R-2A Activity · President's Budget PB2027

Vanguard Pathfinder - Integrated Combat Effects

Activity a13·Project 630320 — Air Force Vanguards·PE 0603032F·U.S. Air Force
FY2027 Request
$42.6M
▲ 2031% vs FY2026
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This activity requests $42.6M in FY2027, 15% of project 630320, up 2031% on FY2026. The R-2A exhibit describes it across FY2026–FY2027, including what the FY2027 money is planned to buy.

FY2027 Request
$42.6M
▲ 2031% vs FY2026
FY2026 Enacted
$2.0M
No FY2025 funding
FY2025 Actual
$0.0M
Prior year
Planned work

What the FY2027 request buys

Verbatim from the R-2A exhibit for project 630320 of PE 0603032F. 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.

FY2027 planned work

- Continue development of integrated solutions for multi-mode sensing and cueing for various platforms to include High Value Airborne Assets (HVAA). - Continue identification of current sensors and evaluate their efficacy for HVAA protect missions. - Continue integration of sensing into sense-making for cueing the effector. - Commence modeling, simulation, and analysis (MS&A) to leverage advanced digital manufacturing, government reference architectures, model-based quality, and specifications and standards to enable surge manufacturing of weapon systems by the defense and commercial industrial base. - Commence development and demonstration of Manufacturing as a Service for Battlefield-responsive advanced manufacturing. - Commence establishment of a surge-capable, adaptive, replicable, and franchisable, networked factory playbook to win any fight through industrial base dominance. - Commence modeling, simulation, and analysis (MS&A) and capability developmental planning activities for multi-mode sensing, cueing, and effector integration for point defense of both fixed and expeditionary assets. - Commence and complete market research, modeling, simulation, and analysis for effects of small unmanned systems swarms in contested environments. - Commence advanced concept development for small unmanned systems swarms in contested environments. - Commence assessment of mature payload technologies to support new point-to-point delivery mission applications for contested logistics. - Commence modeling, simulation, and analysis (MS&A) to support concept refinement, military utility, and survivability. - Commence research and development to determine viability for new rocket cargo mission applications, including payload survivability in flight delivery environments, payload interfaces and integration with reentry systems, and payload delivery concept of operations. - Commence assessment of advanced reentry system technologies for increased point-to-point delivery tactical responsiveness, resilience, and affordability. Specific areas to assess include increased on-orbit reentry system duration and delivery to multiple domains (air, land, and/or sea). - Commence research and development to determine viability of advanced reentry system technologies, including technical solutions for on-orbit.

FY2026 to FY2027 change

FY 2027 funding increased compared to FY 2026 by $40.626 million due to the emergence of DoW and DAF's immediate priorities. These priorities are being addressed by commencing concept development, research, and analysis activities for small unmanned system swarms; surge weapon system manufacturing enabling rapid and flexible production capability; point defense integrated multi-mode sensing, cueing, and effector capabilities; and point to point payload development advancing tactical responsiveness, resilience, and affordability. The rapid development of these activities will result in the creation of multiple new Vanguard Prospects leading to demonstrations and transitions to programs of record.

Before the request year

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.

FY2026 plans — current year

- Commence development of integrated solutions for multi-mode sensing and cueing for various platforms to include High Value Airborne Assets (HVAA). (In FY 2026 PB this was reported under the WARTECH effort.) - Commence identification of current sensors and evaluate their efficacy for HVAA protect missions. (In FY 2026 PB this was reported under the WARTECH effort.) - Commence integration of sensing into sense-making for cueing the effector. (In FY 2026 PB this was reported under the WARTECH effort.)

Money

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.

2500.0FY25ACTUAL2.0FY26ENACTED42.6FY27REQUEST
Actual Enacted Request
Fiscal YearEstimate TypeAmount ($M)
FY2025Actual0.0
FY2026Enacted2.0
FY2027Request42.6

This activity is 15% of project 630320's FY2027 request and 15% of PE 0603032F'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.

Where this sits

14 activities in project 630320

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 program-element page.

Vanguard Prospect - Ephemeral Paragon (E-Gon)$45.9M ▲ 25%
Vanguard Pathfinder - Integrated Combat Effects — this activity$42.6M ▲ 2031%
Vanguard Prospect - CRONUS$38.0M ▼ 3%Vanguard Prospect - EO/IR Sensing Demonstration$36.5M ▲ 16%Vanguard Prospect - Payload Delivery System$32.9M ▲ 8%Vanguard Prospect - Scabbard Rage$30.7M ▲ 26%Vanguard Prospect - APEX GEAR$27.0M ▲ 18%Vanguard Pathfinder - Integrated Electronic Warfare$13.1M ▲ 598%Vanguard Pathfinder - Integrated Networks$11.2M ▲ 287%
WARTECH$4.0M ▲ 13%
Vanguard Prospect - Resolute Sentry$0.0M ▼ 100%
Vanguard Prospect - Area Effects Demonstration$0.0M ▼ 100%
Vanguard Prospect - Fight Tonight$0.0M
Vanguard Prospect - Swift Hammer$0.0M ▼ 100%
Source
FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification · Exhibit R-2A · PE 0603032F, project 630320 (President's Budget PB2027). Congressional marks are recorded on the program element, never on an activity.
Machine access
Markdown twin /programs/0603032F/630320/a13.md · MCP mcp.hitchintel.combudget_get_activity