RDT&E Program Element · President's Budget PB2027

Missile/Air Defense Product Improvement Program

PE 0203801A·U.S. Army·Approp. 2040 — RDT&E·BA7 — Operational System Development
FY2027 Request
$2.1M
◆ Scaling +54%
HitchAI read

U.S. Army funding ramps 54% to a $2.1M request in FY2027, sustained across the five-year plan. In the FY2027 defense authorization, the House funded it in full; the Senate funded it in full; House appropriators funded it in full. RTX / Raytheon leads the industry work.

FY2027 Request
$2.1M
▲ 54% vs FY2026
FY2026 Enacted
$1.3M
▼ 8.1% vs FY2025
FY2025 Actual
$1.5M
Prior year

For fiscal year 2027, the U.S. Army is requesting $2.1M for Missile/Air Defense Product Improvement Program under RDT&E program element 0203801A, up 54% over FY2026.

Funding trajectory

Funding profile, FY2025–FY2031

Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure.

01.5FY25ACTUAL1.3FY26ENACTED2.1FY27REQUEST2.1FY282.1FY292.2FY302.2FY31
Actual Enacted Request Outyear (FYDP)
Fiscal YearEstimate TypeAmount ($M)
FY2025Actual1.5
FY2026Enacted1.3
FY2027Request2.1
FY2028Outyear2.1
FY2029Outyear2.1
FY2030Outyear2.2
FY2031Outyear2.2
Where it sits

Acquisition lifecycle

This program is funded in RDT&E Budget Activity 7 — Operational System Development.

Complete
Research
BA 1–2
Complete
Advanced Technology
BA 3
Complete
Prototyping
BA 4
Current
Development & Fielding
BA 5–7
Inside the program element

1 project rolls up into PE 0203801A

Projects are the summable leaves — the PE total is their sum, never added to it. Program elements and projects carry the full five-year plan; activities stop at the budget year. This PE moves 54% overall, which can hide much larger swings below.

Project 038

Avenger PIP

$2.1MFY2027 request ▲ 54%
FY2025 actual$1.5M
FY2026 enacted$1.3M
FY2027 request$2.1M
Product DevelopmentTest and Evaluation

The Avenger is a lightweight, ground-to-air missile and gun weapon system mounted on a High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). It is designed to protect against unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), cruise missiles, and fixed- and rotary-wing threats. The Avenger provides day/night and adverse weather operational capabilities, shoot-on-the-move functionality, rapid target engagement, and remote firing capability. It is highly mobile, capable of being air-dropped, helicopter-lifted, and air-transportable. The system employs up to eight Stinger missiles to counter aerial threats and is equipped with an M3P .50 Caliber Machine Gun for close-in ground and air defense. An Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system is integrated to aid in identifying friendly aircraft, minimizing the risk of fratricide. The Avenger fleet consists of 421 systems, including 169 systems equipped with a digital Slew-to-Cue (STC) capability, which enhances target detection and engagement speed. The Avenger Modification - Service Life Extension Program (MOD-SLEP) consists of Project 038: Avenger Production Improvement Program (PIP) and Program Element CE8710: Avenger MODS. The ongoing MOD-SLEP addresses the obsolescence of Avenger components to ensure Avenger maintains operational capability through the end of its economic useful life. Key MOD-SLEP components are the Targeting Console (TC), the M3P, the Avenger Fire Control Computer (AFCC), the Mode 5 IFF, the Vehicle Internal Communications (VIC-5), and the Assured Positioning Navigation and Timing (A-PNT) capability. The AFCC and TC are fielded to the STC Avengers. All other components are fielded to the entire Avenger fleet. The FY 2027 funding of $2.054 million is allocated to support ongoing system testing requirements and implement system improvements to address evolving threats.

Accomplishments / planned programs (R-2A) — prior, current and budget year only
Avenger MOD-SLEP▲ 54%
FY2025 actual$1.5M
FY2026 enacted$1.3M
FY2027 request$2.1M

FY2027 planned work FY 2027 funding continues obsolescence mitigation through product improvements, which allows for the integration, testing and qualification of replacement parts required for system improvements to address evolving threats.

FY2026 to FY2027 change Increase of FY27 funding supports increased obsolescence mitigation and threat updates due to the age of the system.

FY2026 plans — current year FY 2026 funding continues to support system testing requirement and addresses evolving threats and obsolescence mitigation, which allows for product improvement of repair parts that are no longer available.

FY2025 accomplishments FY 2025 funding continues to support system testing requirement and addresses evolving threats and obsolescence mitigation, which allows for product improvement of repair parts that are no longer available.

Congressional action

Congressional marks

Committee marks on the FY2027 request. Adds and cuts are reconciled in conference before they become law.

RequestPresident's Budget
$2.1M
House NDAA (HASC)HASC
$2.1M full · +$0
Senate NDAA (SASC)SASC
$2.1M full · +$0
House Approps (HAC-D)HAC_D
$2.1M full · +$0
unresolved as of 2026-07-27. These are FY2027 authorization marks (NDAA); appropriations and the conference agreement may differ.
Who's building it

Where the FY2027 request goes

Performers named in the R-3 exhibit, resolved into industry, government-lab, and unspecified shares. Budget-justification contract funding, not obligations.

RTX / Raytheon
$2.1M · 100%
Avenger Modification Product Development · Various
Where FY2027 funding flowsShare$M
Industry primes100%2.1
FY2027 request100%2.1
See RTX / Raytheon's full federal contract ledger members
Program detail

Mission & acquisition strategy

The Avenger is a lightweight, ground-to-air missile and gun weapon system mounted on a High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). It is designed to protect against unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), cruise missiles, and fixed- and rotary-wing threats. The Avenger provides day/night and adverse weather operational capabilities, shoot-on-the-move functionality, rapid target engagement, and remote firing capability. It is highly mobile, capable of being air-dropped, helicopter-lifted, and air-transportable. The system employs up to eight Stinger missiles to counter aerial threats and is equipped with an M3P .50 Caliber Machine Gun for close-in ground and air defense.

The Avenger MOD-SLEP addresses obsolescence of key components and ensures that Avenger is viable and sustainable through the end of its economic useful life. The MOD-SLEP components are the TC, the AFCC, the Mode 5 IFF, the VIC-5, the M3P machine gun and A-PNT. The M3P machine gun will be fielded through attrition. The other MOD-SLEP components will be installed in the field. Development and testing of hardware and software modifications necessary to fully integrate the A-PNT capability into the Avenger will be performed by a combination of Government and Original Equipment Manufacturer efforts, using the existing and new Engineering Service contracts. A-PNT modifications will be performed by Depot Maintenance teams.

Project 038 — Avenger PIP
  • Product Development
  • Test and Evaluation
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Answers are generated from the figures on this page — the FY2027 justification exhibits and the marks tracked above — and nothing else is consulted. Confirm any figure against the cited exhibit before you use it externally.

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Questions this page can answer
How does the FY2027 request compare with FY2026, and what does the five-year plan show?What did the FY2027 NDAA committees do to this request?How is the FY2027 request split between industry and government performers?In plain terms, what is this program element for and how is it being acquired?

This page carries the budget justification and the NDAA marks — nothing else. For what RTX / Raytheon has actually been obligated, the ledger is at hitchintel.com/vendors; for live solicitations, hitchintel.com/opportunities. Both are member surfaces.

Provenance

Cite this page

Sources
FY2027 Department of the Army RDT&E Budget Justification · Exhibits R-2 / R-3 · PE 0203801A (President's Budget PB2027) — and FY2027 NDAA committee marks, as tracked 2026-07-27.
Suggested citation
HitchAI, "Missile/Air Defense Product Improvement Program (PE 0203801A)," federal budget intelligence, PB2027 vintage. hitchintel.com/programs/0203801A
Machine access
Markdown twin /programs/0203801A.md · MCP mcp.hitchintel.combudget_get_program_element, budget_get_cong_marks