What project CU7 buys
This project will develop and flight-validate new approaches and tools applicable to advanced high-speed configurations being considered for Future Vertical Lift (FVL) and transition to industry to ensure that FVL aircraft meet Army requirements. Work in this project may also address and be applied to the needs of other Army and specific DoW aviation systems. Research in this project is fully coordinated with PE 0603043A (Air Platform Advanced Technology) / Project CV1 (Control & Autonomy for Tactical Superiority Adv). Work in this project is performed by Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC).
Project CU7 funding, 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. Projects carry the full five-year plan; the activities inside them stop at the budget year.
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 5.6 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 8.3 |
| FY2027 | Request | 10.4 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 15.3 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 15.9 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 15.1 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 15.0 |
3 accomplishments / planned programs
The R-2A exhibit — the only level of the budget that describes work that has not happened yet. Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only, no five-year plan. Coverage is partial across the corpus, so count activities, never total them.
FY2027 planned work Will extend AvMC's high-fidelity flight-dynamics modeling tool to incorporate improved aerodynamic interaction models; investigate flight control system concepts and flying qualities requirements for Launched Effects (LE).
FY2026 to FY2027 change Funding decrease reflects reduction in flight-dynamics modeling and the planned conclusion of this effort in FY27.
FY2026 plans — current year Will add external load modeling capability to AvMC's high-fidelity flight-dynamics modeling tool; develop Explicit Model Following (EMF) baseline control laws for AvMC's RASCAL-X flying laboratory to allow it to mimic flight characteristics of other helicopters; implement AvMC's autonomy algorithms on Tactical Resupply Vehicle family of UAVs.
FY2025 accomplishments Will update AvMCs high-fidelity flight-dynamics modeling tool to run in real time with selectable levels of fidelity. Will develop methods for using estimation to compensate for failed sensors to enable graceful degradation. Will continue developing handling qualities requirements for high-speed flight.
FY2027 planned work Will explore/assess autonomy algorithms from industry for future testing on AvMC UH-60Mx flying laboratory; develop autonomy framework that leverages best autonomous technologies/capabilities from across the enterprise.
FY2026 to FY2027 change Funding increase reflects the assessment of industry autonomy algorithms and the development of an autonomy framework that exploits the best Army and industry autonomous technologies.
FY2026 plans — current year Will configure AvMC's autonomy algorithms for implementation on AvMC's UH-60Mx flying laboratory; develop interfaces needed to integrate AvMC's autonomy algorithms with the existing flight control system of AvMC's UH-60Mx flying laboratory.
FY2027 planned work Will develop Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) vision-based navigation algorithms and train using flight test data; develop sensor-based data and digital terrain elevation data fusion methods.
FY2026 to FY2027 change Funding increase to continue development of perception technologies and for additional personnel.
FY2026 plans — current year Will add autonomous Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS) to AvMC's suite of autonomy algorithms; enhance AvMC's autonomy algorithms to use perception to act on critical information not encoded in sensor data.
FY2025 accomplishments Will conduct research into sensor range, field of view, and performance needed for high-speed flight. Will start evaluating non-emitting sensors for position determination and autonomous navigation.