# Research, Engineering & Development

**Agency:** Transportation  
**Account:** Research, Engineering & Development  
**Source document:** FAA · p. 1  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/budget/transportation/research-engineering-development  

> **Trust:** parsed from the agency Congressional Justification. Approximate, **not summable**, verify at the cited page.

## Funding ($M)

| Fiscal year | Basis | Amount |
| --- | --- | --- |
| FY2025 | enacted | 280.0 |
| FY2026 | enacted | 290.0 |
| FY2027 | request | 165.0 |

## Transportation discretionary budget authority (OMB PBDB — authoritative)

FY2027 $22.40B, FY2026 $61.90B. This is the agency total, not a sum of the parsed lines.


## What this funds

Why FAA Research and Development Matters FAA research is primarily applied R&D designed to help the agency develop policies, regulations, certifications, guidance, and standards that increase safety and modernize the ' Provision of research data and analyses to modernize NAS operations ' Evaluation and validation of requirements, procedures, and methods ' Production of useful materials, devices, systems, tools, and technologies FAA research, analyses, and development enable new technologies, procedures, and training methods that advance aviation technology. FAA R&D helps the aerospace community adapt to new safety issues and service demands resulting from increased unmanned aircraft systems, commercial spaceflight activities, and the birth of new industries such as advanced air mobility. The research will influence the future of FAA oversight, considering the expansion of aviation industries, the sustained growth in aviation, the incorporation of more sophisticated analytical safety tools, and the adoption of mature safety management systems. Agency research aims to counter growing cybersecurity threats posed by increasingly interconnected systems and minimize the impact of aerospace activities on the environment. R&D helps the aerospace industry modernize the nation's infrastructure, creating new The FAA substantially impacts aviation, space, and the U.S. economy. This increases American economic competitiveness, fuels economic growth, and creates jobs. R&D is critical to reinforcing FAA's role as the world's premier aerospace body and is essential for the continued How the FAA's Research Shapes the Future FAA research focuses on a core safety mission and prioritizes integrating emerging technologies into the NAS while minimizing environmental impacts. The NAS is evolving to support diverse aerospace operations brought about by new technologies and vehicle types. As the world becomes more digitally interconnected, there is exponential growth in data availability, computing power, and storage capacity. Improvements made through FAA's deployment of NextGen provide the foundation for the future. By adding new planned capabilities and services and capitalizing on modern information- based technology, the FAA will continue transforming the aviation system and accommodating all users in a changing environment. NAS evolution will address the expected changes and take advantage of data, innovative technologies, and new capabilities in three areas:


**Where it sits:** Civilian / Non-Defense › Transportation › FAA › Research, Engineering & Development


*HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. government. Civilian line dollars are parsed from agency Congressional Justifications and are approximate.*