# Project AL1 — Adv Teaming for Tactical Aviation Oper Adv Tech

**Program element:** 0603465A — Future Vertical Lift Advanced Technology  
**Project:** AL1  
**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/0603465A/AL1  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603465A

## Summary

Project AL1 — Adv Teaming for Tactical Aviation Oper Adv Tech requests $7.1M in FY2027, 48% of the $15.0M requested for program element 0603465A, down 72% on FY2026. 4 R-2A activities decompose the request.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 34.2 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 25.1 |
| FY2027 | Request | 7.1 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 7.6 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 9.1 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 9.4 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 9.7 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 0603465A; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project AL1 buys

This project matures, demonstrates and drafts frameworks for autonomous teaming behaviors, autonomous decision making, targeting and visualization concepts in complex environments for Future Vertical Lift (FVL) and Future Unmanned Aircraft System (FUAS) platform formations in combined arms operations. Work in this project is fully coordinated with Program Element (PE) 0602148A (Future Vertical Lift Technology) / Project AK9 (Adv Teaming for Tactical Aviation Operations Tech). Work in this project is performed by the Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC) and Command, Control, Communication, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) Center.

## Activities (R-2A) — 4

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heads-Up Eyes-Out (HUEO) Sensing for Aviation | — | 2.9 | 7.1 | +145% | — |
| Sensors / Multi-Function Imagers for Future Aviation | 7.6 | — | — | — | — |
| Complex Advanced Teaming Operations | 26.6 | 17.0 | — | −100% | — |
| Advanced Target Acquisition Capabilities for Aviation Payloads | — | 5.2 | — | −100% | — |

> Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. In the request year they partition this project exactly; in earlier years they can under-cover it.

### Heads-Up Eyes-Out (HUEO) Sensing for Aviation

**FY2027 planned work.** Will demonstrate component Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) and head tracker technology linked to degraded visual environment sensors in militarily relevant environments. Will begin validation of performance against requirements associated with MV-75 Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) and UH-60M Black Hawk modernization via novel sensor and display digital engineering methodologies.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Funding increase reflects planned in-flight demonstration.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Will mature a test bed platform to support integration and demonstration of heads-up display, degraded visual environment sensors and other component devices; begin Aviation Qualification and Airworthiness Release (AWR) process of Heads-Up Eyes-Out components and test bed to enable optimized component interoperability and maturation.

### Sensors / Multi-Function Imagers for Future Aviation

**FY2025 accomplishments.** Will improve threat warning performance through continued multi spectral sensing data collections; demonstrate multispectral sensor in urban environments; optimize and ruggedize flight sensor; demonstrate interim capabilities of a multi-function sensor compared to current fleet baseline.

### Complex Advanced Teaming Operations

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** In FY 2027 this effort is realigned to Program Element (PE) 0603345A (Unmanned Aerial Systems Launched Effects Advanced Technology Development) / Project A45 (Air Launched Effects Advanced Technology).

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Will initiate integrating a mix of AI and non-AI component technologies into an autonomy software suite utilizing the established Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) architecture to enable UAS team-of-teams ecosystem operations in contested, complex urban / fringe and littoral environments with degraded networks; mature and test, through persistent experimentation using modeling and simulation and limited small-scale flight testing, autonomy and teaming technologies that build in behavior resilience to dynamically adjust to component failures and enhance contingency management for extended duration operations with no human intervention required.

**FY2025 accomplishments.** Will demonstrate autonomous team-of-teams synchronized operations across domains to facilitate an integrated air defense system (IADS) breach capability in contested conditions; initiate extension of Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) architecture to address unique challenges associated with operations in complex urban / fringe and littoral environments, and begin evaluating open systems attributes through integration of mixed AI and non-AI technologies, including highly-autonomous coordinated team mission behaviors, navigation and mission execution at low altitude in featureless and cluttered terrain, and sophisticated behaviors for employment of targeted electronic attack using teams of UAS.

### Advanced Target Acquisition Capabilities for Aviation Payloads

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** In FY 2027 this effort is realigned to Program Element (PE) 0603345A (Unmanned Aerial Systems Launched Effects Advanced Technology Development) / Project A45 (Air Launched Effects Advanced Technology).

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Will validate appropriate payload volume and weight constraints versus stabilization and range performance for SWaP-C constrained unmanned aerial system (UAS) and launched effects platforms; mature scalable, novel optics and optical bench components to optimize performance while reducing SWaP-C; validate design trades utilizing operational concepts and flight profiles with modeling and simulation; conduct laboratory and flight demonstrations of component optical bench hardware to validate improved performance as compared to legacy off-the-shelf UAS payloads.

## What is NOT on this page

Congressional marks, the R-2 mission description and acquisition strategy, the industry vs government split of the whole request, and related program elements are recorded at **program-element** grain — an NDAA mark lands on a PE, never on a project. They are at https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603465A.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Army RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 0603465A project AL1 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0603465A")`.

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