the PB2025 book reported $20.8M as actual total obligation authority — $4.53M above the request. 20.8 − 16.3 = 4.5 USD millions — the compact figures above are rounded for reading.

Program Lineage

No predecessor/successor lineage was recorded for this program element — no FY-to-FY transfer into or out of this line was stated in the ingested J-books, and none was inferred from the program structure.

Description

Mission — High Energy Laser Research Initiatives

This program is executed via the Joint Directed Energy Transition Office (JDETO) in alignment with the Department of Defense Directed Energy Roadmap, as well as other strategic guidance. Section 219 of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act designated a senior official for directed energy and redesignated a legacy office as the JDETO with reporting to the senior official. Currently, the Principal Director for Directed Energy serves as this senior official and updates the Department of Defense Directed Energy Roadmap on an annual basis. The goal of this program, in turn, is to support the Department’s initiatives in directed energy to build a sustainable and long-term advantage, in addition to a resilient Joint force and defense ecosystem. This program funds basic research in directed energy to enable game-changing high energy laser and high power microwave technologies. These efforts provide fundamental scientific knowledge to support future Department of Defense directed energy weapon systems. In practice, directed energy weapon systems have many potential advantages, including speed-of-light time-to-target, high precision, low incremental cost per kill, and a magazine that is recharged through on-board, fuel-based power and thermal management systems that reduce logistics requirements in contrast to stocks of munitions or warheads. As a result, directed energy weapon systems have the potential to perform a wide variety of military missions. Activities conducted under this program are generally chosen for their potential to grow the directed energy workforce with next-generation scientists and engineers. This program is part of an overall Department of Defense strategy in Joint directed energy basic research. Efforts within this program will leverage multi-disciplinary university research institutes (both domestic and international) to stimulate student interest in directed energy and encourage research in topics related to high energy laser and high power microwave technologies. This program builds upon other investments in directed energy basic research by the Services and Agencies to harmonize Department efforts and eliminate duplication. In support, efforts in this program have been coordinated with the Department of Defense Directed Energy and Non-Lethal Weapons Science and Technology Community of Interest. This program is executed via a technical program within the JDETO referred to as the Directed Energy Center of Excellence Program, which enables (1) basic research in directed energy technology that supports workforce development with university partners and (2) international collaboration between universities in the United States and partner countries. Note that (1) and (2) are in alignment with the near-, mid-, and long-term goals of Department of Defense Directed Energy Roadmap and encourage transition.

Justification

Accomplishments & Planned Programs (2)

Directed Energy Foundational Research

Improve the fundamental understanding and modeling of high energy laser and high power microwave sources and devices. Improve the fundamental understanding and modeling of beam control technologies as they relate to high energy laser applications and high power microwaves. Conduct research in atmospheric characterization, metrology, control systems, algorithms, waveguides, antennas and beam control component technology.

Directed Energy Center of Excellence Program

The Directed Energy Center of Excellence Program is a technical program within the JDETO that enables (1) basic research in directed energy technology that supports workforce development with university partners and (2) international collaboration between universities in the United States and partner countries. Note that (1) and (2) are in alignment with the near-, mid-, and long-term goals of the Department of Defense Directed Energy Roadmap.

Budget Line Items(workbook-cited)

P-1/R-1 workbook Total Obligation Authority basis (USD thousands) · PB2026.

Exhibit R-1

Account	Org	Type	Amount
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide	OSD	FY24 Actuals	$15.8M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide	OSD	FY25 Enacted	$16.5M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide	OSD	FY25 Total	$16.5M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide	OSD	FY26 Disc. Request	$16.8M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide	OSD	FY26 Total	$16.8M

Budget Details(R-2/P-40 facts)

J-book detail basis (R-2/P-40, USD millions) · PB2026 — a different accounting basis from the P-1/R-1 workbook TOA above; where the two disagree, the reconciliation strip under Budget Figures shows both.

Wider than this screen — swipe the table sideways for the remaining fiscal-year columns.

Project	All Prior Years	FY24 Actuals	FY25 Total	FY26 Base	FY26 Request
Program Element	$40.5M	$15.8M	$16.5M	$16.8M	$16.8M
108: High Energy Laser Research Initiatives	$40.5M	$15.8M	$16.5M	$16.8M	$16.8M

No follow-the-dollar view — this program's awards haven't been crosswalked at high confidence (flows cover 17 of 1,741 programs). why coverage is partial? →

Awards

No awards are linked to this program element at high confidence — the budget→award crosswalk only asserts links it can defend, and this line has none yet.

Lobbying Mentions

22 mentions from the Senate LDA disclosure database.

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