Department of Defense Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E): Appropriations Structure

Department of Defense Research,

Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E):

Appropriations Structure

Updated September 7, 2022

Congressional Research Service

https://crsreports.congress.gov

R44711

Department of Defense Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E)

Department of Defense Research,

Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E):

Appropriations Structure

R44711

September 7, 2022

John F. Sargent Jr.

Specialist in Science and

Technology Policy

The Department of Defense (DOD) conducts research, development, testing, and

evaluation (RDT&E) in support of its mission requirements. The work funded by these

appropriations plays a central role in the nation’s security and an important role in U.S.

global leadership in science and technology. DOD alone accounts for 41.1% of all federal R&D appropriations

($65.7 billion of $159.6 billion in FY2022).

In its annual congressional budget requests, DOD presents its RDT&E requests by organization and by its own

unique taxonomy aligned to the character of the work to be performed.

More than 97% of DOD RDT&E funding is provided under Title IV of the annual defense appropriations act.

These funds are appropriated for RDT&E in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force (under the Air Force

account), a Defense-wide RDT&E account, and the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation. RDT&E funding

is also provided for the Defense Health Program in Title VI; the Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction

Program in Title VI; and previously the National Defense Sealift Fund in Title V, though the President’s FY2023

budget does not request RDT&E funds for this purpose. In some years, RDT&E funds also have been requested

and appropriated as part of DOD’s separate funding to support Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO, formerly

the Global War on Terror (GWOT)), though no OCO/GWOT funds have been requested in the President’s

FY2023 budget. These funds have typically been appropriated for specific activities identified in Title IV. Finally,

some OCO funds have been appropriated for transfer funds (e.g., the Iraqi Freedom Fund (IFF), Iraqi Security

Forces Fund, Afghanistan Security Forces Fund, and Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund) which can be

used to support RDT&E activities, among other things, subject to certain limitations.

Parsing RDT&E funding by the character of the work, DOD has established eight categories identified by a

budget activity code (numbers 6.1-6.8) and a description. Budget activity code 6.1 is for basic research; 6.2 is for

applied research; 6.3 is for advanced technology development; 6.4 is for advanced component development and

prototypes; 6.5 is for systems development and demonstration; 6.6 is for RDT&E management support; 6.7 is for

operational system development; and 6.8 is for software and digital technology pilot programs.

DOD uses crosswalks to report its RDT&E funding to the Office of Management and Budget and to the National

Science Foundation.

Congressional Research Service

Department of Defense Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E)

Contents

Organization and Program Structure ............................................................................................... 1

Character of Work Structure ............................................................................................................ 2

Alignment with Other Federal R&D Taxonomies ........................................................................... 5

DOD RDT&E Funding ................................................................................................................... 6

Selected Issues ................................................................................................................................. 9

What Is the Appropriate Funding Level for DOD RDT&E? .................................................... 9

Approach: DOD RDT&E as a Share of DOD Funding ...................................................... 9

Related Data and Discussion ............................................................................................ 10

What Is the Appropriate Funding Level for DOD Science and Technology? .......................... 11

Approach: DOD Science and Technology as a Share of Total DOD Funding .................. 12

Related Data and Discussion ............................................................................................ 13

Approach: DOD Science and Technology as a Share of DOD RDT&E .......................... 15

Related Data ...................................................................................................................... 15

What Is the Appropriate Funding Level for DOD Basic Research? ....................................... 16

Approach: DOD Basic Research as a Share of DOD S&T ............................................... 16

Related Data ...................................................................................................................... 16

What Is the Appropriate Balance Between Investments in Incremental RDT&E and

Investments Directed Toward Revolutionary Technological Advancements? ..................... 17

Approach: Revolutionary Research as a Share of DOD S&T .......................................... 17

Related Data and Discussion ............................................................................................ 18

Approach: High Risk, High Payoff Research as a Share of RDT&E ............................... 19

Related Data and Discussion ............................................................................................ 19

Concluding Observations .............................................................................................................. 20

Figures

Figure 1. DOD Share of Federal R&D ............................................................................................ 1

Figure 2. DOD RDT&E Crosswalks to OMB, NSF Taxonomies ................................................... 6

Figure 3. Title IV RDT&E Funding by Character of Work, FY1996-FY2022 ............................... 7

Figure 4. Title IV RDT&E Funding by Character of Work, FY1996-FY2022 ............................... 7

Figure 5. FY2022 Title IV RDT&E Funding by Character of Work ............................................... 8

Figure 6. Title IV FY2022 RDT&E Funding by Organization........................................................ 8

Figure 7. DOD Title IV RDT&E Funding..................................................................................... 10

Figure 8. DOD Title IV RDT&E Funding as a Share of DOD

Total Obligational Authority ....................................................................................................... 11

Figure 9. DOD Science and Technology (6.1-6.3) Funding .......................................................... 13

Figure 10. DOD Science and Technology Funding as a Share of DOD TOA............................... 14

Figure 11. S&T Obligational Authority and Proposed Options for Increases ............................... 14

Figure 12. DOD Science and Technology Funding as a Share of Title IV RDT&E ..................... 15

Figure 13. DOD Basic Research Funding ..................................................................................... 16

Figure 14. DOD Basic Research Funding as a Share of S&T Funding ......................................... 17

Figure 15. DARPA Funding .......................................................................................................... 18

Figure 16. DARPA Funding as a Share of DOD S&T Funding .................................................... 19

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Department of Defense Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E)

Figure 17. DARPA Funding as a Share of DOD RDT&E Funding .............................................. 20

Tables

Table 1. DOD RDT&E Budget Activity Codes and Descriptions ................................................... 3

Contacts

Author Information........................................................................................................................ 21

Congressional Research Service

Department of Defense Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E)

he Department of Defense (DOD) receives more than 41% of all federal research and

development (R&D) appropriations, and 66% more than that of the next largest federal

recipient, the Department of Health and Human Services.1 The research and development

work funded by these appropriations plays a central role in the nation’s security, contributes to the

strength of U.S. based researchers and firms in most science and technology fields, and plays an

important role in U.S. global leadership in science and technology.

T

This report provides an introduction to the structure of DOD’s research, development, test, and

evaluation (RT&E) budget for staff attempting to understand DOD RDT&E appropriations. In its

annual budget request to Congress, DOD presents its RDT&E by organization and program and

by the character of the work to be performed. The majority of DOD’s RDT&E request is

summarized in a supporting budget document titled “Research, Development, Test, & Evaluation

Programs (R-1),” which is often referred to simply as the R-1.2

Figure 1. DOD Share of Federal R&D

Source: CRS analysis of FY2022 estimated funding

from Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United

States Government, Fiscal Year 2023.

Organization and

Program Structure

DOD RDT&E appropriations are provided

annually through the defense appropriations

act, one of the 12 regular appropriations acts

that provide most of the discretionary funding

for operation of the federal government.3

Generally, DOD RDT&E funding is provided

in four of the act’s titles (see box). More than

97% of DOD’s RDT&E funding is

appropriated in Title IV (Research,

Development, Test, and Evaluation), which

includes RDT&E appropriations for the

Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force (under

the Air Force account), a Defense-wide

RDT&E account, and the Director of

Operational Test and Evaluation. Within each

of these accounts are dozens of program

1 Based on FY2022 estimated funding levels as specified in Executive Office of the President, Office of Management

and Budget, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2023, May 2022, 253 pp.,

https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/analytical-perspectives/. Beginning with the President’s FY2018 budget, the Office

of Management and Budget adopted a new R&D taxonomy for collecting and reporting federal R&D funding that it

asserts would better align its data with the survey data collected by the National Science Foundation, and to be

consistent with international standards. Under this taxonomy, OMB no longer counts DOD RDT&E Budget Activity

6.7, Operational System Development, discussed below, as a part of total federal R&D. (Email communication from

OMB to CRS, October 1, 2020.) Under the previous taxonomy, DOD accounted for nearly half of total federal R&D.

For more information on this change, see CRS Report R45150, Federal Research and Development (R&D) Funding:

FY2019, coordinated by John F. Sargent Jr. For FY2017-FY2022, DOD did not include Budget Activity 6.6 (RDT&E

Management Support) in its research and development reporting to OMB; as of FY2023 DOD is now reporting Budget

Activity 6.6 as research and development.

2 R-1s are available on the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) website at http://comptroller.defense.gov/BudgetMaterials.

3 Often two or more of these acts are included together in a consolidated or omnibus act. For further information, see

CRS Report RL32473, Omnibus Appropriations Acts: Overview of Recent Practices, by James V. Saturno and Jessica

Tollestrup.

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elements (PEs) that specify funding for particular activities (e.g., night vision technology, aviation

survivability, cyber operations technology development).

The remaining RDT&E funds are appropriated for programs in other parts of the act. For

example, RDT&E funds are appropriated as part of the Defense Health Program (DHP) and the

Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction Program, and sometimes as part of the National

Defense Sealift Fund.

The DHP supports the delivery of health care to DOD personnel and their families. DHP funds

(including any RDT&E funds) are appropriated in Title VI. The program’s RDT&E funds support

congressionally directed research on breast, prostate, and ovarian cancer; traumatic brain injuries;

orthotics and prosthetics; and other medical conditions.

The Chemical Agents and Munitions

Destruction Program supports activities to

destroy the U.S. inventory of lethal chemical

agents and munitions. Funds for this program

are requested through the Defense-wide

Procurement appropriations request.

Congress appropriates funds for this program

in Title VI (Other Department of Defense

Programs).

The National Defense Sealift Fund supports

the procurement, operation and maintenance,

and research and development of the nation’s

naval reserve fleet and supports a U.S.flagged merchant fleet that can serve in time

of need. The RDT&E funding for this effort

is requested in the Navy’s Procurement

request and appropriated in Title V

(Revolving and Management Funds) of the

appropriation act.

DOD RDT&E by Appropriations Act Title

Title IV: Research, Development, Test, &

Evaluation

 Army

 Navy

 Air Force

 Defense-wide

 Operational Test and Evaluation

Title V: Revolving and Management Funds

 National Defense Sealift Fund

Title VI: Other Defense Programs

 Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction

 Defense Health Program

Title IX: Overseas Contingency Operations







Any of the above

Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Fund

Transfer Funds

RDT&E funds also have been requested and appropriated as part of DOD’s separate funding to

support Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO, formerly the Global War on Terror (GWOT)).

Typically, the RDT&E funds appropriated for OCO activities in Title IX support specified PEs in

Title IV. However, they are requested and accounted for separately. The Bush Administration

requested these funds in separate GWOT emergency supplemental requests. The Obama

Administration included these funds as part of its regular budget request, not in emergency

supplemental requests, although it sometimes asked for additional OCO funds in supplemental

requests. The Trump Administration included these funds as part of its regular budget requests.

President Biden’s FY2023 request does not include separate OCO/GWOT funding.

Character of Work Structure

While DOD Title IV appropriations are made by organization (e.g., Research, Development, Test

and Evaluation, Army), the DOD R-1 and congressional appropriations reports and explanatory

statements also typically characterize this funding by the character of work to be performed. This

characterization is provided in seven categories, each with a budget activity code (6.1 through

6.8) and a description (see Table 1).

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Table 1. DOD RDT&E Budget Activity Codes and Descriptions

Code

Description

6.1

Basic Research

6.2

Applied Research

6.3

Advanced Technology Development

6.4

Advanced Component Development and Prototypes

6.5

System Development and Demonstration

6.6

RDT&E Management Support

6.7

Operational System Development

6.8

Software and Digital Technology Pilot Programs

Source: Department of Defense, Financial Management Regulation (DoD 7000.14-R), Volume 2B, November

2017.

DOD’s Financial Management Regulation (DoD 7000.14-R) provides a detailed description of

the types of activities supported in each budget activity category:4

[6.1] Basic Research. Basic research is systematic study directed toward greater knowledge

or understanding of the fundamental aspects of phenomena and of observable facts without

specific applications towards processes or products in mind. It includes all scientific study

and experimentation directed toward increasing fundamental knowledge and

understanding in those fields of the physical, engineering, environmental, and life sciences

related to long-term national security needs. It is farsighted high payoff research that

provides the basis for technological progress. Basic research may lead to: (a) subsequent

applied research and advanced technology developments in Defense-related technologies,

and (b) new and improved military functional capabilities in areas such as communications,

detection, tracking, surveillance, propulsion, mobility, guidance and control, navigation,

energy conversion, materials and structures, and personnel support. …

[6.2] Applied Research. Applied research is systematic study to understand the means to

meet a recognized and specific need. It is a systematic expansion and application of

knowledge to develop useful materials, devices, and systems or methods. It may be

oriented, ultimately, toward the design, development, and improvement of prototypes and

new processes to meet general mission area requirements. Applied research may translate

promising basic research into solutions for broadly defined military needs, short of system

development. This type of effort may vary from systematic mission-directed research

beyond that in [6.1] to sophisticated breadboard hardware, study, programming and

planning efforts that establish the initial feasibility and practicality of proposed solutions

to technological challenges. It includes studies, investigations, and non-system specific

technology efforts. The dominant characteristic is that applied research is directed toward

general military needs with a view toward developing and evaluating the feasibility and

practicality of proposed solutions and determining their parameters. Applied Research

precedes system specific technology investigations or development. …

[6.3] Advanced Technology Development (ATD). This budget activity includes

development of subsystems and components and efforts to integrate subsystems and

components into system prototypes for field experiments and/or tests in a simulated

environment. [6.3] includes concept and technology demonstrations of components and

subsystems or system models. The models may be form, fit, and function prototypes or

4 Department of Defense, Financial Management Regulation (DoD 7000.14-R), November 2017, Volume 2B, Chapter

5, pp. 5-4–5-6, https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/documents/fmr/Volume_02b.pdf.

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scaled models that serve the same demonstration purpose. The results of this type of effort

are proof of technological feasibility and assessment of subsystem and component

operability and producibility rather than the development of hardware for service use.

Projects in this category have a direct relevance to identified military needs. Advanced

Technology Development demonstrates the general military utility or cost reduction

potential of technology when applied to different types of military equipment or

techniques. Program elements in this category involve pre-Milestone B efforts, such as

system concept demonstration, joint and Service-specific experiments or Technology

Demonstrations and generally have Technology Readiness Levels of 4, 5, or 6. (For further

discussion on Technology Readiness Levels, see the Assistant Secretary of Defense for

Research and Engineering’s Technology Readiness Assessment (TRA) Guidance.)

Projects in this category do not necessarily lead to subsequent development or procurement

phases, but should have the goal of moving out of Science and Technology (S&T) and into

the acquisition process within the Future Years Defense Program (FYDP). Upon successful

completion of projects that have military utility, the technology should be available for

transition.

[6.4] Advanced Component Development and Prototypes (ACD&P). Efforts necessary to

evaluate integrated technologies, representative modes, or prototype systems in a high

fidelity and realistic operating environment are funded in this budget activity. The ACD&P

phase includes system specific efforts that help expedite technology transition from the

laboratory to operational use. Emphasis is on proving component and subsystem maturity

prior to integration in major and complex systems and may involve risk reduction

initiatives. …

[6.5] System Development and Demonstration (SDD). System Development and

Demonstration (SDD) programs [conduct] engineering and manufacturing development

tasks aimed at meeting validated requirements prior to full-rate production. This budget

activity is characterized by major line item projects.… Prototype performance is near or at

planned operational system levels. Characteristics of this budget activity involve mature

system development, integration, demonstration … conducting live fire test and evaluation,

and initial operational test and evaluation of production representative articles.…

[6.6] RDT&E Management Support. This budget activity includes management support

for research, development, test, and evaluation efforts and funds to sustain and/or

modernize the installations or operations required for general research, development, test,

and evaluation. Test ranges, military construction, maintenance support of laboratories,

operation and maintenance of test aircraft and ships, and studies and analyses in support of

the RDT&E program are funded in this budget activity. Costs of laboratory personnel,

either in-house or contractor operated, would be assigned to appropriate projects or as a

line item in the Basic Research, Applied Research, or ATD program areas, as appropriate.

Military construction costs directly related to major development programs are included in

this budget activity.

[6.7] Operational System Development. This budget activity includes development efforts

to upgrade systems that have been fielded or have received approval for full rate production

and anticipate production funding in the current or subsequent fiscal year.

DOD’s Financial Management Regulation has not been updated to incorporate budget activity 6.8

and therefore does not include a description of the activities for this budget activity. The Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) has stated that budget activity 6.8 “includes program elements

that are directly related to DOD’s Software and Digital Technology Pilot Programs. These funds

are intended to be used for expenses necessary for agile development, test and evaluation,

procurement and modification, and the operation and maintenance of these Pilot initiatives.”5

5 Email communication between OMB and CRS staff, June 1, 2020.

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Funding in budget activity codes 6.1-6.3 is referred to by DOD as the science and technology

(S&T) budget. This portion of DOD RDT&E is often singled out for attention by analysts as it is

seen as the pool of knowledge necessary for the development of future military systems. In

contrast, 6.4, 6.5, and 6.7 funds are focused on the application of existing scientific and technical

knowledge to meet current or near-term operational needs. The funds in 6.6 are for RDT&E

management and may support work in any of the other RDT&E budget accounts. Within the S&T

program, basic research (6.1) receives special attention, particularly by the nation’s universities,

which are recipients of 6.1 extramural funding. DOD is not a large supporter of basic research at

U.S. academic institutions when compared to the National Institutes of Health or the National

Science Foundation (NSF). However, nearly half of DOD’s basic research budget is spent at

universities. DOD funding represents a substantial source of federal funds for R&D at institutions

of higher education in some fields, including 64% of aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical

engineering R&D; 60% of industrial and manufacturing engineering R&D; 59% of electrical,

electronic, and communications engineering R&D; 49% of mechanical engineering R&D; and

47% of computer and information sciences R&D.6

For FY2017 and subsequent years, OMB replaced the R&D category “development” with a

subset referred to as “experimental development” in an effort that OMB asserts better aligns its

data with the survey data collected by NSF, and to be consistent with international standards.

OMB thus omits funding for DOD budget activities 6.7 and 6.8 (which it classifies as nonexperiment development) from the calculation of DOD and federal research and development

funding. During FY2017-FY2022, OMB also omitted funding for DOD budget activity 6.6,

which it then classified as “non-investment activity,” from the calculation of federal R&D

funding. In the President’s FY2023 budget, OMB made the decision to reclassify budget activity

6.6 funding as experimental development to fully capture DOD’s total contribution to total

federal research and development funding.7

Alignment with Other Federal R&D Taxonomies

OMB characterizes federal R&D funding in four categories: basic research, applied research,

development, and facilities and equipment. With respect to Title IV funding, in general, DOD 6.1

funding is reported under OMB’s basic research classification and 6.2 funding is reported as

applied research. Historically, 6.3-6.7 funding has been reported as development. However, OMB

no longer includes 6.7 funding in its R&D reporting.8 Funding for 6.8 is also not included in

federal R&D calculations. Some DOD 6.1-6.5 funding may be reported under OMB’s facilities

and equipment classification.

NSF collects R&D obligations and performance data from all federal R&D agencies through its

annual Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development. The survey requests most

agencies to identify their R&D activities in three categories: basic research, applied research, and

development. NSF uses a modified survey for collecting DOD R&D data in which the

development category is divided into two subcategories: advanced technology development and

major systems development. DOD uses the following crosswalk to respond to the NSF survey:

6.1 funding is reported under NSF’s basic research category, 6.2 funding is reported as applied

research, 6.3 is reported as advanced technology development (experimental development), 6.4–

6.6 funding is reported as major systems development (experimental development), and 6.7 is

6 National Science Foundation, Higher Education Research and Development Survey, FY 2020, data tables, Table 13,

https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf22311.

7 Email communication and telephone conversation between CRS and OMB staff, most recently September 8, 2022.

8 Email communication and telephone conversation between CRS and OMB staff, October 1, 2020.

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reported as operational systems development (non-experimental development). As of volume 70,

the Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development does not collect 6.8.

Figure 2. DOD RDT&E Crosswalks to OMB, NSF Taxonomies

Sources: CRS telephone and email communications with OMB and NSF, most recently July 5, 2022.

Notes: OMB classifies budget activity 6.7, Operational Systems Development, and budget activity 6.8, Software

and Digital Technology Pilot Programs, as “Non-Experimental Development.” NSF reports budget activity 6.3,

Advanced Technology Development, and budget activities 6.4, 6.5, and 6.6 (which it collectively refers to as

Major Systems Development) as “Experimental Development,” and reports budget activity 6.7, Operational

Systems Development, and budget activity 6.8, Software and Digital Technology Pilot Programs, as “NonExperimental Development.” OMB and NSF no longer report Non-Experimental Development as R&D; NSF

reports Non-Experimental Development as part of RDT&E.

* The NSF category “R&D Plant” includes R&D facilities and equipment. It remains unclear which of the DOD

budget activities (6.1-6.5) are included in NSF’s R&D Plant and whether funding provided to DOD through the

Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MILCON) appropriations acts is included in the

NSF’s reporting of R&D Plant.

DOD RDT&E Funding

This section provides a number of figures that illustrate DOD RDT&E expenditure trends for the

FY1996-FY2022 period. Figure 3 illustrates DOD Title IV and OCO RDT&E expenditures in

current dollars by character of work. DOD RDT&E funding provided in other appropriations

titles are not included in the character of work (6.1-6.7) taxonomy; inclusion of these funds might

affect the balance among the categories. There was no 6.8 funding during the FY1996-FY2020

period.

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Figure 3. Title IV RDT&E Funding by Character of Work, FY1996-FY2022

obligational authority, in billions of current dollars

Source: CRS analysis of data from Department of Defense, Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Programs

(R-1) for FY1996-FY2022.

Figure 4 illustrates DOD RDT&E funding for FY1996-FY2022 in constant FY2022 dollars.

Between FY1996 and FY2000, DOD RDT&E funding was flat. Between FY2000 and FY2009,

total DOD RDT&E funding rose by 69% in constant dollars, remained flat through FY2010, then

fell by 27% between FY2010 and FY2015. Between FY2015 and FY2022, total DOD RDT&E

funding rose by 60% in constant dollars.

Figure 4. Title IV RDT&E Funding by Character of Work, FY1996-FY2022

obligational authority, in billions of constant FY2022 dollars

Source: CRS analysis of data from Department of Defense, Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Programs

(R-1) for FY1996-FY2022.

Note: Figures adjusted to constant FY2022 dollars using Table 10.1 of the Historical Tables from the President’s

FY2023 budget.

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Figure 5 illustrates the composition of RDT&E in FY2022 by character of work. Operational

System Development was the largest component (36.4%). Science and technology (6.1–6.3)

accounted for 15.8% of total RDT&E.

Figure 5. FY2022 Title IV RDT&E Funding by Character of Work

Source: CRS analysis of data from Department of Defense, Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Programs

(R-1) for FY2022.

Figure 6 illustrates the composition of Title IV RDT&E funding by organization in FY2022. Title

IV provided $119.3 billion of $122.9 billion (97.0%) of total DOD RDT&E in FY2022.

Figure 6. Title IV FY2022 RDT&E Funding by Organization

Source: CRS analysis of data from Department of Defense, Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Programs

(R-1) for FY2022.

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Notes: Funding for Marine Corps-related RDT&E is included in the Navy total. DOD contains a number of

organizations that are not part of the Departments of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Space Force. Instead,

Defensewide organizations perform activities that support DOD as a whole. Defensewide organizations include

the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Missile Defense Agency, the Office of Secretary of

Defense, the Chemical and Biological Defense Program, and other organizations.

Selected Issues

Through the authorization and appropriations processes, Congress grapples with a wide-variety of

issues related to the magnitude, allocation, and strategic direction of defense RDT&E. These

decisions play an important role in U.S. national security and economic strength. This section

identifies several of these issues: the level of DOD RDT&E funding, the level of DOD S&T

funding, the level of DOD basic research, and the balance between incremental-focused and

revolutionary-focused DOD RDT&E.

While S&T and basic research are integral components of the DOD RDT&E whole, these

elements are treated separately in this analysis. In practice, appropriations decisions are generally

made about specific programs within the context of the available funding. The levels of RDT&E,

S&T, and basic research funding are the result of many decisions made during DOD budget

formulation and congressional appropriations, and in the end, are calculated on a post-facto basis.

Nevertheless, an analysis of the kind that follows may be useful in assessing the “big picture” and

in seeing funding trends in the context of an historical arc that may provide strategic insight and

guidance.

What Is the Appropriate Funding Level for DOD RDT&E?

Each year Congress makes decisions about funding for DOD RDT&E. Authorization and

appropriations levels, as well as programmatic priorities, are influenced by a wide range of

factors, including current military engagements and international commitments, near-term

national security threats, the perceived need for technology capabilities to address emerging and

unanticipated threats, RDT&E funding and capabilities of adversaries and potential adversaries,

RDT&E funding of allies, prior commitments to multi-year programs, competing demands for

resources to support non-RDT&E DOD (e.g., personnel, acquisitions) and other federal non-DOD

activities, the prior year’s funding level, anticipated government revenues, and appropriations

constraints (e.g., budget caps).

Approach: DOD RDT&E as a Share of DOD Funding

The question “What is the appropriate funding level for DOD RDT&E?” does not lend itself to a

clear objective answer, in part because such an assessment necessarily depends on subjective

assumptions about need and adequacy. Nevertheless, the question has been a focus of analysis

and debate in Congress and DOD for some time. For example, in June 1998, the Defense Science

Board (DSB) Task Force on the Defense Science and Technology Base for the 21st Century

proposed the use of a standard industry benchmark—R&D as a share of sales—substituting total

DOD funding for sales. The report stated

Using the pharmaceutical industry as a model, [the data show] about 14% of revenue

devoted to research and development. With current DoD funding of about $250 billion, a

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total DoD research and development funding level of about $35 billion is indicated or close

to the current DoD level.9

Related Data and Discussion

Figure 7 illustrates DOD Title IV RDT&E for the period FY1996-FY2022. Between FY1996 and

FY2001, RDT&E grew slowly. Between FY2000 and FY2010, RDT&E grew more rapidly, more

than doubling in current dollars from $38.5 billion to $80.7 billion. (In constant dollars, RDT&E

grew by 68.5% from FY2000 to FY2010.) Between FY2010 and FY2015, RDT&E fell 20.5% to

$64.1 billion, and then rose 86.1% to $119.3 billion in FY2022.

As a percentage of DOD’s total obligational authority (TOA), RDT&E generally ranged between

13% and 14% between FY1996 and FY2006, but then slid to around 11% in FY2011 and

remained there through FY2015. Between FY2015 and FY2022, RDT&E’s percentage of TOA

grew from 11.3% to 15.7%, its highest level in the FY1996-FY2022 period. (See Figure 8.)

Figure 7. DOD Title IV RDT&E Funding

obligational authority, in billions of current dollars

Source: CRS analysis of data from Department of Defense, Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Programs

(R-1) for FY1996-FY2022.

9 Defense Science Board, Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Defense Science and Technology Base

for the 21st Century, June 1998.

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Figure 8. DOD Title IV RDT&E Funding as a Share of DOD

Total Obligational Authority

percentage of obligational authorities

Source: CRS analysis of data from Department of Defense, Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Programs

(R-1) for FY1996-FY2022; DOD, National Defense Budget Estimates for FY2023 (Green Book), July 2022.

One challenge of using the metric of RDT&E as a share of DOD TOA is that during times of

conflict, DOD TOA can increase substantially due to the cost of operations, replacing expended

munitions, and increased force size. Thus even when RDT&E is increasing, it may decline as a

share of DOD TOA. This is illustrated in Figure 7 and Figure 8 between FY2004 and FY2008, a

period in which RDT&E grew by 23.4% and DOD TOA grew by 46.8% in support of U.S. post9/11 military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia.

What Is the Appropriate Funding Level for DOD Science and

Technology?

Congress and others have also expressed concerns about the adequacy of funding for the piece of

DOD RDT&E known as defense science and technology (6.1-6.3). The scientific and

technological insights that emerge from this funding, often referred to as the department’s “seed

corn,” are seen by many as the pool of knowledge available to DOD and the industrial base for

future defense technology development.10 For this reason, defense S&T funding has sometimes

been singled out for attention by Congress.

10 Seed corn has historically referred to the high quality kernels of corn (and other crops) to be used as seeds for

growing future corn crops. Thus, “seed corn” was essential to maintaining agricultural output. The term has

subsequently been extended to refer to an asset or investment that is expected to provide future returns.

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Approach: DOD Science and Technology as a Share of Total DOD Funding

As with overall RDT&E, the DSB’s June 1998 report suggested two conceptual frameworks for

S&T funding. The first approach, using industrial practice as a guide, proposed setting S&T

funding at 3.4% of total DOD funding:

The DoD S&T budget corresponds most closely to the research component of industrial

R&D. Using 3.4% of revenue (typical of high-tech industries shown [elsewhere in the

report]), the DoD S&T funding should be about $8.4 billion, which is a billion dollars

greater than the FY98 S&T funding. 11

To address this perceived shortcoming in funding, the FY1999 defense authorization bill (P.L.

105-261, Section 214) expressed the sense of Congress that DOD S&T funding should be

increased by 2% or more above the inflation rate each year from FY2000 to FY2008.

Subsequently, the FY2000 defense authorization bill (P.L. 106-65) expressed the sense of

Congress that

the Secretary of Defense has failed to comply with the funding objective for the Defense

Science and Technology Program, especially the Air Force Science and Technology

Program, as stated [P.L. 105-261], thus jeopardizing the stability of the defense technology

base and increasing the risk of failure to maintain technological superiority in future

weapon systems.12

The act further expressed the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense should increase

DOD S&T, including the S&T programs within each military department, by 2% or more above

the inflation rate each year from FY2001 to FY2009.

In 2009, the Senate-passed version of the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1390) included

a provision (Sec 217) that would have stated a sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense

should increase DOD S&T by a percent that is at least equal to inflation.

Congress embraced the DSB’s three percent recommendation and underlying rationale in the

conference report accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003:

The conferees commend the Department of Defense commitment to a goal of three percent

of the budget request for the defense science and technology program and progress toward

this goal. The conferees also note the finding in the Defense Science Board report that

successful high technology industries invest about 3.5 percent of sales in research

(equivalent to the DOD S&T program) and the recommendation that S&T funding should

be increased to ensure the continued long-term technical superiority of U.S. military forces

in the 21st Century. The conferees believe that the Department must continue to provide

the necessary investments in research and technologies that ensure a strong, stable, and

robust science and technology program for our Armed Forces. 13

Other organizations have proposed using the same metric, but with a 3% as the level for S&T

funding as a share of total DOD funding. A 2001 report based on the Quadrennial Defense

Review (QDR), a legislatively mandated review by DOD of its strategies and priorities, called for

“a significant increase in funding for S&T programs to a level of three percent of DOD spending

11 Defense Science Board, Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Defense Science and Technology Base

for the 21st Century, June 1998.

12 P.L. 106-65.

13 H.Rept. 107-772, p. 460, http://lis.gov/cgi-lis/t2gpo/https:/www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-107hrpt772/pdf/CRPT107hrpt772.pdf.

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per year.”14 In 2004, the Council on Competitiveness, a leadership organization of corporate chief

executive officers, university presidents, labor leaders, and national laboratory directors,

reiterated the 3% recommendation of the QDR.15

Related Data and Discussion

Following a period of strong growth in the early 2000s, S&T funding in current dollars rose to

$13.3 billion in FY2006, then declined to $11.0 billion in FY2013 before rebounding to $18.9

billion in FY2022. (See Figure 9.) In constant dollars, S&T funding peaked in FY2005 before

falling 27.8% through FY2013; between FY2013 and FY2022, S&T funding recovered, growing

by 43.0%. Viewed as a share of DOD total obligational authority (TOA), S&T declined from

about 3.0% in the late 1990s to about 1.7% in 2011, rebounding steadily to about 2.2% in

FY2016, remaining between 2.2% and 2.3% through FY2020, and rising to 2.5% in FY2022.

(See Figure 10.) While the growth in the absolute amount of S&T funding that was sought in P.L.

105-261 (red line, Figure 11) was achieved, S&T funding would have been higher under the

QDR recommendation (3% of DOD TOA, green line, Figure 11).

Figure 9. DOD Science and Technology (6.1-6.3) Funding

in billions of current dollars

Source: CRS analysis of data from Department of Defense, Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Programs

(R-1) for FY1996-FY2022.

14 Department of Defense, Quadrennial Defense Review Report, September 30, 2001, p. 41,

archive.defense.gov/pubs/qdr2001.pdf.

15 Council on Competitiveness, Innovate America, 2004, p. 58, http://www.compete.org/storage/images/uploads/File/

PDF%20Files/NII_Innovate_America.pdf.

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Figure 10. DOD Science and Technology Funding as a Share of DOD TOA

percentage of obligational authorities

Source: CRS analysis of data from Department of Defense, Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Programs

(R-1) for FY1996-FY2022; DOD, National Defense Budget Estimates for FY2023 (Green Book), July 2022.

Figure 11. S&T Obligational Authority and Proposed Options for Increases

in billions of current dollars

Source: CRS analysis of data from Department of Defense, Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Programs

(R-1) for FY1996-FY2022.

Note: For purposes of this chart, CRS used the GDP (Chained) Price Index from Table 10.1 of the Historical

Tables in the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2023, to determine an “inflation” level as this is the index used by

the Office of Management and Budget to convert federal research and development outlays from current dollars

to constant dollars. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/hist10z1_fy21.xlsx.

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Approach: DOD Science and Technology as a Share of DOD RDT&E

The DSB’s second proposed framework, also based on industrial practice, was to use the metric

of S&T as a share of DOD RDT&E:

Another approach to this question is to note that the ratio of research funding to total R&D

funding in high-technology industries, such as pharmaceuticals, is about 24%. When this

percentage ratio is applied to the FY98 R&D funding of about $36 billion, the result is

about $8.6 billion, well above the actual S&T funding. 16

In 2015, a coalition of industry, research universities, and associations, the Coalition for National

Security Research, asserted that DOD S&T funding should be 20% of DOD RDT&E.17

Related Data

Figure 12 illustrates S&T’s share of DOD RDT&E for FY1996-FY2017. At the time of the DSB

report (FY1998), S&T’s share of DOD RDT&E was 20.7%. After rising to 21.5% in FY2000, the

share fell to 15.2% in FY2011, recovering to 18.8% in FY2015, then falling back to 15.2% in

FY2020. In FY2022, S&T’s share of DOD RDT&E was 15.8%.

Figure 12. DOD Science and Technology Funding as a Share of Title IV RDT&E

percentage of obligational authorities

Source: CRS analysis of data from Department of Defense, Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Programs

(R-1) for FY1996-FY2022.

16 Defense Science Board, Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Defense Science and Technology Base

for the 21st Century, June 1998. CRS analysis of the FY1999 DOD R-1 shows $7.8 billion in defense S&T funding for

FY1998. Some analysts may disagree with DSB’s implicit assumption about the applicability of a ratio drawn from the

R&D investment behavior of private firms competing in a commercial market to DOD S&T spending.

17 Richard M. Jones, “Coalition Recommends Higher Level of Defense S&T Funding than Administration Request,”

FYI: Science Policy News from AIP, April 13, 2015, https://www.aip.org/fyi/2015/coalition-recommends-higher-leveldefense-st-funding-administration-request.

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What Is the Appropriate Funding Level for DOD Basic Research?

Within the S&T program, basic research (6.1) is singled out for additional attention, due in part to

its perceived value in advancing breakthrough technologies and in part to the substantial role it

plays in supporting university-based research in certain physical sciences and engineering

disciplines. Basic research funding is seen by some to be particularly vulnerable to budget cuts or

reallocation to other priorities because of the generally long time it takes for basic research

investments to result in tangible products and other outcomes (i.e., reductions in funding can be

made with minimal short term consequences) and to the uncertainty of the benefits that will be

derived from the results of basic research.

Approach: DOD Basic Research as a Share of DOD S&T

In 2004, the Council on Competitiveness asserted that DOD basic research should be at least 20%

of DOD S&T.18 In 2015, the Coalition for National Security Research also recommended 20% of

DOD S&T.19

Related Data

In general, DOD basic research funding has grown steadily from FY1998 through FY2022,

growing by 151%. (See Figure 13.) As a share of S&T, basic research declined from 14.6% in

FY1996 to 11.0% in FY2006, then began a steady rise to 18.4% in FY2015, its highest level in 20

years, but has since fallen to 14.6% in FY2022. (See Figure 14.)

Figure 13. DOD Basic Research Funding

obligational authority, in billions of current dollars

Source: CRS analysis of data from Department of Defense, Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Programs

(R-1) for FY1996-FY2022.

18 Council on Competitiveness, Innovate America, 2004, p. 58.

19 Richard M. Jones, “Coalition Recommends Higher Level of Defense S&T Funding than Administration Request,”

FYI: Science Policy News from AIP, April 13, 2015.

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Figure 14. DOD Basic Research Funding as a Share of S&T Funding

percentage of obligational authorities

Source: CRS analysis of data from Department of Defense, Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Programs

(R-1) for FY1998-FY2023.

What Is the Appropriate Balance Between Investments in

Incremental RDT&E and Investments Directed Toward

Revolutionary Technological Advancements?

Another key issue of concern to Congress is the balance in the RDT&E portfolio between funding

focused on incremental or evolutionary improvements and funding focused on exploratory

research that might lead to revolutionary technologies. The latter is frequently referred to as “high

risk, high reward” research as it involves R&D activities that have low or unknown likelihood of

success, but that, if successful, may yield revolutionary technological advances.20

Approach: Revolutionary Research as a Share of DOD S&T

The DSB’s 1998 report noted industry’s practice of

allocating about 1/3 of the total available research funding to exploratory or potentially

revolutionary projects. The other 2/3 of the effort is typically focused on identified product

needs in the form of evolutionary improvements in current product lines. 21

In accordance with this industrial practice, DSB recommended that DOD

[ensure] that approximately 1/3 of the S&T program elements are devoted to revolutionary

technology initiatives. DARPA should play a major role in executing these efforts along

with the Services.22

20 Historical examples of defense-led, science and technology-enabled, revolutionary advances include nuclear

weapons, integrated circuits, jet aircraft, precision munitions enabled by the Global Positioning System (GPS), and the

internet.

21 Defense Science Board, Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Defense Science and Technology Base

for the 21st Century, June 1998.

22 Ibid, p. 45.

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Applied to the FY2017 S&T budget, this formula would allocate approximately $4.5 billion to

revolutionary technology initiatives.

In 2004, S.Rept. 108-46 accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year

2004 (S. 1050) expressed the committee’s concerns that the DOD “investment in basic research

has remained stagnant and is too focused on near-term demands.”

Related Data and Discussion

DOD does not report funding for revolutionary research. The Defense Advanced Projects

Research Agency (DARPA) has been the lead DOD agency focused on revolutionary R&D since

its establishment in 1958 following the Soviet launch of the first human-made satellite, Sputnik,

in 1957. For this report, CRS examined DARPA funding as a surrogate measure of at least a

portion of DOD’s investments in revolutionary research.23

DARPA describes its mission as making “pivotal investments in breakthrough technologies for

national security.”24 DARPA funding remained generally steady from FY2003 to FY2013,

ranging between $2.5 billion and $3.0 billion. Since 2013, DARPA funding has grown slowly and

steadily to $3.9 billion in FY2022. (See Figure 15.) DARPA’s funding as a share of defense S&T

remained generally steady between FY1999 and FY2022, between 21% and 25%. In FY1996,

DARPA funding accounted for about 30% of S&T funding, before sliding to 22% in FY2000 (See

Figure 16.)

Figure 15. DARPA Funding

obligational authority, in billions of current dollars

Source: CRS analysis of data from Department of Defense, Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Programs

(R-1) for FY1996-FY2022.

23 Some analysts have expressed concern that DARPA funding has, at times, become too focused on near-term

technology transition and less focused on pioneering research. See for example, John Paul Parker, “At the Age of 50,

It’s Time for DARPA to Rethink its Future,” National Defense: NDIA’s Business and Technology Magazine,

September 2009, http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2009/September/Pages/

AttheAgeof50,it%E2%80%99sTimeforDARPAtoRethinkitsFuture.aspx.

24 Department of Defense, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency website, accessed December 5, 2016,

http://www.darpa.mil/about-us/mission.

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Figure 16. DARPA Funding as a Share of DOD S&T Funding

percentage of obligational authorities

Source: CRS analysis of data from Department of Defense, Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Programs

(R-1) for FY1996-FY2022.

Approach: High Risk, High Payoff Research as a Share of RDT&E

In its 2007 Rising Above the Gathering Storm report, the National Academies recommended that

At least 8% of the budgets of federal research agencies should be set aside for discretionary

funding managed by technical program managers in those agencies to catalyze high-risk,

high-payoff research.25

Related Data and Discussion

Using DARPA once more as a surrogate measure of a portion of DOD’s high risk, high payoff

research, Figure 17 shows DARPA funding as a percent of DOD RDT&E. Between FY1996 and

FY2008, DARPA’s share of RDT&E fell by nearly half, from 6.4% in FY1996 to 3.4% in

FY2008. DARPA’s share subsequently rose to 4.5% in FY2015, then began to fall again,

reaching 3.3% in FY2020 and remaining at that level through FY2022. Based solely on DARPA

funding, DOD funding for high risk, high payoff research is well below the 8% recommended by

the National Academies. It is unclear how investments in high risk, high payoff research from

other DOD accounts might affect this picture.

25 National Academies, Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter

Economic Future, 2007, p. 149, https://download.nap.edu/cart/download.cgi?record_id=11463.

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Figure 17. DARPA Funding as a Share of DOD RDT&E Funding

percentage of obligational authorities

Source: CRS analysis of data from Department of Defense, Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Programs

(R-1) for FY1996-FY2022.

Concluding Observations

DOD RDT&E investments are highly complex and can be parsed in many ways. Some of these

are highlighted in this report. Other ways of parsing RDT&E funding—such as allocation by

performing organization (e.g., industry; universities; government-owned, government-operated

facilities; federally-funded research and development centers (FFRDCs)), size of industrial

performers, intramural and extramural performance—may also be important for the effective

allocation of DOD RDT&E resources. Similarly, many DOD RDT&E stakeholders have asserted

the importance of stability in funding streams. Among the many other factors that may affect the

effectiveness of the performance of RDT&E are: organizational structures and relationships;

management; workforce recruitment, training and retention; and policies related to cooperative

research and technology transfer.

As Congress undertakes defense annual authorization and appropriations, it may wish to consider

the issues raised in this report related to the magnitude and composition of funding for DOD

RDT&E, as well as the other issues such as those identified above.

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Author Information

John F. Sargent Jr.

Specialist in Science and Technology Policy

Disclaimer

This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan

shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and

under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other

than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in

connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not

subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in

its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or

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copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.

Congressional Research Service

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