# Project 0606 — Aircrew System Development

**Program element:** 0604264N — Air Crew Systems Development  
**Project:** 0606  
**Component:** U.S. Navy  
**Appropriation:** 1319 — RDT&E, Navy  
**Budget Activity:** 5 — System Development & Demonstration  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604264N/0606  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604264N

## Summary

Project 0606 — Aircrew System Development requests $21.6M in FY2027, 100% of the $21.6M requested for program element 0604264N, down 46% on FY2026. 2 R-2A activities decompose the request. NAWCAD is the largest named R-3 performer at $12.6M, 59% of the project's FY2027 R-3 total.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 20.0 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 40.2 |
| FY2027 | Request | 21.6 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 17.5 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 10.2 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 8.0 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 9.9 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 0604264N; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project 0606 buys

AIRCREW SYSTEMS: Aircrew Systems include Cold Weather/Anti-Exposure Systems (CWAES), Helmet, Mask, Regulator (HMR), Survival Vest Systems Improvement (SVSI), and Improved Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (IJHMCS). The CWAES program will design, test, and qualify improved cold weather/anti-exposure systems. System components will provide reduced thermal burden, increased mobility, and superior water intrusion resistance while maintaining protection levels. The improved system will reduce fatigue and dehydration, enable operating at optimum performance during extended missions, provide protection from exposure, and provide improved survivability during extended recoveries. The SVSI program provides for an improved RW/TR aircrew survival vest to address safety and performance issues with the currently fielded solution. Vest systems include, at a minimum, aircrew life support equipment and armor carrier, hoisting capability, mobile aircrew restraint, and life preserver. IJHMCS will mitigate aircrew back and neck strain/fatigue and replace the JHMCS Helmet Mounted Day Display and Night Vision Cueing Device (NVCD) with a single day/night, digital color-capable helmet-mounted display. IJHMCS will integrate onto the helmet solution identified in the Helmet Mask Regulator (HMR) program. AIRCREW SAFETY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM: Aircrew Safety Improvement Program (ASIP) provides continuing development and qualification in response to high priority, emergent aircrew systems deficiencies, capability gaps, obsolescence, and readiness issues. ASIP addresses critical safety and performance issues while enhancing safety and survivability with solution improvements across the aircrew systems portfolio. Efforts are prioritized according to fleet demand signals.

**R-3 lines of work:** Product Development; Test and Evaluation; Management Services.

## Named R-3 performers

| Performer | $M | Share of this project's FY2027 R-3 total |
|---|---|---|
| NAWCAD | 12.6 | 59% |

> Budget-justification contract funding, not obligations. Shares need not reach 100% — unnamed and government work is in the denominator.

## Activities (R-2A) — 2

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aircrew System Development | 17.4 | 36.1 | 17.5 | −52% | [a0](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604264N/0606/a0) |
| Aircrew Safety Improvement Program | 2.6 | 4.1 | 4.1 | +0% | — |

> 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.

### Aircrew System Development

CWAES: Conduct Critical Design Review (CDR), receive initial delivery of prototypes, begin Developmental Testing. SVSI: Complete developmental test and qualify improvements to the Survival Vest System. IJHMCS: Complete integrated test. HMR: Complete developmental test.

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604264N/0606/a0

### Aircrew Safety Improvement Program

**FY2027 planned work.** ASIP: Provide continuing development and qualification in response to high priority, emergent aircrew systems deficiencies, capability gaps, obsolescence, and readiness issues. Address critical safety and performance issues while enhancing safety and survivability with solution improvements across the aircrew systems portfolio.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Increase from FY 2026 to FY 2027 is in support of aircrew systems deficiencies, capability gaps, obsolescence, and readiness issues.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** ASIP: Provide continuing development and qualification in response to high priority, emergent aircrew systems deficiencies, capability gaps, obsolescence, and readiness issues. Address critical safety and performance issues while enhancing safety and survivability with solution improvements across the aircrew systems portfolio.

## 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/0604264N.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Navy RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 0604264N project 0606 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0604264N")`.

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