# New Weapon Systems

**R-2A activity** of project S54 — Small Arms Improvement  
**Program element:** 0603827A — Soldier Systems - Advanced Development  
**Component:** U.S. Army · **Budget Activity:** 4  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603827A/S54/a0  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603827A/S54

## Summary

This activity requests $30.2M in FY2027, 96% of project S54, up 86% on FY2026. The R-2A exhibit describes it across FY2025–FY2027, including what the FY2027 money is planned to buy.

## What the FY2027 request buys

**FY2027 planned work.** Will continue to assess advanced machine gun technologies, hardware and prototypes developed under previous efforts. Will continue to pilot and employ market research, acquire and further develop prototype hardware, and conduct evaluations for novel technologies and/or weapon systems that will apply to emerging future medium machine gun and precision grenadier system requirements. Technologies to address these capability needs may include, but are not limited to, counter unmanned aerial systems, counter-defilade systems, point area targets, recoil mitigation, thermal development, alternative materials and manufacturing techniques to reduce weight, barrel technologies, signature mitigation technologies, as well as mounting and fire control interfaces. Development of key technologies for the Precision Grenadier System program of record necessary to system integration will continue. Precision Grenadier System program will emphasize the maturation of contractor-developed Precision Grenadier System solutions in preparation for USG testing. Key efforts will include the research and development, along with integration of critical technologies related to weapon, family of ammunition, and fire control system. Additionally, the program will focus on the manufacturing of initial prototype systems and conducting comprehensive testing to validate the performance of these Precision Grenadier System solutions ahead of formal USG evaluation.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** FY 2027 funding increase due to efforts aimed at progressing the development and prototyping for new weapons system frameworks emerging from precision grenadier system and counter unmanned aerial system capabilities.

## Before the request year

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Will continue to assess advanced machine gun technologies, hardware and prototypes developed under previous efforts. Will continue to conduct market research for novel technologies and/or weapon systems that will apply to emerging future medium machine gun and precision grenadier system requirements which include counter unmanned aerial system capabilities. Will acquire and develop prototype hardware and continue to conduct evaluations, trade studies, and assessments for new weapon and counter-defilade technologies to address capability needs. These technologies may include, but are not limited to, counter unmanned aerial system, recoil mitigation, thermal development, alternative lightweight materials, barrel technologies, signature mitigation technologies, mounting and fire control interfaces. Will assess technologies with counter unmanned aerial system (CUAS) functionalities and prototypes that provide direct fire capability to defeat defilade and point area targets while reducing collateral damage. Will continue to conduct market research for technologies and/or weapon systems that meet the emerging requirements.

**FY2025 accomplishments.** Assessed advanced machine gun technologies, hardware and prototypes developed under previous efforts. Continued to conduct market research for novel technologies and/or weapon systems that could draft future medium machine gun requirements. Conducted efforts toward acquiring and developing prototype hardware for test and experimentation against emerging future medium machine gun and precision grenadier system requirements which include counter unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) capabilities. Continued to conduct evaluations, trade studies, and assessments for new machine gun and grenadier technologies to address capability needs. These technologies included, but were not limited to, recoil mitigation, alternative lightweight materials, barrel technologies, suppressor technologies, mounting and fire control interfaces. Completed efforts to increase competition among industry partners viable to compete in the Precision Grenadier System program of record through maturing key technologies necessary to system integration. New weapons and enabling technology evaluation and assessments: Continued to perform initial and follow-on evaluations, assessments, and integration of new weapon systems to include various new weapon system platforms. Assessed technologies associated with capability to defeat personnel in defilade, personnel in close quarters, and unmanned aerial systems.

## Funding

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 5.4 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 16.3 |
| FY2027 | Request | 30.2 |

> 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 S54

- Small Arms Weapon Systems Enhancements — FY2027 0.5
- Fire Control — FY2027 0.4
- Combat Optics — FY2027 0.4
- Research and Analysis — FY2027 0.1

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Army RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibit R-2A, PE 0603827A project S54 (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.*