What the FY2027 request buys
Verbatim from the R-2A exhibit for project 2228 of PE 0101221N. This is the budget justification's own description of work that has not happened yet — the one thing no other level of the budget carries.
Funding for mission effectiveness is allocated across both unclassified and classified efforts. The unclassified portion, totaling $38.769 million, includes the following tasks: - Expand and continue efforts on Halcyon: Radar and algorithm integration for upcoming test flight - Continue efforts on Non-Line of Sight free-space optical communication system: High-bandwidth eye safe free space optical communication system for high data rate transmission within the SWS - Continue efforts on robust chip-scale optical beam positioning system: Capability to enable two-way communication between bodies - Continue efforts on quantum at sea accelerometer: Quantum gravimeter to enable improved calibration to support extended patrols - Continue efforts on low-SWAP atomic clock ensemble for >1 month assured timing: Robust clock with order-of-magnitude better performance and smaller size than a cesium beam clock to enable timing performance for month-long missions - Begin the development of a design kit for Alternative Analog Integrated Circuits (ICs) to aid in the production of hardened versions at commercial foundries - Continue particle impact assessment of thermal protection systems (TPS): Combines experimental with modeling and simulation evaluation to better characterize survivability and performance limits of TPS when exposed to particulate matter and weather, with consideration of speeds and angle of impact - Begin the investigation and evaluation of novel hybrid radiation shielding techniques for use in SWS - Begin the development of manufacturing capabilities for prototype lightweight 2D Carbon/Carbon (C/C) control surfaces - The classified portion of this effort is funded at $93.563 million with additional details provided in the classified budget exhibit.
The requested $31.453 million funding increase from FY 2026 to FY 2027 is for critical guidance system enhancements to ensure navigational superiority in contested environments. $19.973 million of this increase is for classified efforts. The remainder will expand the Halcyon alternative guidance system, develop high-bandwidth optical communications, and advance a quantum gravimeter for improved at-sea calibration. Funding will also support a next-generation atomic clock for assured timing on extended missions and a partnership with industry to produce hardened integrated circuits at commercial foundries, strengthening the domestic industrial base. These initiatives directly increase system robustness and provide next-generation capabilities for navigating in difficult environments. Additional details provided in the classified budget exhibit.
FY2026: the year under way
Prior-year accomplishments and current-year plans from the same exhibit. Context for the FY2027 plan, not a series — an activity partitions its project exactly in the request year, but can under-cover it in earlier years.
Funding for mission effectiveness is allocated across both unclassified and classified efforts. The unclassified portion, totaling $27.289 million, includes the following tasks: - Project Athena: Mature the capability to fuse data from multiple alt-nav sensors to provide a resilient navigation solution - Project MIDAS: Implement alternative navigation technologies on a prototype payload - Project Scylla: Enable the trusted use of multi-Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals for navigation - Project Halcyon: Radar and algorithm integration for upcoming test flight - Non-Line of Sight system: Develop a high-bandwidth, eye-safe, free-space optical communication system for high data rate transmission - Robust chip-scale optical beam positioning system: Capability to enable two-way communication between bodies - Quantum at sea accelerometer: Quantum gravimeter to enable improved calibration to support extended patrols - Low-SWAP atomic clock: Develop a low-SWAP atomic clock ensemble for assured timing for missions exceeding one month - High temperature antenna materials: Evaluate potential advanced antenna materials for emissivity, specific heat, thermal expansion, permittivity, loss tangent, and high temperature survivability test - Thermal protection systems (TPS): Assess the impact of particles on TPS by combining experimental evaluation with modeling and simulation - 3D Printed Integrated Valve Assembly (PIVA): Maturation of a design and manufacturing process for a 3D printed PIVA to enable this component to be produced at significantly lower cost than current production options - The classified portion of this effort is funded at $73.59 million with additional details provided in the classified budget exhibit.
Three years, and no five-year plan
An R-2A activity publishes the prior year, the current year and the budget year. The FYDP outyears exist at project and program-element level and are deliberately absent here rather than inferred. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure.
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 0.0 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 100.9 |
| FY2027 | Request | 132.3 |
This activity is 63% of project 2228's FY2027 request and 13% of PE 0101221N's. In the request year the activities under a project sum to it exactly; in the current year they under-cover it in about 9% of cases, so an activity's delta can legitimately exceed its parent's and the two must not be compared row to row.
6 activities in project 2228
Every R-2A line of this project, largest FY2027 request first. Linked where the activity has enough of its own narrative to carry a page; the rest are shown in full on the project page.