Future Naval Capabilities Applied Research

In FY25, this Activity funded the support, analysis, and technology management of all FNC Program investments. In FY26, as part of the restructuring effort for this PE, these funds were moved to the FNC Program Management Support Activity of Project 5891 Naval S&T Ops Analysis, Supp & Experimentation Act.

The objective of this activity was to develop and mature technologies in asymmetric and irregular warfare, distributed operations, information warfare, survivability and self-defense to a point where they could be proposed and continued as FNCs in PE 0603673N, Future Naval Capabilities Advanced Technology Development. This Activity was discontinued in FY25 when this PE was restructured into new Projects corresponding to Science and Technology Focus Areas.

The objective of this activity was to develop and mature technologies in data science, mathematical optimization, computational and information sciences, quantum information sciences, electronics, command and control (C2), combat systems, communications, cyber security, cyber operations, electronic warfare (EW), sensing and surveillance, and precision timing and navigation (PTN), as well as technologies for surface and airborne vehicles, and cruise missile defense weapons to a point where they could be proposed and continued as Future Naval Capabilities (FNC) in program element (PE) 0603673N, Future Naval Capabilities Advanced Technology Development. This Activity was discontinued in FY25 when this PE was restructured into new Projects corresponding to Science and Technology Focus Areas.

The objective of this activity was to mature technologies that enable maritime domain access and distributed operations for Naval forces in contested environments through superior maritime battlespace awareness and threat detection, identification and neutralization to a point where they could be proposed and continued as Future Naval Capabilities (FNC) in program element (PE) 0603673N, Future Naval Capabilities Advanced Technology Development. This Activity was discontinued in FY25 when this PE was restructured into new Projects corresponding to Science and Technology Focus Areas.

The objective of this activity was to develop and mature technologies that enable superior warfighting capabilities for surface and sub-surface naval platforms and undersea weaponry to a point where they could be proposed and continued as Future Naval Capabilities in program element (PE) 0603673N, Future Naval Capabilities Advanced Technology Development. This Activity was discontinued in FY25 when this PE was restructured into new Projects corresponding to Science and Technology Focus Areas.

The objective of this activity is to conduct research and mature technologies that enhance Naval warfighting effectiveness and efficiency within the Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education to a point where they can be proposed and continued as Future Naval Capabilities (FNC) in program element (PE) 0603673N, Future Naval Capabilities Advanced Technology Development.

The objective of this activity was to develop and mature technologies in directed energy, energetic materials, autonomy, electromagnetic launch, and high-speed conventional air and surface weapons to a point where they could be proposed and continued as Future Naval Capabilities in PE 0603673N, Future Naval Capabilities Advanced Technology Development. This Activity was discontinued in FY25 when this PE was restructured into new Projects corresponding to Science and Technology Focus Areas.

Investigate and mature technologies in support of delivering capabilities or improvements to aviation platforms (manned/unmanned) and air-ship operations; and developing other technologies specific to the air domain or aviation regime.

The Human Performance and Medical Support research area applies new knowledge gained from the basic and applied science biomedical research portfolio to address Navy specific needs, such as protecting warfighters from operational health threats including medical challenges associated with hypothermal and hyperbaric exposure, developing diagnostic and treatment capabilities for use in operational environments, and prototyping new capabilities to recover injured warfighters.

Investigate and mature technologies related to High Power Microwave (HPM) and acoustic energy for use in defensive applications against a wide variety of threats in multiple domains.

The Expeditionary Directed Energy activity develops laser and high-power microwave weapon systems to defend expeditionary platforms and expeditionary bases from a variety of threats in multiple domains. This can support vulnerability research for expeditionary threats, high energy laser and high powered microwave system architectures, and component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environments.

Electromagnetic Warfare conducts applied research to mature underlying technologies, techniques, and algorithms that degrade, neutralize, or destroy an adversary's C4ISR capabilities.

Surveillance, Sensors and Phenomenology conducts applied research to mature sensing and systems technologies to deliver Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Targeting (ISR&T) data.

Quantum, Positioning, Navigation, and Timing develops technologies and techniques to improve Positioning, Navigation and Timing systems in a Global Positioning System-denied environment.

Electromagnetic Spectrum researches and develops electronics, sensors, electronic warfare, and alternate positioning, navigation, and timing to understand, shape, and operate in austere and contested expeditionary environments in support of naval expeditionary forces. This can include system studies, system architecture development, and component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environments.

Full Spectrum Cyber develops innovative cyber technologies to enhance the resilience, safety, and efficiency of cyber systems in naval warfighting platforms.

Expeditionary Cyber explores and develops technologies necessary to conduct successful offensive and defensive in contested environment tailored to naval expeditionary forces. This can include system studies, system architecture development, and component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environments.

The Advanced Analytics and Decision Making research area applies new knowledge gained from the basic and applied research portfolio to address Navy specific needs through the development of technologies that improve the decision making process, enhance performance modeling, assessment, and After Action Reporting tools, and enable the use of cyber-technical and cyber-social capabilities in the information environment.

The Autonomy, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotics research area leverages emerging artificial intelligence techniques gained from the basic and applied research portfolio to develop technologies that address Navy specific needs such as enabling dynamic and unplanned sharing of resources for unmanned systems (platforms, payloads, data), increasing the capacity and resilience of logistics networks, and providing faster collaborative planning capabilities across competing missions, objectives, and warfighter needs.

The Manpower, Training, and Performance Assessment research area applies new knowledge gained from the basic and applied research portfolio to develop technologies that enhance Fleet and Force readiness and lethality by: increasing the understanding and application of learning sciences; enhancing and preserving military members' capabilities to execute essential tasks under any conditions and environment; maintaining warfighting proficiency and readiness by providing mentoring, mission readiness assessment, and long-term trend and data analysis.

Investigate and mature technologies in support of sub-systems applicable to current and/or future kinetic weapons systems, i.e., missiles, rockets, projectiles, bombs and mortars. Developmental areas include, but not limited to: propulsion, seekers, guidance, navigation and control; warheads, and related targeting, networking, and command and control systems.

The Expeditionary Kinetic Weapons activity enhances the ability of naval expeditionary forces to strike at longer ranges, with greater precision, and using scalable weapons effects. This can also include new developments in weapon autonomy; new seekers for expeditionary weapons; next-generation precision, navigation, and timing in contested environments; human-machine teaming; decreasing the time to the target; collaboration of multiple kinetic weapons; and reducing overall weapon size, weight, power and cost. This can include system studies, system architecture development, and component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environments.

The Manufacturing activity develops technologies that advance the design, fabrication, construction, repair, and sustainment of naval platforms. It represents the manufacturing, sustainment, and logistics areas previously identified under the Materials, Manufacturing, Sustainment, and Logistics Thrust.

The Materials activity invests in applied research of new materials that enhance the performance, affordability, survivability, and reliability of Navy and Marine Corps platforms and systems.

The Naval Engineering activity improves design, fabrication, integration, and operation of ground and sea naval warfare platforms, sensors, weapons, networks, and countermeasures to maximize their operational availability and effectiveness. It represents areas previously identified under the Platform Design and Engineering Thrust.

To enable operational maritime maneuver and amphibious assault by driving down timelines to detect, identify, and neutralize mines and explosive hazards. To shape the undersea battlespace and restrict the maneuver of enemy maritime forces via advanced mining technologies.

This activity invests in the research related to the ability to conduct military operations in expeditionary and maritime environments is support of naval expeditionary forces. This can include antisubmarine warfare in the littorals and maritime choke points, mine warfare and explosive hazard defeat applications, and remote sensing. Research may span system studies, system architecture development, and component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environments.

To understand and exploit the physical ocean environment to gain a tactical advantage. Develop components, sensors, signal processing algorithms, and systems that improve distributed search, localization, and surveillance.

Understand and predict the physical battlespace at time and space scales that are operationally relevant and exploit known physical maritime environmental phenomena from remote and tactical sensors.

The Power and Energy planned programs develop increasingly efficient, reliable, resilient, and abundant energy for Navy and Marine Corps infrastructure, platforms, systems, and equipment. Power and Energy technology investments seek to optimize power and energy density, energy efficiency, service life, reliability, low maintenance operation, safety, and cost. It represents areas previously identified under the Naval Power Systems Thrust.

The Undersea Systems, Payloads, and Weapons activity produces innovative affordable, persistent, and stealthy undersea technologies that leverage the asymmetric advantage afforded by subsurface operations. It represents areas previously identified under the Undersea Weapons Thrust.

Communications and Networking develops technologies and techniques that enable distributed maritime operations.

Intelligence, Decision-Making Superiority, C2 and Combat Systems conducts applied research dedicated to developing decision tools to allow Commanders to rapidly and confidently move from data-to-options-to-informed decisions.

Full Spectrum Cyber develops innovative cyber technologies to enhance the resilience, safety, and efficiency of cyber systems in naval warfighting platforms.

Expeditionary Cyber explores and develops technologies necessary to conduct successful offensive and defensive in contested environment tailored to naval expeditionary forces. This can include system studies, system architecture development, and component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environments.

Electromagnetic Warfare conducts applied research to mature underlying technologies, techniques, and algorithms that degrade, neutralize, or destroy an adversary's C4ISR capabilities.

Surveillance, Sensors and Phenomenology conducts applied research to mature sensing and systems technologies to deliver Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Targeting (ISR&T) data.

Quantum, Positioning, Navigation, and Timing develops technologies and techniques to improve Positioning, Navigation and Timing systems in a Global Positioning System-denied environment.

Electromagnetic Spectrum researches and develops electronics, sensors, electronic warfare, and alternate positioning, navigation, and timing to understand, shape, and operate in austere and contested expeditionary environments in support of naval expeditionary forces. This can include system studies, system architecture development, and component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environments.

Details at a higher classification

Investigate and mature technologies related to High Power Microwave (HPM) and acoustic energy for use in defensive applications against a wide variety of threats in multiple domains.

The Expeditionary Directed Energy activity develops laser and high-power microwave weapon systems to defend expeditionary platforms and expeditionary bases from a variety of threats in multiple domains. This can support vulnerability research for expeditionary threats, high energy laser and high powered microwave system architectures, and component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environments.

Investigate and mature technologies in support of sub-systems applicable to current and/or future kinetic weapons systems, i.e., missiles, rockets, projectiles, bombs and mortars. Developmental areas include, but not limited to: propulsion, seekers, guidance, navigation and control; warheads, and related targeting, networking, and command and control systems.

The Expeditionary Kinetic Weapons activity enhances the ability of naval expeditionary forces to strike at longer ranges, with greater precision, and using scalable weapons effects. This can also include new developments in weapon autonomy; new seekers for expeditionary weapons; next-generation precision, navigation, and timing in contested environments; human-machine teaming; decreasing the time to the target; collaboration of multiple kinetic weapons; and reducing overall weapon size, weight, power and cost. This can include system studies, system architecture development, and component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environments.

Traditionally, the utilization of autonomous systems is either operationally segregated from manned operations or requires a significant amount of human oversight when operating in conjunction with manned assets, which mitigates some of the advantage from using them. The goal of the Manned and Autonomous Teams (MATes) project is to develop autonomic robotic technology and collaborative autonomous behaviors that seamlessly operate across all domains in conjunction with manned units, allowing for real-time adaptation and optimization in a manner that streamlines the element of human interaction needed to share mission goals. This technology will monitor human or manned system teammate state, behavior, mission, and adversary threat status to anticipate and act in a tactically appropriate manner that is predictable, communicable, and trusted by the human/manned teammates and which enables autonomous system optimization in coordination with the human/manned teammate and mission objectives. Intuitive human/autonomous system interfaces will be developed to allow focus on higher-order decision-making tasks by the operators allowing for large numbers of autonomous systems (100's or 1000's) to be managed in support of manned operations. The activity identified in Project Unit 3463 MATes specifically addresses Applied Research in support of the MATes effort.

The Precision Fire Control (PFC) effort will develop a fire control architecture that delivers high precision, high update rate guidance solutions to enable cruise missile defense with small, low-cost interceptors and dramatically increase number of interceptors per ship or Expeditionary Advanced Base. It will develop fire control capability for multiple interceptors (missiles and gun projectiles) that contribute to layered defense of surface combatants, expeditionary forces, and homeland protection. Develop PFC-enabled low-cost missile (LCM) based on existing 2.75" rocket components.

The Human Performance and Medical Support research area applies new knowledge gained from the basic and applied science biomedical research portfolio to address Navy specific needs, such as protecting warfighters from operational health threats including medical challenges associated with hypothermal and hyperbaric exposure, developing diagnostic and treatment capabilities for use in operational environments, and prototyping new capabilities to recover injured warfighters.

The Advanced Analytics and Decision Making research area applies new knowledge gained from the basic and applied research portfolio to address Navy specific needs through the development of technologies that improve the decision making process, enhance performance modeling, assessment, and After Action Reporting tools, and enable the use of cyber-technical and cyber-social capabilities in the information environment.

The Autonomy, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotics research area leverages emerging artificial intelligence techniques gained from the basic and applied research portfolio to develop technologies that address Navy specific needs such as enabling dynamic and unplanned sharing of resources for unmanned systems (platforms, payloads, data), increasing the capacity and resilience of logistics networks, and providing faster collaborative planning capabilities across competing missions, objectives, and warfighter needs.

The Manpower, Training, and Performance Assessment research area applies new knowledge gained from the basic and applied research portfolio to develop technologies that enhance Fleet and Force readiness and lethality by: increasing the understanding and application of learning sciences; enhancing and preserving military members' capabilities to execute essential tasks under any conditions and environment; maintaining warfighting proficiency and readiness by providing mentoring, mission readiness assessment, and long-term trend and data analysis.

The Materials activity invests in applied research of new materials that enhance the performance, affordability, survivability, and reliability of Navy and Marine Corps platforms and systems.

Investigate and mature technologies in support of delivering capabilities or improvements to aviation platforms (manned/unmanned) and air-ship operations; and developing other technologies specific to the air domain or aviation regime.

The Small Turbofan Augmentor with Rotating Detonation for Autonomous Collaborative Aircraft and Missiles (STARDANCAR-M) effort will add a Rotating Detonation Augmentor (RDA) to small engines, decreasing the burning length: - Autonomous Collaborative Aircraft (ACA) with RDA will keep up with tactical vehicles - Missiles with RDA will achieve higher speeds - Subsonic missiles will have increased evasion capabilities and terminal velocity

The Flight Advancement of Structures for Hypersonics (FLASH) Innovative Naval Prototype (INP) program integrates advanced hypersonic vehicle technologies that will demonstrate the viability of the concept to be fielded as a surface-launched, tactical range, hypersonic strike capability. FLASH will design, develop, manufacture, and test a number of prototype flight vehicles to inform decisions concerning the FLASH capability. FLASH will address vehicle aerodynamic and thermal performance, structural performance, vehicle controllability, and affordability related to its technologies and assess compatibility with the Vertical Launch System (VLS) and the Virginia Payload Module (VPM). The FLASH INP, which leverages prior Applied Research, was selected by Navy Leadership as an INP in FY 2026 due to promising technology maturation. This is not a new start.

To enable operational maritime maneuver and amphibious assault by driving down timelines to detect, identify, and neutralize mines and explosive hazards. To shape the undersea battlespace and restrict the maneuver of enemy maritime forces via advanced mining technologies.

To understand and exploit the physical ocean environment to gain a tactical advantage. Develop components, sensors, signal processing algorithms, and systems that improve distributed search, localization, and surveillance.

Understand and predict the physical battlespace at time and space scales that are operationally relevant and exploit known physical maritime environmental phenomena from remote and tactical sensors.

The Undersea Systems, Payloads, and Weapons activity produces innovative affordable, persistent, and stealthy undersea technologies that leverage the asymmetric advantage afforded by subsurface operations. It represents areas previously identified under the Undersea Weapons Thrust.

This activity invests in the research related to the ability to conduct military operations in expeditionary and maritime environments is support of naval expeditionary forces. This can include antisubmarine warfare in the littorals and maritime choke points, mine warfare and explosive hazard defeat applications, and remote sensing. Research may span system studies, system architecture development, and component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environments.

The FSUSW Project will develop new technology for offensive and defensive warfare conducted on the seabed, in the sea (i.e. subsea), and from the sea. FSUSW will address three thrusts identified in the Undersea Warfare Development Command's document, "Full Spectrum Undersea Warfare Concept of Operations (CONOPS)". These thrusts are: advanced offensive missions for submarines, subsea and seabed warfare, and distributed undersea warfare. Distributed undersea warfare technology will enable full participation of all undersea warfare assets in the Navy's Distributed Maritime Operations concept. FSUSW missions this Project addresses include Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Anti Surface Warfare, Strike, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance, Mine Warfare, and Subsea and Seabed Warfare (SSW). The FSUSW Project includes the Affordable Mobile ASW Surveillance System (AMASS) research and will leverage technology developed in the separate PE 06022792N, Project Unit 3450, AMOS.

Operational Analysis, Support and Experimentation was established to broaden the spectrum of promising applied research efforts investigated within this Project and to provide additional acquisition oversight, fiscal clarity, and adherence to financial management practices at the Project level. The efforts described in this Project address the Applied Research associated with Innovative Naval Prototype (INP) Operational Analysis, Support and Experimentation efforts that are used to further explore the development of future INP topics and proposals. These efforts evaluate, study/analyze and/or perform any basic applied research-focused investigative experimentation activities which will support the identification of potential INP topics for future investment consideration. The use of Operational Analysis, Support and Experimentation funds can help accelerate and/or create a flexible response to emerging requirements or threats by identifying a potential INP topic for consideration in a more time-efficient and/or effective manner.

Communications and Networking develops technologies and techniques that enable distributed maritime operations.

Intelligence, Decision-Making Superiority, C2 and Combat Systems conducts applied research dedicated to developing decision tools to allow Commanders to rapidly and confidently move from data-to-options-to-informed decisions.