R-2A Activity · President's Budget PB2027

Vanguard Prospect - CRONUS

Activity a4·Project 630320 — Air Force Vanguards·PE 0603032F·U.S. Air Force
FY2027 Request
$38.0M
▼ 3.0% vs FY2026
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This activity requests $38.0M in FY2027, 13% of project 630320, down 3.0% on FY2026. The R-2A exhibit describes it across FY2026–FY2027, including what the FY2027 money is planned to buy.

FY2027 Request
$38.0M
▼ 3.0% vs FY2026
FY2026 Enacted
$39.2M
▲ 54% vs FY2025
FY2025 Actual
$25.4M
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 ARBM algorithm development, test, and evaluation based on the modeling and simulation operational utility analysis. Implement improvements to the algorithms required to improve system level performance. - Continue Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) development and collaboration with the program office to refine the system models and capture new aspects related to the CRONUS algorithm development. - Continue Hardware-In-the-Loop / Software-In-the-Loop (HIL/SIL) environment development and implementation. - Continue modeling and simulation operational utility analysis based on updates/ improvements of the Air Refueling Battle Management (ARBM) algorithms. - Continue modeling and simulation of Automated Air-to-Air Refueling (A3R) in relevant MBSE models. Advance MBSE tool and artifact development. - Continue the development of the sensors, logic, and algorithms necessary for tanker-receiver pairing as part of the A3R Relative Navigation system. - Continue the development of the fully automated mechanical system to enable automated air-to-air refueling as part of the A3R boom automation system. - Continue end-to-end system testing to demonstrate the ARBM capabilities with human-in-the-loop evaluations. - Continue certification with advanced analysis for ground testing of A3R's automated boom system. - Complete ARBM flight test preparation and planning to support initial flight demo to inform design and utility. - Complete A3R relative navigation flight test planning and preparation. - Complete A3R boom automation flight test planning and preparation. - Commence A3R relative navigation flight testing execution. - Commence A3R boom automation flight test execution. - Commence ARBM flight test execution. - Commence ARBM initial transition and coordination with stakeholders and transition partners.

FY2026 to FY2027 change

FY 2027 funding decreased compared to FY 2026 by $1.187 million due to a minor reduction in development costs.

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

- Continue ARBM algorithm development, test, and evaluation based on the modeling and simulation operational utility analysis. Implement improvements to the algorithms required to improve system level performance. - Continue Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) development and collaboration with the program office to refine the system models and capture new aspects related to the CRONUS algorithm development. - Continue Hardware-In-the-Loop / Software-In-the-Loop (HIL/SIL) environment development and implementation. - Continue modeling and simulation operational utility analysis based on updates/improvements of the Air Refueling Battle Management (ARBM) algorithms. - Continue modeling and simulation of Automated Air-to-Air Refueling (A3R) in relevant MBSE models. Advance MBSE tool and artifact development. - Continue the development of the sensors, logic, and algorithms necessary for tanker-receiver pairing as part of the A3R Relative Navigation system. - Continue the development of the fully automated mechanical system to enable automated air-to-air refueling as part of the A3R boom automation system. - Continue end-to-end system testing to demonstrate the ARBM capabilities with human-in-the-loop evaluations. - Complete A3R relative navigation lab and ground test planning and preparation and conduct lab demonstration. - Complete A3R boom automation lab and ground test planning and preparation and conduct lab demonstration. - Continue certification with advanced analysis for ground testing of A3R's automated boom system. - Continue ARBM flight test preparation and planning to support initial flight demo to inform design and utility. - Commence A3R relative navigation flight test planning and preparation. - Commence A3R boom automation flight test planning and preparation.

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.

25025.4FY25ACTUAL39.2FY26ENACTED38.0FY27REQUEST
Actual Enacted Request
Fiscal YearEstimate TypeAmount ($M)
FY2025Actual25.4
FY2026Enacted39.2
FY2027Request38.0

This activity is 13% of project 630320's FY2027 request and 13% 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.

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/a4.md · MCP mcp.hitchintel.combudget_get_activity