The Department of Defense has selected the proposal of the U.S. Army DEVCOM ARL-led Hypersonic Infrared Target Sensing team, or HITS, as the winner of the Applied Research for the Advancement of S&T Priorities award competition, or ARAP, for fiscal year 2025.
DOD said Wednesday DEVCOM ARL, which stands for Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory, will work with the Air Force Research Laboratory, Missile Defense Agency and the Naval Research Laboratory on the three-year, $45 million project.
"Our approach encompasses innovative multi-physics modeling, meta-optical design, advanced fabrication techniques, and infrared optical characterization, with the ultimate goal of improving the precision of these weapons at longer ranges in more agile, lower cost platforms," said Henry Everitt, senior technologist for optical sciences at DEVCOM ARL and the HITS team lead.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will also participate in the HITS research project, which will involve more than 50 federal scientists and engineers across the military service labs to help address the challenge of building infrared seekers for hypersonic weapons.
The research team will explore high-temperature infrared materials, locate targets throughout hypersonic flight and address thermal distortion through the seeker window, among other things. It will also work with industry and academia as it develops in-house capabilities through the multidisciplinary effort.
DOD centers and laboratories seeking to participate in the annual competition must submit applied research funding proposals addressing capability gaps or a specific technology and promoting collaboration across defense agencies and military agencies.
"The S&T Executive Committee received nine high-quality white paper submissions for this year's competition and narrowed it down to three finalists," said Aprille Ericsson, the assistant secretary of defense for science and technology and chair of the S&T Executive Committee.
DOD is soliciting white papers for the FY 2026 ARAP competition and will accept submissions through Nov. 13.