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This paper introduces a new cooperative research program of national scale that is focused on crucial research issues in the development of high energy microwave sources. These have many applications in the DOD and industry. The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), in coopertaion with the Phillips Laboratory, the Naval Research Laboratory, and the Army Research Laboratory, has established a tri-service research consortium to investigate novel high energy microwave sources. The program is part of the DODs 'Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative' and will be funded at a rate of $DLR3.0M per year for up to five years. All research performed under this program will be unclassified. Under its auspices, HPM scientists at nine US universities will be attacking twenty-two separate research projects under the leadership of Neville Luhmann at UC-Davis, Victor Granatstein at Maryland, Magne Kristiansen at Texas Tech, Edl Schamiloglu at New Mexico, John Nation at Cornell, Ned Birdsall at UC-Berkeley, George Caryotakis at Standord, Ronald Gilgenbach at Michigan, and Anthony Lin at UCLA. To facilitate the rapid transition of research results into the industrial community, formal collaborative subcontracts are already in place with James Benford at Physics International, Carter Armstrong at Northrop, and Glen Huffman at Varian Associates. Although this new program officially only came into existence in mid-March of this year, it builds on over a decade of microwave research efforts funded by the plasma physics office at AFOSR. It also is synergistic with the ongoing Tri-Service Vacuum Electronics Initiative led by Robert Parker of NRL as well as with the AFOSR's and Rome Laboratory's long standing Advanced Thermionic Research Initiative. An overview will be given of the broad spectrum of research objectives encompassed by NUCOMR. Areas of collaboration and technology transfer will be highlighted. The areas in which the three university consortia will conduct research are described, and the connectivity to industry and to the DOD laboratories are discussed. There are a number of critical technical barriers to reaching the desired goals for high power and high energy sources. These are discussed and the planned focus of research to resolve them is also presented.
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