diff --git a/src/api/internal/v1beta1/component.go b/src/api/internal/v1beta1/component.go
index 75f69cfded..ca055e1e9e 100644
--- a/src/api/internal/v1beta1/component.go
+++ b/src/api/internal/v1beta1/component.go
@@ -315,6 +315,8 @@ type ZarfDataInjection struct {
 	Target ZarfContainerTarget `json:"target"`
 	// Compress the data before transmitting using gzip. Note: this requires support for tar/gzip locally and in the target image.
 	Compress bool `json:"compress,omitempty"`
+	// [alpha] The type of data injection (default 'embedded' which bundles the data at create time).
+	Type string `json:"type,omitempty" jsonschema:"enum=embedded,enum=external"`
 }
 
 // ZarfComponentImport structure for including imported Zarf components.
diff --git a/src/api/v1alpha1/component.go b/src/api/v1alpha1/component.go
index ff24de1b7b..180ed99d9f 100644
--- a/src/api/v1alpha1/component.go
+++ b/src/api/v1alpha1/component.go
@@ -4,6 +4,13 @@
 // Package v1alpha1 holds the definition of the v1alpha1 Zarf Package
 package v1alpha1
 
+const (
+	// DataInjectionEmbedded is the default data injection type
+	DataInjectionEmbedded = "embedded"
+	// DataInjectionExternal is for external data injection
+	DataInjectionExternal = "external"
+)
+
 // ZarfComponent is the primary functional grouping of assets to deploy by Zarf.
 type ZarfComponent struct {
 	// The name of the component.
@@ -373,6 +380,8 @@ type ZarfDataInjection struct {
 	Target ZarfContainerTarget `json:"target"`
 	// Compress the data before transmitting using gzip. Note: this requires support for tar/gzip locally and in the target image.
 	Compress bool `json:"compress,omitempty"`
+	// [alpha] The type of data injection (default 'embedded' which bundles the data at create time).
+	Type string `json:"type,omitempty" jsonschema:"enum=embedded,enum=external"`
 }
 
 // ZarfComponentImport structure for including imported Zarf components.
diff --git a/src/cmd/crane.go b/src/cmd/crane.go
index 9b3ad95ff7..f9d56ac673 100644
--- a/src/cmd/crane.go
+++ b/src/cmd/crane.go
@@ -371,7 +371,8 @@ func doPruneImagesForPackages(ctx context.Context, options []crane.Option, s *st
 
 					digest, err := crane.Digest(transformedImageNoCheck, options...)
 					if err != nil {
-						return err
+						l.Warn("unable to get digest for image, skipping prune check", "image", transformedImageNoCheck, "error", err.Error())
+						continue
 					}
 					pkgImages[digest] = true
 				}
diff --git a/src/pkg/cluster/data.go b/src/pkg/cluster/data.go
index ef64531831..c99280afbe 100644
--- a/src/pkg/cluster/data.go
+++ b/src/pkg/cluster/data.go
@@ -63,7 +63,14 @@ func (c *Cluster) HandleDataInjection(ctx context.Context, data v1alpha1.ZarfDat
 	l.Debug("performing data injection", "target", data.Target)
 
 	source := filepath.Join(dataInjectionPath, filepath.Base(data.Target.Path))
+	if data.Type == v1alpha1.DataInjectionExternal {
+		source = dataInjectionPath
+	}
+
 	if helpers.InvalidPath(source) {
+		if data.Type == v1alpha1.DataInjectionExternal {
+			return fmt.Errorf("could not find the external data injection source path %s", source)
+		}
 		// The path is likely invalid because of how we compose OCI components, add an index suffix to the filename
 		source = filepath.Join(dataInjectionPath, strconv.Itoa(dataIdx), filepath.Base(data.Target.Path))
 		if helpers.InvalidPath(source) {
diff --git a/src/pkg/packager/deploy.go b/src/pkg/packager/deploy.go
index 87fe8cc22d..a46e087fc2 100644
--- a/src/pkg/packager/deploy.go
+++ b/src/pkg/packager/deploy.go
@@ -486,17 +486,27 @@ func (d *deployer) deployComponent(ctx context.Context, pkgLayout *layout.Packag
 
 	g, gCtx := errgroup.WithContext(ctx)
 	for idx, data := range component.DataInjections {
-		tmpDir, err := utils.MakeTempDir(config.CommonOptions.TempDirectory)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		defer func() {
-			err = errors.Join(err, os.RemoveAll(tmpDir))
-		}()
-		dataInjectionsPath, err := pkgLayout.GetComponentDir(ctx, tmpDir, component.Name, layout.DataComponentDir)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
+		var dataInjectionsPath string
+		if data.Type == v1alpha1.DataInjectionExternal {
+			source := d.vc.ReplaceString(data.Source)
+			if source == "" {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("data injection source cannot be empty for external type")
+			}
+			dataInjectionsPath = source
+		} else {
+			tmpDir, err := utils.MakeTempDir(config.CommonOptions.TempDirectory)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			defer func() {
+				err = errors.Join(err, os.RemoveAll(tmpDir))
+			}()
+			dataInjectionsPath, err = pkgLayout.GetComponentDir(ctx, tmpDir, component.Name, layout.DataComponentDir)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
 		}
+
 		g.Go(func() error {
 			return d.c.HandleDataInjection(gCtx, data, dataInjectionsPath, idx)
 		})
diff --git a/src/pkg/packager/layout/assemble.go b/src/pkg/packager/layout/assemble.go
index afa1077d8a..bd139e0054 100644
--- a/src/pkg/packager/layout/assemble.go
+++ b/src/pkg/packager/layout/assemble.go
@@ -393,6 +393,10 @@ func assemblePackageComponent(ctx context.Context, component v1alpha1.ZarfCompon
 	}
 
 	for dataIdx, data := range component.DataInjections {
+		if data.Type == v1alpha1.DataInjectionExternal {
+			continue
+		}
+
 		rel := filepath.Join(string(DataComponentDir), strconv.Itoa(dataIdx), filepath.Base(data.Target.Path))
 		dst := filepath.Join(compBuildPath, rel)
 
@@ -626,6 +630,10 @@ func assembleSkeletonComponent(ctx context.Context, component v1alpha1.ZarfCompo
 	}
 
 	for dataIdx, data := range component.DataInjections {
+		if data.Type == v1alpha1.DataInjectionExternal {
+			continue
+		}
+
 		rel := filepath.Join(string(DataComponentDir), strconv.Itoa(dataIdx), filepath.Base(data.Target.Path))
 		dst := filepath.Join(compBuildPath, rel)
 
diff --git a/src/pkg/packager/layout/sbom.go b/src/pkg/packager/layout/sbom.go
index 6918fa5eae..8b40cc85bf 100644
--- a/src/pkg/packager/layout/sbom.go
+++ b/src/pkg/packager/layout/sbom.go
@@ -156,6 +156,9 @@ func createFileSBOM(ctx context.Context, component v1alpha1.ZarfComponent, outpu
 		err = errors.Join(err, os.RemoveAll(tmpDir))
 	}()
 	tarPath := filepath.Join(buildPath, ComponentsDir, component.Name) + ".tar"
+	if _, err := os.Stat(tarPath); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
 	err = archive.Decompress(ctx, tarPath, tmpDir, archive.DecompressOpts{})
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/src/pkg/variables/templates.go b/src/pkg/variables/templates.go
index 5f8c9b940c..586e7cf494 100644
--- a/src/pkg/variables/templates.go
+++ b/src/pkg/variables/templates.go
@@ -49,6 +49,17 @@ func (vc *VariableConfig) GetAllTemplates() map[string]*TextTemplate {
 	return templateMap
 }
 
+// ReplaceString replaces text templates in a string.
+func (vc *VariableConfig) ReplaceString(text string) string {
+	templateMap := vc.GetAllTemplates()
+	for key, template := range templateMap {
+		if template != nil {
+			text = strings.ReplaceAll(text, key, template.Value)
+		}
+	}
+	return text
+}
+
 // ReplaceTextTemplate loads a file from a given path, replaces text in it and writes it back in place.
 func (vc *VariableConfig) ReplaceTextTemplate(path string) (err error) {
 	templateRegex := fmt.Sprintf("###%s_[A-Z0-9_]+###", strings.ToUpper(vc.templatePrefix))
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/23_data_injection_external_test.go b/src/test/e2e/23_data_injection_external_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e2bf336a74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/e2e/23_data_injection_external_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2021-Present The Zarf Authors
+
+package test
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestExternalDataInjection(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Log("E2E: External Data injection")
+
+	tmpdir := t.TempDir()
+
+	image := "alpine:latest"
+
+	podYaml := fmt.Sprintf(`apiVersion: v1
+kind: Pod
+metadata:
+  name: external-data-pod
+  namespace: external-data-test
+  labels:
+    app: external-data-test
+spec:
+  containers:
+    - name: alpine
+      image: %s
+      command: ["/bin/sh", "-c", "while true; do sleep 3600; done"]
+      volumeMounts:
+        - name: data
+          mountPath: /data
+  volumes:
+    - name: data
+      emptyDir: {}
+`, image)
+
+	err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(tmpdir, "pod.yaml"), []byte(podYaml), 0644)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	zarfYaml := fmt.Sprintf(`kind: ZarfPackageConfig
+metadata:
+  name: external-data
+  version: 0.0.1
+
+components:
+  - name: data-pod
+    required: true
+    manifests:
+      - name: pod
+        namespace: external-data-test
+        files:
+          - pod.yaml
+    images:
+      - %s
+
+  - name: inject-data
+    required: true
+    dataInjections:
+      - source: "###ZARF_VAR_EXT_DATA###"
+        type: external
+        target:
+          namespace: external-data-test
+          selector: app=external-data-test
+          container: alpine
+          path: /data
+`, image)
+
+	err = os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(tmpdir, "zarf.yaml"), []byte(zarfYaml), 0644)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Create data to inject
+	dataDir := filepath.Join(tmpdir, "my-data")
+	err = os.Mkdir(dataDir, 0755)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	err = os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dataDir, "test.txt"), []byte("hello external world"), 0644)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Create package
+	stdOut, stdErr, err := e2e.Zarf(t, "package", "create", tmpdir, "-o", tmpdir, "--confirm")
+	require.NoError(t, err, stdOut, stdErr)
+
+	packageName := fmt.Sprintf("zarf-package-external-data-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch)
+	packagePath := filepath.Join(tmpdir, packageName)
+
+	// Deploy package with variable
+	stdOut, stdErr, err = e2e.Zarf(t, "package", "deploy", packagePath, "--confirm", "--set", fmt.Sprintf("EXT_DATA=%s", dataDir))
+	require.NoError(t, err, stdOut, stdErr)
+
+	// Verify injection
+	stdOut, stdErr, err = e2e.Kubectl(t, "-n", "external-data-test", "exec", "external-data-pod", "--", "cat", "/data/test.txt")
+	require.NoError(t, err, stdOut, stdErr)
+	require.Contains(t, stdOut, "hello external world")
+
+	// Cleanup
+	stdOut, stdErr, err = e2e.Zarf(t, "package", "remove", packagePath, "--confirm")
+	require.NoError(t, err, stdOut, stdErr)
+}
+
diff --git a/zarf.schema.json b/zarf.schema.json
index 0d6fbade1b..144c35d3c4 100644
--- a/zarf.schema.json
+++ b/zarf.schema.json
@@ -996,6 +996,14 @@
         "target": {
           "$ref": "#/$defs/ZarfContainerTarget",
           "description": "The target pod + container to inject the data into."
+        },
+        "type": {
+          "description": "[alpha] The type of data injection (default 'embedded' which bundles the data at create time).",
+          "enum": [
+            "embedded",
+            "external"
+          ],
+          "type": "string"
         }
       },
       "required": [