Printed from https://fiscalreceipts.com/program/0603924D8Z/ — data as of August 12, 2026. Every figure is citation-backed; see the page online for per-number provenance.
High Energy Laser Advanced Technology Program
Budget Figures
$114.6M discretionary + $16.0M one-time reconciliation. Discretionary change vs FY2025 enacted: +1.5%.
Two official figures, one label— reconciled below
Fiscal Receipts uses P-1/R-1 workbook total obligation authority (TOA) as the headline figure sitewide. The workbook TOA includes budget rows (such as advance procurement) that the R-2/P-40 J-book program line excludes. How the two bases relate →
FY26 Request · $130.6M TOA − $114.6M J-book line = 16.0M (130.6 − 114.6 = 16.0)
Figures in the sentence are rounded for reading; the parenthesised arithmetic is the same subtraction in USD millions, at the precision where it closes.
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? →
| Fiscal year | Amount |
|---|---|
| FY24 | $108.4M |
| FY25 | $112.9M |
| FY26 | $130.6M |
All series figures: R-1 TOA · PB2026
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.
| Series | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actuals | $0 | $0 | $71.8M | $78.1M | $109.1M | $81.2M | $108.9M | $108.4M | ||
| Enacted | – | $0 | $74.4M | $80.7M | $112.8M | $83.2M | $111.1M | $111.8M | $112.9M | |
| Request | – | – | $69.5M | $85.2M | $105.4M | $107.4M | $111.1M | $111.8M | $110.4M | $130.6M |
blank = series not published for this year; – = absent from that edition.
Asked vs spent: the PB2022 book requested $107.4M for FY2022; the PB2024 book reported $81.2M as actual total obligation authority — $26.2M below the request. 81.2 − 107.4 = -26.2 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 Advanced Development
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 advanced technology development in directed energy aimed at transitioning technology solutions for broadly defined military missions. These efforts include demonstrated performance pay-offs, increased capabilities, increased supportability, and increased affordability. 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 will ultimately enable the employment of directed energy weapon systems.
Mission — High Energy Laser Advanced Development
This project is part of an overall Department of Defense strategy in Joint directed energy advanced technology development. Efforts within this project will focus on scaling the output power of directed energy weapon systems to reach operationally effective power levels applicable to broad mission areas across the Department of Defense. Additionally, efforts will pursue improvements in common directed energy system components to enable scalable architectures and increase lethality. These efforts complement, and will be closely coordinated with, other Department efforts directed at specific Service and Agency missions. This project builds upon other investments in directed energy advanced technology development by the Services and Agencies to harmonize Department efforts and eliminate duplication. In support, efforts in this project have been coordinated with the Department of Defense Directed Energy and Non-Lethal Weapons Science and Technology Community of Interest. This project is executed via two technical programs and a new initiative within the JDETO. The first technical program is the Directed Energy Applied Tech Program, which enables (1) advanced technology development in high energy laser and high power microwave systems that support eventual prototype-level integration and (2) proof of concept tech demonstrations in a laboratory or field environment with Joint-international participation. The second technical program is the Directed Energy Tech Maturation Program, which enables (3) advanced prototypes in support of demonstrating mission-driven lethality and survivability and (4) test and evaluation in a relevant field environment with Joint-international participation. Note that (1)-(4) are in alignment with the near-, mid-, and long-term goals of Department of Defense Directed Energy Roadmap and enable transition. The new initiative is the Pulsed High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative. This initiative is also in alignment with the near-, mid-, and long-term goals of the Department of Defense Directed Energy Roadmap and is the result of mandatory funding in FY 2026.
Justification
Accomplishments & Planned Programs (4)
Directed Energy Advanced Technology Development
Develop, mature, and demonstrate technologies that improve beam control and beam propagation for directed energy weapon systems. Conduct directed energy lethality and vulnerability experiments on materials, components, and targets. Develop a lethality database for use in system-level models.
Directed Energy Applied Tech Program
The Directed Energy Applied Tech Program enables (1) advanced technology development in high energy laser and high power microwave systems that support eventual prototype-level integration and (2) proof of concept tech demonstrations in a laboratory or field environment with Joint-international participation. Note that (1) and (2) are in alignment with the near-, mid-, and long-term goals of Department of Defense Directed Energy Roadmap.
Directed Energy Tech Maturation Program
The Directed Energy Tech Maturation Program enables (1) advanced prototypes in support of demonstrating mission-driven lethality and survivability and (2) test and evaluation in a relevant field environment with Joint-international participation. Note that (1) and (2) are in alignment with the near-, mid-, and long-term goals of Department of Defense Directed Energy Roadmap.
Pulsed High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative
The Pulsed High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative builds on the success of the High Energy Scaling Initiative currently being executed within the Directed Energy Applied Tech Program of the JDETO. The goal of this initiative is to scale electronically driven pulsed laser sources to operationally relevant energy densities and demonstrate performance with a technical readiness level that is suitable for integration into advanced prototypes. The accelerated start of the Pulsed High Energy Scaling Initiative in FY 2026 is in alignment with the near-, mid-, and long-term goals of 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 | $108.4M |
| Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide | OSD | FY25 Enacted | $112.9M |
| Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide | OSD | FY25 Total | $112.9M |
| Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide | OSD | FY26 Disc. Request | $114.6M |
| Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide | OSD | FY26 Reconciliation | $16.0M |
| Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide | OSD | FY26 Total | $130.6M |
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 | $190.0M | $108.4M | $112.9M | $114.6M | $114.6M |
| 924: High Energy Laser Advanced Development | $190.0M | $108.4M | $112.9M | $114.6M | $114.6M |
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
6 mentions from the Senate LDA disclosure database.
Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026 (HR 4016/S 2572); provisions regarding R&D - Navy, Air Force, Space…
Fiscal Year 2024 Department of Defense Authorization bill, Issues related to the implemenation of TRANSCOM's GHC…
Fiscal Year 2024 Department of Defense Authorization bill, Issues related to the implemenation of TRANSCOM's GHC…
Fiscal Year 2024 Department of Defense Authorization bill, Issues related to the implemenation of TRANSCOM's GHC…
Fiscal Year 2024 Department of Defense Authorization bill, Issues related to the implemenation of TRANSCOM's GHC…
S (not yet introduced)/HR 8774 - Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2025 including issues related to aircraft…
Oversight
Department-level designation (not specific to this program)
GAO lists 5 high-risk areas for DOD as a whole. That designation covers the department, not High Energy Laser Advanced Technology Program — no program-specific GAO finding for this line is in the ingested data. See the DOD oversight record.
No research dossier for this program — dossiers cover 50 of 1,741 programs, the largest fully J-book-detailed lines by FY2026 requested dollars. why no dossier here? →