# Surface Mine Countermeasures — Program Element 0604127N

**Program element:** 0604127N  
**Component:** U.S. Navy  
**Appropriation:** 1319 — RDT&E, Navy  
**Budget Activity:** 4 — Advanced Component Development & Prototypes  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604127N

## Summary

U.S. Navy requests $17.8M in FY2027, sustained across the five-year plan. In the FY2027 defense authorization, the House funded it in full; the Senate funded it in full; House appropriators funded it in full. RTX / Raytheon leads the industry work, though an unusually large share flows to government labs and warfare centers.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 13.9 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 18.5 |
| FY2027 | Request | 17.8 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 18.2 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 18.5 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 18.6 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 18.9 |

> 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 | 17.8 | — |
| House NDAA (HASC) | 17.8 | +0.0 |
| Senate NDAA (SASC) | 17.8 | +0.0 |
| House Approps (HAC-D) | 17.8 | +0.0 |

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

## Projects (2)

| Project | Title | FY2025 actual | FY2026 enacted | FY2027 request | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1235 | Mine Warfare Planning and Analysis | 9.5 | 14.4 | 13.9 | −4% |
| 0530 | Mine Hunt Systems | 4.4 | 4.1 | 3.9 | −5% |

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

### Project 1235 — Mine Warfare Planning and Analysis

The Mine Warfare Planning and Analysis project consists of two projects, the Mine Warfare and Environmental Decision Aids Library Enterprise Architecture (MEDAL EA) and the Mine Warfare Integrated Synthetic Trainer (MIST). MEDAL EA is the U.S. Navy's single MIW tactical decision support system for integrated mission planning, evaluation, and situational awareness. It provides mine warfare planning and evaluation tools and databases to mine countermeasures (MCM) commanders and is employed at the unit level to perform MCM sortie planning and evaluation. MEDAL EA is a family of systems, comprised of the following three components: MINEnet Global (MNG), MINEnet Tactical (MNT), and Minefield Planning (MFP). MINEnet Global is a shore-based website that provides MIW waterspace awareness functionality to support Navy non-MIW forces. MINEnet Global provides downloadable reference databases, MIW reference publications and links to MIW information. The MINEnet Tactical component is a software application which provides MCM tactical planning, situational awareness and post mission evaluation capabilities. Minefield Planning is a tactical software application which provides commanders the ability to plan and assess offensive, defensive, and protective minefields based on oceanographic and mine performance data and user specified objectives. Depending on user need, MEDAL EA is networked or stand-alone and is either deployed on dedicated laptop computers or installed on the unit's/command's native computer resources. Mine Warfare Integrated Synthetic Trainer (MIST) is a synthetic training aid that enables trainers to lead MIW staff and Warfare Tactics Instructors (WTIs) through end-to-end MCM simulations.

**Named R-3 performers** (share of this project's FY2027 R-3 total, so they need not reach 100%)**:** IPS (0.9, 6.8%).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product Development | 4.6 | 7.8 | 7.9 |
| Engineering Support | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.2 |
| Test and Evaluation | 1.4 | 2.1 | 1.7 |
| Management Services | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |

> 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 0530 — Mine Hunt Systems

The Mine Hunt Systems project contains resources for systems, subsystems, and sensors integrated for use with the Mine Countermeasures Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MCM USV) for mine detection, classification, localization, identification, and neutralization capabilities. Research, development, test, and evaluation efforts are for increasing capability by decreasing time required to conduct Mine Countermeasures (MCM) operations, ensuring low risk to naval and commercial vessels, and removing the man from the minefield. Increased capability includes conducting minefield reconnaissance (mine density and location) at high area search rates, improving detection capability, decreasing sensor false alarm rates, and reducing post-mission analysis time for detection, classification, and identification. The AN/AQS-20C is a mine hunting and identification system with sensors housed in an underwater tow body. The AN/AQS-20C integrates the Wideband Forward Looking Sonar (WBFLS), multifunction Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS), and Digital Gap Fill Sonar (DGFS) for the detection, classification and localization of bottom, close- tethered, volume targets. Integration of the Electro-Optic Identification (EOID) sensor enables identification of bottom targets. The system can be deployed from the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) as part of the MCM Mission Package (MP) or can be deployed from other Vessels of Opportunity (VOO). The MCM USV is the tow platform for the AN/ AQS-20C. Materiel reliability, obsolescence, and performance Engineering Change Proposal (ECP) efforts continue beyond FY 2027. In FY 2022, the AN/AQS-20 Program completed DT/OT with MCM USV, and supported the MCM Mission Package (MP) IOT&E. Due to successful completion of DT/OT for the AN/AQS-20, Initial Operating Capability was declared in March of FY 2023. In FY 2026 and FY 2027 the AN/AQS-20 program will continue development of Automated Target Recognition (ATR), using Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms and ensuring compliance with cybersecurity requirements, resolve system obsolescence and assess performance. Additional improvements are in development based on MCM MP IOT&E and MCM USV DT/OT results. Offshore integration and test will verify product development efforts, and design upgrades due to obsolescence.

**Named R-3 performers** (share of this project's FY2027 R-3 total, so they need not reach 100%)**:** RTX / Raytheon (1.2, 32%), NGC (0.4, 10%).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| AN/AQS-20 Product Development | 3.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| AN/AQS-20 Support | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.0 |
| AN/AQS-20 Management Services | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 |

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

## Where the FY2027 request goes

| Category | Share | $M |
|---|---|---|
| Industry primes | 15% | 2.6 |
| Government labs & warfare centers | 85% | 15.0 |
| Other / unspecified | 0.8% | 0.1 |

**Top named industry performers:** RTX / Raytheon ($1.2M, 7.0%), IPS ($0.9M, 5.3%), NGC ($0.4M, 2.3%).

> R-3 exhibit contract funding, not USAspending obligations.

## Mission & acquisition strategy

The Surface Mine Countermeasures (SMCM) Program Element (PE) provides resources in support of development of mine countermeasures systems to provide minehunting and neutralization to counter known and projected mine threats. The mine countermeasures systems provide mobile, quick reaction forces capable of land or sea-based minehunting and neutralizing operations worldwide. Resources are for developing and deploying advanced minehunting and neutralization systems and the intelligence and oceanographic capabilities that will enable mine warfare superiority. Tactics and techniques used vary across a diversity of environments and a diversity of threats, including both asymmetric and emerging.

AN/AQS-20 Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) procurement continued following the Block 2 (AQS-20C units) competitive contract award in FY 2014. In FY 2020, the AN/AQS-20 program leveraged the Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) Family of Systems (FoS) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Multiple Award Contract (MAC) to award multiple risk reduction efforts. The risk reduction efforts helped increase competition for FY 2025 sonar production. The risk reduction effort transitioned volume sonar capability and familiarized industry to specific sonar requirement based on the finding from FY 2019 market research.

## Related program elements

- [0603502N — Surface & Shallow Water MCM](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603502N) (Navy)
- [0604373N — Airborne Mine Countermeasures](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604373N) (Navy)
- [0604117A — Maneuver - Short Range Air Defense (M-SHORAD)](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604117A) (Army)
- [0602213A — C3I Applied Cyber](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602213A) (Army)

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Navy RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-3, PE 0604127N (PB PB2027); FY2027 NDAA committee marks (as of 2026-07-27).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0604127N")`.

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