# SPeed and Runway INdependent Technologies (SPRINT) X-Plane Demonstration Project

**R-2A activity** of project ACX-01 — ADVANCED COMPLEX SYSTEMS  
**Program element:** 0603468E — Advanced Complex Systems  
**Component:** Defense-Wide · **Budget Activity:** 3  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603468E/ACX-01/a2  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603468E/ACX-01

## Summary

This activity requests $62.1M in FY2027, 12% of project ACX-01, up 31% on FY2026. The R-2A exhibit describes it across FY2026–FY2027, including what the FY2027 money is planned to buy.

## What the FY2027 request buys

**FY2027 planned work.** - Finalize flight test planning and airworthiness certification. - Complete structural proof load test to verify the built aircraft matches structural design predictions. - Complete final software integration lab verification testing to ensure the system operates as intended including the proper vehicle responses in the presence of simulated failures. - Complete subcomponent manufacturing and assembly. - Complete manufacturing, assembly, and quality assurance of the demonstrator vehicle. - Complete ground station and human-machine interface development. - Complete ground system checkouts including engine runs.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** The FY 2027 increase reflects the transition from critical design activities to the manufacturing and final assembly and system checkout of the demonstration vehicle.

## Before the request year

**FY2026 plans — current year.** - Complete critical design activities. - Finalize subsystem development (propulsion system, thermal management system, hydraulics, electrical system, etc.), vehicle integration, and engineering drawing release. - Continue toward final aircraft software and aircraft flight control algorithm development. - Continue flight test planning and airworthiness certification. - Integrate with the flight test facility for connectivity, data transfer, and flight safety requirements. - Execute demonstrator vehicle manufacturing and assembly, to include material acquisition and unique tooling for fabrication. - Initiate ground station and human-machine interface development. - Initiate ground system checkouts.

## Funding

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | Enacted | 47.5 |
| FY2027 | Request | 62.1 |

> Prior, current and budget year only — an R-2A activity carries no five-year plan. It sums exactly into its project in the request year and not necessarily in any other.

## Other activities in project ACX-01

- [Longshot](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603468E/ACX-01/a1) — FY2027 151.5
- [Advanced Complex Systems Studies and Concepts](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603468E/ACX-01/a11) — FY2027 62.3
- [Scaled Hypersonics Studies and Concepts](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603468E/ACX-01/a10) — FY2027 56.0
- [Otter](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603468E/ACX-01/a3) — FY2027 47.7
- Valley Forge — FY2027 37.1
- [Artificial Intelligence (AI) Reinforcements (AIR)](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603468E/ACX-01/a4) — FY2027 32.2
- More Opportunities with HAWC (MoHAWC) — FY2027 20.0
- [Process Intensified Energetics (PIE)](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603468E/ACX-01/a7) — FY2027 13.0
- Lunar Assay via Small Satellite Orbiter (LASSO) — FY2027 8.9
- Rubble to Rockets (R2) — FY2027 7.5
- Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) — FY2027 1.7
- DARPA Lift Challenge — FY2027 —
- Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors (CRANE) — FY2027 —

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Office of the Secretary of Defense RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibit R-2A, PE 0603468E project ACX-01 (PB PB2027). Narrative is the government's own text.
- **No marks, no contractors at this grain** — congressional marks land on the program element and R-3 performers on the project.
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_activity`.

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