# Target Systems Development — Program Element 0604258A

**Program element:** 0604258A  
**Component:** U.S. Army  
**Appropriation:** 2040 — RDT&E, Army  
**Budget Activity:** 6 — RDT&E Management Support  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604258A

## Summary

U.S. Army funding falls 37% to a $16.5M request 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 added 73% (to $28.5M).

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 27.2 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 26.0 |
| FY2027 | Request | 16.5 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 16.7 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 16.8 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 17.0 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 17.2 |

> 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 | 16.5 | — |
| House NDAA (HASC) | 16.5 | +0.0 |
| Senate NDAA (SASC) | 16.5 | +0.0 |
| House Approps (HAC-D) | 28.5 | +12.0 |

> 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 238 | Aerial Targets | 24.0 | 22.5 | 12.7 | −44% |
| 459 | Ground Targets | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.8 | +8% |

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

### Project 238 — Aerial Targets

This Project supports Army readiness and Multi-Domain Operations through the development, acquisition, operation, and modernization of aerial targets. Multi-spectral Aerial Targets include realistic surrogates, actual high-performance threat aircraft, and virtual target computer models. Current and emerging weapons systems require test, evaluation, and training using threat-representative aerial targets to assess weapons system's effectiveness in the operational environment. This project encompasses a portfolio of full-scale, miniature, and subscale fixed-wing/rotary-wing targets, virtual targets, ancillary devices, and associated control systems. For accurate threat portrayal that properly stresses weapons systems during test and evaluation, aerial targets must exhibit flight characteristics, threat signatures, and other performance factors to represent or emulate relevant and validated threats. This Project funds: the long-range planning necessary to determine future target needs and development of coordinated requirements; the management of target research, development, test and evaluation, production, and modernization; execution of the validation process to ensure that aerial targets accurately represent the threat; as well as storage and repair parts. The Army is the Test Enterprise Reliance lead for Rotary Wing Targets and Towed Target development.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Towed Targets/Ancillary devices. | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Aerial Virtual Targets. | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| Army Ground Aerial Target Control System (AGATCS). | 2.8 | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| Unmanned Aerial System - Target (UAS-T). | 5.0 | 5.3 | 5.5 |
| High Speed Aerial Target (HSAT). | 3.1 | 2.8 | 2.9 |

> 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 459 — Ground Targets

This Project funds Army efforts to support the test and evaluation (T&E) of advanced weapon systems and supports Army Modernization, Multi-Domain Operations, and Tri-Service readiness by developing ground target surrogates, acquiring foreign equipment, and developing virtual target computer models of ground vehicle targets. These products are required to adequately stress weapon systems undergoing T&E. The United States Army is the Tri-Service lead for providing mobile ground targets for T&E. This tasking includes long-range planning to determine future target needs and development of coordinated requirement documents; the centralized management of the ground target research, development, test and evaluation processes; execution of the validation process; acquisition of foreign equipment; and continuing maintenance, storage, and development/enhancement/update via engineering services of developed and acquired targets to ensure availability for T&E customers. This project also manages the use of current assets and operates a centralized spare parts program.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile Ground Target Operations (MGTO) | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.5 |
| Mobile Ground Targets Hardware (MGTH) | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| Ground Virtual Targets | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| Low Cost Ground Targets | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.1 |

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

## Mission & acquisition strategy

This funding line supports testing of Army Modernization Priority Programs. This Program Element funds aerial and ground target hardware and software development, maintenance, and upgrades. The overall objective is to ensure validation of weapon system accuracy and reliability by developing aerial and ground targets essential for test and evaluation (T&E). These targets are economical and expendable, remotely controlled or stationary, and often destroyed in use. The Army is the Tri-Service lead under the Secretariat Reliance panel for providing rotary wing, mobile ground, towed, and designated targets for T&E.

## Related program elements

- [0603915C — Ballistic Missile Defense Targets](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603915C) (Defense-Wide)
- [0207327F — SDB Increment II](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0207327F) (Air Force)
- [0101226N — Submarine Acoustic War Dev](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0101226N) (Navy)
- [0605514M — Ground BASED Anti-ship Missile](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605514M) (Navy)

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Army RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-3, PE 0604258A (PB PB2027); FY2027 NDAA committee marks (as of 2026-07-27).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0604258A")`.

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