RDT&E Program Element · President's Budget PB2027

Advanced Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System

PE 0304240M·U.S. Navy·Approp. 1319 — RDT&E·BA4 — Advanced Component Development & Prototypes
FY2027 Request
$2.0M
Navy · RDT&E
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U.S. Navy funding falls 30% to a $2.0M 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. NAWCAD leads the industry work.

FY2027 Request
$2.0M
▼ 30% vs FY2026
FY2026 Enacted
$2.8M
▼ 19% vs FY2025
FY2025 Actual
$3.5M
Prior year

For fiscal year 2027, the U.S. Navy is requesting $2.0M for Advanced Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System under RDT&E program element 0304240M, down 30% from 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.

03.5FY25ACTUAL2.8FY26ENACTED2.0FY27REQUEST2.0FY282.0FY292.1FY302.1FY31
Actual Enacted Request Outyear (FYDP)
Fiscal YearEstimate TypeAmount ($M)
FY2025Actual3.5
FY2026Enacted2.8
FY2027Request2.0
FY2028Outyear2.0
FY2029Outyear2.0
FY2030Outyear2.1
FY2031Outyear2.1
Where it sits

Acquisition lifecycle

This program is funded in RDT&E Budget Activity 4 — Advanced Component Development & Prototypes.

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

1 project rolls up into PE 0304240M

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 -30% overall, which can hide much larger swings below.

Project 3135

USMC MUX

$2.0MFY2027 request ▼ 30%
FY2025 actual$3.5M
FY2026 enacted$2.8M
FY2027 request$2.0M
Product DevelopmentSupportTest and EvaluationManagement Services

Project 3135 - The Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Expeditionary (MUX) Family of Systems (FoS) project provides funding to address requirements identified in the October 2016 MUX Initial Capabilities Document (ICD) and April 2020 MUX Requirements Clarification document. This PE supports development, testing, experimentation, prototyping, concept refinement and risk reduction of advanced payloads, system architectures, mission control capabilities, ground control stations, advanced and interoperable networking and communications systems and infrastructure, and new unmanned aircraft systems Additionally this PE will develop CONOPS to integrate the MUX FoS into joint programs and operating concepts to mitigate technical risk through model-based systems engineering, analysis, simulation, test and evaluation, and partnership with industry. The MUX FoS provides Advanced Tactical UAS in support of Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO), Littoral Operations in Contested Environments (LOCE), and Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO) to provide advanced, unmanned, multi-mission capability for the MAGTF and Marine Littoral Regiment (MLR). MUX FoS within this Program Element will continue Mission System Payload development and assessment efforts for future system within and external to MALE program. Future Mission System Payloads will support Mission Sensors and other critical technologies that support future planned FoS capability.

Accomplishments / planned programs (R-2A) — prior, current and budget year only
Mission System Development▲ 16%
FY2025 actual$2.3M
FY2026 enacted$1.0M
FY2027 request$1.1M

FY2027 planned work MUX will continue to support capability and payload sensor primary hardware development, NRE, capability integration studies and design work. MUX will also support programmatic engineering, logistics and technical requirements generation of capabilities for the MUX Family of Systems (FoS). The program will perform payload capability improvements to include payload software as well as test required to pace evolving threats.

FY2026 to FY2027 change FY 2027 increase of $0.155 is due to USMC reprioritization of requirements resulting in increase in studies and experimentation, requirements analysis and engineering assessments for Product Development.

FY2026 plans — current year MUX will continue to support capability and payload sensor primary hardware development, NRE, capability integration studies and design work. MUX will also support programmatic engineering, logistics and technical requirements generation of capabilities for the MUX Family of Systems (FoS). The program will perform payload capability improvements to include payload software as well as test required to pace evolving threats.

MUX Program Support▼ 54%
FY2025 actual$1.2M
FY2026 enacted$1.9M
FY2027 request$0.9M

FY2027 planned work Continue to provide Government Systems Engineering, Program Management, Logistics, Contractor RDT&E support, and travel. Tasking includes conducting Model Based Systems Engineering simulation using industry and threat data and developing system and payload architecture studies to inform future integration approaches. Tasking will also include trade studies/demonstrations, market research on and assessments of developing capabilities for integration on the platform.

FY2026 to FY2027 change FY 2027 decrease of $0.998 is due to realignment of resources to planned requirements/tasking for ILS Support and Management Services.

FY2026 plans — current year Continue to provide Government Systems Engineering, Program Management, Logistics, Contractor RDT&E support, and travel. Tasking includes conducting Model Based Systems Engineering simulation using industry and threat data and developing system and payload architecture studies to inform future integration approaches. Tasking will also include trade studies/demonstrations, market research on and assessments of developing capabilities for integration on the platform.

Congressional action

Congressional marks

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

RequestPresident's Budget
$2.0M
House NDAA (HASC)HASC
$2.0M full · +$0
Senate NDAA (SASC)SASC
$2.0M full · +$0
House Approps (HAC-D)HAC_D
$2.0M 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.

NAWCAD
$0.3M · 17%
Government Engineering Support
Where FY2027 funding flowsShare$M
Industry primes17%0.3
Other / unspecified83%1.7
FY2027 request100%2.0
See NAWCAD's full federal contract ledger members
Program detail

Mission & acquisition strategy

Project 3135 - The Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Expeditionary (MUX) Family of Systems (FoS) project provides funding to address requirements identified in the October 2016 MUX Initial Capabilities Document (ICD) and April 2020 MUX Requirements Clarification document. This PE supports development, testing, experimentation, prototyping, concept refinement and risk reduction of advanced payloads, system architectures, mission control capabilities, ground control stations, advanced and interoperable networking and communications systems and infrastructure, and new unmanned aircraft systems Additionally this PE will develop CONOPS to integrate the MUX FoS…

The MUX acquisition strategy leverages organic government resources, competitive and sole-source contract awards, and rapid acquisition approaches to conduct development, testing, experimentation, prototyping, concept refinement and risk reduction of advanced payloads, system architectures, mission control capabilities, ground control stations, networking and communications infrastructure, and new unmanned aircraft systems. Additionally, future MUX capabilities will leverage other services and government agencies with current technologies in development and will be available at a relatively mature technology.

Project 3135 — USMC MUX
  • Product Development
  • Support
  • Test and Evaluation
  • Management Services
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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 NAWCAD 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 Navy RDT&E Budget Justification · Exhibits R-2 / R-3 · PE 0304240M (President's Budget PB2027) — and FY2027 NDAA committee marks, as tracked 2026-07-27.
Suggested citation
HitchAI, "Advanced Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (PE 0304240M)," federal budget intelligence, PB2027 vintage. hitchintel.com/programs/0304240M
Machine access
Markdown twin /programs/0304240M.md · MCP mcp.hitchintel.combudget_get_program_element, budget_get_cong_marks