The Department of Defense (DoD) has announced the selection of the Hypersonic Infrared Target Sensing (HITS) joint-service proposal as the winner of the fiscal year 2025 Applied Research for the Advancement of S&T Priorities (ARAP) Program award competition. The HITS team, led by the Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory (DEVCOM ARL), includes collaboration with the Naval Research Laboratory, Air Force Research Laboratory, and Missile Defense Agency.
This initiative is a three-year project with a budget of $45 million, involving over 50 federal scientists and engineers from various military service labs. Dr. Aprille Ericsson, assistant secretary of defense for science and technology and chair of the S&T Executive Committee, emphasized during a ceremony at the Pentagon that "investments into our military labs and facilities are imperative for the DoD to invest in technological solutions that attract and retain the future workforce." The project aims to support up to 50 new graduate and postdoctoral researchers through partnerships with academic institutions.
The research program focuses on developing infrared seekers for hypersonic weapons, tackling challenges such as target location throughout hypersonic flight, advancing gimbal-free target discrimination in extreme turbulence, creating high-temperature infrared materials, and addressing thermal distortion through seeker windows.
Dr. Henry Everitt, senior technologist for optical sciences at DEVCOM ARL and HITS team lead, stated that their approach involves "innovative multi-physics modeling, meta-optical design, advanced fabrication techniques, and infrared optical characterization," aiming to enhance weapon precision over longer ranges on more agile platforms.
Participation in the annual ARAP award competition requires DoD laboratories to submit proposals addressing specific technology gaps while fostering collaboration across military services. According to Ericsson, "the S&T Executive Committee received nine high-quality white paper submissions for this year's competition," which were narrowed down to three finalists.
Ericsson noted that each finalist demonstrated significant initiative and professionalism: "Every team demonstrated tremendous initiative, professionalism, and vision in developing its proposal."
The call for ARAP white papers for fiscal year 2026 is now open with submissions due by November 13, 2024. For further information or assistance regarding submissions or accessing related resources online, interested parties can contact the R21 Team via email.
The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering champions research efforts to maintain U.S. military technological advantages.
