# Cyber Resiliency of Weapon Systems-ACS — Program Element 0604414F

**Program element:** 0604414F  
**Component:** U.S. Air Force  
**Appropriation:** 3600 — RDT&E, Air Force  
**Budget Activity:** 4 — Advanced Component Development & Prototypes  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604414F

## Summary

U.S. Air Force requests $44.4M 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. ARS leads the industry work.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 44.2 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 45.6 |
| FY2027 | Request | 44.4 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 43.5 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 51.8 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 51.9 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 52.3 |

> 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 | 44.4 | — |
| House NDAA (HASC) | 44.4 | +0.0 |
| Senate NDAA (SASC) | 44.4 | +0.0 |
| House Approps (HAC-D) | 44.4 | +0.0 |

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

## Projects (3)

| Project | Title | FY2025 actual | FY2026 enacted | FY2027 request | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 642812 | Acquisition/System Security Engineering | 17.8 | 39.7 | 44.4 | +12% |
| 642834 | Mitigations | 19.4 | 6.0 | 0.0 | −100% |
| 642836 | Mission Risk Analysis | 7.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — |

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

### Project 642812 — Acquisition/System Security Engineering

The Acquisition/System Security Engineering (SSE) activity encompasses several continuous efforts to support the Department of the Air Force (DAF) and Department of War acquisition community. First, it produces and distributes standard system security engineering and acquisition security processes, policies, and contracting language to ensure cyber requirements are properly addressed in fielded and emerging weapon systems. Second, it bolsters intelligence collection and intelligence community engagement to provide consistent and current knowledge of cyber threats to enable the acquisition community to calculate weapon system risks. Third, it develops and hones personnel cyber resiliency training, manning strategies, and integrates Cyber Focus Teams into Program Acquisition Executive (PAE) Offices to bridge the lack of cyber acquisition expertise. Fourth, it explores and evaluates the DAF's dynamic cyber landscape to uncover vulnerabilities and prioritize cyber techniques, products, and technologies for further development and prototyping to counter evolving threats. Fifth, it resources a DAF-unique cyber engineering benchtop facility exploring, assessing, and mitigating navigation, communication, and electronic warfare vulnerabilities. Sixth, it develops software to enable digital engineering transformation of risk identification and tracking for weapon systems. Seventh, it enables the Cyber Resiliency Office for Weapon Systems (CROWS) to research, publish, and deliver government-owned guidance, roadmaps, and references to enable program offices and industry partners to effectively implement and adapt DAF strategic cyber requirements (example: Zero Trust and Defensive Cyber Operations) to weapon systems. The centralized and consolidated nature of the CROWS saves the acquisition community millions annually by eliminating the need for each weapon system program and industry partner to fund individual cyber technical exploration efforts. Eighth, the Mitigations activity enables the Cyber Resiliency Office for Weapon Systems (CROWS) to be the DAF's focal point for enterprise cyber mitigations to critical cyber vulnerabilities for fielded weapon systems, subsystems, and support systems.

**Named R-3 performers** (share of this project's FY2027 R-3 total, so they need not reach 100%)**:** ARS (3.5, 7.9%), Carnegie Mellon Univ (1.1, 2.5%).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acquisition/System Security Engineering | 17.8 | 39.7 | 44.4 |

> 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 642834 — Mitigations

The Mitigations activity encompasses continuous efforts to support the Department of the Air Force (DAF) and Department of War acquisition community. It enables the Cyber Resiliency Office for Weapon Systems (CROWS) to be the DAF's focal point for enterprise cyber mitigations to critical cyber vulnerabilities for fielded weapon systems, subsystems, and support systems. In FY 2027, the entirety of project 642834, Mitigations, was transferred to project 642812, Acquisitions/System Security Engineering. This is an administrative realignment to better highlight the synergy between the two activities and does not represent an increase or decrease in priority relative to the overall program. This program element included all necessary expenses required to manage, execute, and deliver weapon system capability. The use of such program funds would be in addition to the civilian pay expenses budgeted in program elements 0605829F, 0605831F, 0605833F, and 0605898F.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cyber Mitigation Prototyping | 19.4 | 6.0 | 0.0 |

> 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 642836 — Mission Risk Analysis

The Mission Risk Analysis project encompasses one continuous effort to support the Department of the Air Force (DAF) and Department of War acquisition community. It enables the Cyber Resiliency Office for Weapon Systems (CROWS) to be the sole-organization to collect and analyze weapon system data from multiple sources (ex. Program Executive Office portfolios and test and evaluation efforts) to understand the DAF's cyber vulnerability landscape and mitigation initiatives to inform senior leader resource investment strategies. Additionally, this effort informs efforts in the other CROWS projects to prioritize research and investments to solve enterprise cyber vulnerability and mitigation needs. This program element included all necessary expenses required to manage, execute, and deliver weapon system capability. The use of such program funds would be in addition to the civilian pay expenses budgeted in program elements 0605829F, 0605831F, 0605833F, and 0605898F.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cyber Mission Risk Analysis | 7.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |

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

## Where the FY2027 request goes

| Category | Share | $M |
|---|---|---|
| Industry primes | 10% | 4.6 |
| Government labs & warfare centers | 20% | 9.0 |
| Other / unspecified | 69% | 30.8 |

**Top named industry performers:** ARS ($3.5M, 7.9%), Carnegie Mellon Univ ($1.1M, 2.5%).

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

## Mission & acquisition strategy

This program funds activities at the Cyber Resiliency Office for Weapon Systems (CROWS). The CROWS is the sole organization tasked to enhance and enable Department of the Air Force (DAF) Program Acquisition Executives (PAEs) and Program Management Offices (PMOs) to understand, engineer, and integrate cyber resiliency into emerging and fielded weapon systems, to mitigate critical cyber-based vulnerabilities, and preserve mission effectiveness in contested environments. The CROWS' mission directly aligns with the National Defense Strategy (NDS). The NDS specifically emphasizes deterring and defending against cyber threats as vital to safeguarding the U.S.

When possible, activities in this effort will leverage current competitively-awarded contracts. Additional necessary contracts funded in this program element will be awarded using either competitive or sole source procedures, whichever is most appropriate. The government agency responsible for managing the program is the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Cyber Resiliency Office for Weapon Systems, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio and Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts.

## Related program elements

- [1203906SF — Space Superiority - Advanced Intelligence Systems](https://hitchintel.com/programs/1203906SF) (Space Force)
- [0603635M — Marine Corps Grnd Cmbt/Supt Sys](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603635M) (Navy)
- [0602234D8Z — Lincoln Laboratory Research Program](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602234D8Z) (Defense-Wide)
- [0603896C — Ballistic Missile Defense Command and Control, Battle Management & Communication](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603896C) (Defense-Wide)

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-3, PE 0604414F (PB PB2027); FY2027 NDAA committee marks (as of 2026-07-27).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0604414F")`.

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