What the FY2027 request buys
Verbatim from the R-2A exhibit for project BF4 of PE 0603462A. 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.
Will advance the Army's un-crewed systems capabilities through a coordinated effort focused on architecture, security, resilience, and integration, prioritizing the rapid adoption of ready-now commercial technologies. Expand the foundational un-crewed architecture and interoperability standards - leveraging open standards, modular systems, and standardized control interfaces - to enable seamless integration across formations and reduce vendor lock-in. Investigate and identify commercially available robotic platforms and components ready for immediate Army use as well as assist in maturing high-potential but under-developed technology. Enhance resilience against counterattacks by developing novel counter capabilities for detection, disruption, and mitigation, while also evaluating existing commercial solutions for defensive applications. Lead the development and implementation of comprehensive safety and cybersecurity standards, including rigorous testing protocols, secure software architectures, and vulnerability assessments, with a focus on adapting existing industry best practices. Accelerate the integration of advanced un-crewed systems into existing and emerging Army architectures, providing expert system-in-the-loop support to industry partners and conducting Technology Readiness Level (TRL) assessments aligned with the Army's priorities, specifically targeting commercially available technologies with demonstrated potential. Key deliverables include a validated architecture reference model, a prototype counter measure system, a draft safety certification framework, a cybersecurity threat model, and comprehensive integration reports detailing the assessment and adaptation of commercial technologies. Success will be measured by increased system interoperability during Soldier experimentation, demonstrated improvements in system survivability against simulated threats, completion of Level of Rigor (LOR) 1 safety-critical component development, a demonstrated reduction in cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and improved operational efficacy - as measured by reductions in task completion time and increased mission success rates - alongside a reduction in risk to personnel during field exercises.
FY 2027 funding increase reflects the consolidation of other ongoing efforts within this project from Platform Electronic Control and Soldier-Robotic Interface Integration. Funding increase reflects additional efforts to maximize collaboration with industry to mature and militarize commercial technology and foster a robust domestic industrial base.
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.
Will exploit industry autonomous systems for robotic ground maneuver formations in a variety of terrains within existing Intelligence, Reconnaissance, and Surveillance (ISR) mission sets; integrate relevant payloads to optimize performance during operationally relevant use cases to enable higher speed autonomous movement and maneuver; validate the operation of cyber secured autonomy and demonstrate secure software update capability; optimize and validate industry concepts through Engineering Evaluation Testing (EET) to ensure these concepts provide value to the warfighter.
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.
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | Enacted | 22.1 |
| FY2027 | Request | 23.2 |
This activity is 100% of project BF4's FY2027 request and 20% of PE 0603462A'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.
6 activities in project BF4
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 project page.