# Air Platform Advanced Technology — Program Element 0603043A

**Program element:** 0603043A  
**Component:** U.S. Army  
**Appropriation:** 2040 — RDT&E, Army  
**Budget Activity:** 3 — Advanced Technology Development  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603043A

## Summary

U.S. Army funding falls 54% to a $23.5M request in FY2027 (down from a FY2026 peak), sustained across the five-year plan. In the FY2027 defense authorization, the House cut 13% (to $20.5M); the Senate funded it in full; House appropriators added 119% (to $51.5M).

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 16.6 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 51.3 |
| FY2027 | Request | 23.5 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 49.8 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 45.7 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 42.1 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 38.4 |

> Estimate types are not summed — the profile mixes actuals, enacted law, the request, and outyear projections.

## Congressional marks (FY2027)

| Stage | Marked ($M) | Change ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| Request | 23.5 | — |
| House NDAA (HASC) | 20.5 | −3.0 |
| Senate NDAA (SASC) | 23.5 | +0.0 |
| House Approps (HAC-D) | 51.5 | +28.0 |

> FY2027 NDAA authorization marks, as of 2026-07-27. Not appropriations or final law.

## Projects (6)

| Project | Title | FY2025 actual | FY2026 enacted | FY2027 request | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CV1 | Control & Autonomy for Tactical Superiority Adv | 1.2 | 10.3 | 13.3 | +29% |
| DK2 | Air Vehicle Improvement & Adv Tech (AVIATe) | 1.0 | 9.8 | 10.2 | +4% |
| CL4 | Air Platform Enabling University Adv Development | 1.4 | 10.0 | — | −100% |
| CX1 | Advanced Rotors Advanced Tech | 2.6 | 7.5 | — | −100% |
| DC3 | HPC For Army Aviation Concepts | 5.5 | 7.2 | — | −100% |
| CV2 | Structures Platform Int Resilience & Efficiency | 5.0 | 6.5 | — | −100% |

> Projects are the summable leaves: the program element total is their sum, never added to it.

### Project CV1 — Control & Autonomy for Tactical Superiority Adv

This project will deliver advanced flight controls, autonomy technologies, and new handling qualities criteria are implemented and tested in a realistic environment to demonstrate their functionality and increase their technology readiness level (TRL). This project also delivers demonstrated and matured flight controls and autonomy technologies at TRL 6 to transition partners. Work in this project complements PE 0602183A (Air Platform Applied Technology) / Project CU7 (Control & Autonomy for Tactical Superiority Tech). Work in this project is performed by the Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adaptive Tactical Autonomy and Control (ATAC) Technology Demonstration | 1.2 | 3.6 | — |
| Autonomy for Combat Environment Sustainment (ACES) Demo | — | 6.6 | 9.6 |
| Scalable Maneuver Autonomy and Control (SMAC) Tech Demo | — | — | 3.6 |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project DK2 — Air Vehicle Improvement & Adv Tech (AVIATe)

This project enhances Army aviation mission capability and addresses operational energy challenges. Includes the maturation, system integration, and demonstration of technologies including advanced engines, hybrid and electric systems, power and control allocation, propulsive power delivery, electric actuation, structures, and other technologies that enhance performance, efficiency or are critical to implementation up to the aircraft system level. Work in this project is fully coordinated with PE 0602183A (Air Platform Applied Technology) / Project DK1 (Air Vehicle Integrated & Alternative Tech (AVIATe)). Work within this effort is jointly performed by the Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC) and the Command, Control, Communication, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center (C5ISR Center).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hybrid-Electric Aviation Technology (HEAT) Demonstration | 1.0 | 9.8 | — |
| Domestic Advanced Lithium Batteries for Increased Aviation Survivability | — | — | 10.2 |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project CL4 — Air Platform Enabling University Adv Development

This project focuses on experimentation and demonstration of advanced technologies originating from extramural applied research in academia pertaining to navigation/routing, autonomous robotic vehicles, artificial intelligence and machine learning as applied to aerial mobility and maneuver, holistic survivability, teaming, integrated mission systems, air-launched effects, and other innovative air enabling applied research technologies, that will accelerate the Army modernization in next generation aerial vehicles. This project will mature and integrate advanced efforts to focus more on mid to far-term Army modernization priorities while also maintaining delivery of near-term technologies fundamental to the modernization priorities. This effort conducts and demonstrates advanced technology efforts arising from academic research in all areas of strategic importance to Army Aviation in artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI/ML), autonomous teaming systems, survivability, aeromechanics, advanced vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) design & concepts, flight dynamics, vibration & noise control, propulsion, human factor engineering and structures and materials, etc., by bringing competitively selected Universities with research and development teams into Technical Alliances. The project will continuously experiment with methods to identify, demonstrate and transition novel technology from entities that might not otherwise collaborate with the DoW, with the end goal of accelerating the adoption of cutting-edge applied research technology for the warfighter in the Army aviation portfolio. Work in this project complements PE 0603465A (Future Vertical Lift Advanced Technology), PE 0603119A (Ground Advanced Technology), PE 0602148A (Future Vertical Lift Technology) and PE 0602183A (Air Platform Applied Research). Work in this project is performed by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vertical Lift Advanced Technologies | 1.4 | — | — |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project CX1 — Advanced Rotors Advanced Tech

This project investigates Future Vertical Lift (FVL) and other Army and DoW advanced drive train technologies that increase performance and double current drivetrain life cycles while improving their reliability and maintainability. Work in this project is fully coordinated with PE 0602183A (Air Platform Applied Technology) / Project CW3 (Advanced Rotors Applied Technology). Work in this project is performed by the Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lightweight Durable Rotor Technologies | 2.6 | 2.0 | — |
| Innovative Rotor Design Methodology | — | 5.5 | — |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project DC3 — HPC For Army Aviation Concepts

This project matures and demonstrates the use of high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics for Future Vertical Lift (FVL) platforms through the utilization of DoW High- Performance Computing (HPC) and software tools for cutting-edge modeling and simulation, as well as adding software capabilities for workflow automation and design space exploration. Efforts in this Project are also applicable to the family of FVL and Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (FTUAS) platforms. Work in this project complements PE 0602183A (Air Platform Applied Research). Work in this project is performed by the United States Army Engineer Research and Development Center Information Technology Laboratory.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Computational Technologies for Army Aviation | 3.0 | — | — |
| Machine-Assisted Design and Evaluation | 2.5 | 2.5 | — |
| Advanced Computational Environments | — | 1.8 | — |
| Data Curation & Analysis Resource (DCAR) | — | 0.9 | — |
| Advanced Simulation for Army Aviation (ASAA) | — | 2.0 | — |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project CV2 — Structures Platform Int Resilience & Efficiency

This project will ensure a continuous stream of transition-ready critical structures advanced technologies for improvement of performance (via weight efficiency and multifunctionality for parasitic weight avoidance) and resilience (survivability, sustainment, and operational availability). Work in this project is fully coordinated with Program element (PE) 0602183A (Air Platform Applied Technology) / Project CU8 (Structures Tech for Enduring Efficient Resilience). Work in this project is performed by the Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adaptive Resilient Engineered Structures (ARES) | 5.0 | 6.5 | — |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

## Mission & acquisition strategy

This PE undertakes advanced technology efforts that support and enable the overall Army Aviation portfolio in general, and the Army's modernization priority for Future Vertical Lift (FVL). Vital and enduring research into advanced technologies is conducted pertinent to the air portfolio that supports mid-to-long term requirements in contested operational environments and technologies that have broad application to FVL modernization, as well as overall Army and specific DoW aviation needs.

## Related program elements

- [0602183A — Air Platform Applied Research](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602183A) (Army)
- [0606005F — Digital Transformation Office](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0606005F) (Air Force)
- [0601103A — University Research Initiatives](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0601103A) (Army)
- [0605649D8Z — Acquisition Integration and Interoperability (AI2)](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605649D8Z) (Defense-Wide)

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Army RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-3, PE 0603043A (PB PB2027); FY2027 NDAA committee marks (as of 2026-07-27).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0603043A")`.

*HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense. Budget figures are requests/estimates, not obligations.*