- The Army is requesting a big funding boost in FY 2027 for advanced electronic warfare capabilities.
- Service leaders say these technologies are essential to prepare the service for great power competition against near-peer adversaries like China.
- Get additional EW investment priorities from top Army acquisition official Lt. Gen. Robert Collins during his keynote at the 2026 Army Summit on Thursday, June 18!
The Army is making major investments in electronic warfare to prepare it for ‘great power competition’ against near-peer adversaries like China. The service, for the Electronic Warfare Advanced Technology, or EWAT, program, requested $156 million in fiscal year 2027, an 81 percent increase from the $86 million provided in FY 2026.
The Army wants to mature cutting-edge technologies such as architectures, infrastructure, tools and techniques across the spectrum of EW activities. This is to disrupt enemy command, control, computing, communications, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and targeting, or C-C5ISR&T, systems and ensure protection from electronic attacks.
The goal is to deliver a comprehensive electronic warfare suite. The service claims it will not only ensure Army forces maintain a decisive advantage in the contested electromagnetic environment, but also create new opportunities for operational advantage, increasing unit survivability, maneuverability, and the effective employment of non-kinetic effects in the most challenging environments.
What Is Electronic Warfare?
EW is military activities that use electromagnetic energy to control the electromagnetic spectrum and attack an enemy. Modern militaries rely on communications equipment that use broad portions of the spectrum to conduct military operations, allowing them to talk, transmit data, provide navigation and timing information and to command and control forces around the world.
As a result, success in modern combat is dependent on leveraging EW to dominate the electromagnetic spectrum. Let’s discover the details of the Army’s EWAT budget request.
Dive into the details of the Army’s massive funding boost for advanced EW capabilities at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Army Summit this Thursday, June 18! Get actionable business intelligence from our stellar lineup of top service officers and technology executives:
- Marc Andersen, assistant secretary for financial management and comptroller
- Lt. Gen. Robert Collins, principal military deputy to the assistant secretary for acquisition, technology logistics and the director of Army Acquisition Corps
- Maj. Gen. David Hall, Army Transformation and Training Command deputy commanding general for Army National Guard
- Lt. Gen. Jeth Ray, deputy chief of staff, G-6
- Katie Thompson, deputy executive director for Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground
- Dr. Jeff Waksman, principal deputy assistant secretary for installations, energy and environment
Tickets are almost sold out. Don’t wait—secure yours now!
What’s Inside the Army’s Big Funding Boost for Electronic Warfare Advanced Technologies?
1. Huge Increase in EW for Maneuver Operations for Advanced Technology
The EW for Maneuver Operations, aka EMO, Advanced Technology portion of the program is slated to receive the largest budget boost. The Army requested $86 million for EMO Advanced Technology in FY 2027; this would be a six-fold increase from the $12 million provided in FY 2026.
This program is an essential part of the EW Advanced Technology effort. It matures and demonstrates distributed, coordinated EW capabilities including novel sensor technologies designed to extend effective range, reduce vulnerability to localization and introduce errors into enemy ISR&T systems to facilitate multi-domain operations.
It also will mature EW techniques to mitigate adversary electromagnetic protection capabilities that are common and increasing in complexity and effectiveness in modern threat platforms and weapon systems. The Army is committed to the success of the EMO Advanced Technology budget line as it anticipates requesting a minimum of $74 million per year through FY 2031.
2. More Money for Enhanced Vetronics Advanced Technology
Sufficient power is absolutely essential for the Army to effectively perform EW missions. That’s why the service is requesting a big boost in funding for its Enhanced Vetronics Advanced Technology budget line by asking for $33 million in FY 2027, a 74 percent increase from the $19 million provided in FY 2026.
This project develops enhanced on-platform power and data management as the critical enabler for rapidly deployable, scalable and adaptable EW capabilities. The goal is to significantly increase warfighter survivability and lethality by optimizing ground vehicle power, electronics and data systems for integrated EW operations.
Meeting the escalating power and data demands of modern EW systems, including advanced techniques like jamming, AI-powered signal processing and wideband spectrum monitoring, necessitates breakthroughs in energy storage density, efficiency and robust data distribution infrastructures. This budget line will mature technologies focused on protection and survivability, defeating ground threats through non-kinetic EW effects.
3. Bigger Investment in EW Counter-Adversary ISR&T Capabilities
The Army wants to accelerate technology development in the EW counter-adversary intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting, or ISR&T, capabilities advanced technology subprogram, which is part of the EMO Advanced Technology budget line. For this, the Army requested $9.5 million in FY 2027, a 64 percent increase from the $5.8 million enacted in FY 2026.
Why is this subcategory important? It matures and demonstrates capabilities to degrade the enemy’s ability to leverage advanced target development, tracking and kinetic targeting and engagement capabilities, degrading and delaying their ability to quickly respond to allied force actions.
The Army in FY 2027, for this subcategory, wants to validate counter-C2 hardware capabilities to degrade adversary target development, tracking and engagement. This funding will also allow it to optimize technology to obscure the electromagnetic environment and disrupt adversary counter geolocation and electronic support capabilities.
Win more, and larger, contracts in FY 2027 by attending the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Army Summit this Thursday, June 18! Get new business opportunities in commercial technology at the Accelerating Commercial Capabilities at Scale panel. Examine scaling solutions for operational impact across the force and overcoming procurement bottlenecks and institutional inertia from top Army leaders like:
- Brig. Gen. Anthony Gibbs, Capability Program Executive for Mission Autonomy
- Dennis Teefy, program manager for C2 applications, CPE Command and Control Information Network, or CPE C2IN
4. Deemphasizing Sensor to Shooter Advanced Technology
The Army is slashing investment in Sensor to Shooter Advanced Technology to free up more money for other EW priorities. The service requested $11 million for this budget line in FY 2027, down 56 percent from the $25 million provided in FY 2026.
The Sensor to Shooter Advanced Technology effort matures and demonstrates an advanced network lethality architecture to enable Joint All-Domain Command and Control, or JADC2, decision aid algorithms. This allows for coordinated and synchronized response and incorporates a full spectrum of effects and scalability to reduce the sensor-to-shooter timeline for large scale combat operations.
5. Reduced Funding for Sensor Electronic Support Advanced Technology
The Army is reducing its focus on developing the Sensor Electronic Support Advanced Technology effort, which matures and demonstrates critical EW and radar capability enhancements to defeat advanced air and missile threats and protect Army maneuver forces and critical assets.
The service requested $7.8 million for this effort in FY 2027, a 31 percent cut from the $11.3 million provided in FY 2026. Radar enhancements, as part of this budget line, will provide electronic protection techniques against advanced jammers, electronic combat identification and resource optimization across the threat spectrum while retaining 360 degree coverage capability.
Technology maturation as part of this project includes providing dispersed multi-static operation, classifying and tracking emerging and high-volume threats and adaptive digital beam forming to enable resource efficiency.
