# Project XT6 — Medium Caliber Anti-Personnel and Counter UAS

**Program element:** 0604802A — Weapons and Munitions - Eng Dev  
**Project:** XT6  
**Component:** U.S. Army  
**Appropriation:** 2040 — RDT&E, Army  
**Budget Activity:** 5 — System Development & Demonstration  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604802A/XT6  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604802A

## Summary

Project XT6 — Medium Caliber Anti-Personnel and Counter UAS requests $17.4M in FY2027, 14% of the $124.9M requested for program element 0604802A, up 14% on FY2026. 2 R-2A activities decompose the request. Northrup Grumman Defense Systems (NGDS) is the largest named R-3 performer at $11.3M, 65% of the project's FY2027 R-3 total.

**Markets:** Counter-UAS — matched on the project title only, and no market size is quoted.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | Enacted | 15.3 |
| FY2027 | Request | 17.4 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 10.0 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 7.9 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 0604802A; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project XT6 buys

The Anti-Personnel and Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) munitions provide increased lethality through proximity airburst effects against personnel, small Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), and small boats without requiring modification to the platform. Airburst capability is identified as a threshold Key System Attribute (KSA) in Apache Block 3 Capability Production Document (CPD) - Approved 14 June 2017, and counter-UAS capability is identified in other cannon caliber Operational Need Statements (ONSs) and Capability Development Documents (CDDs). Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 funds support prototype builds and Developmental Test and Evaluation (DT&E) for both the 30x113mm Aviation Proximity Explosive (APEX) munition and the 25mm Bradley Aerial Defeat Ground Enhanced Round (BADGER) munition.

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

## Named R-3 performers

| Performer | $M | Share of this project's FY2027 R-3 total |
|---|---|---|
| Northrup Grumman Defense Systems (NGDS) | 11.3 | 65% |

> 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25mm Bradley Aerial Defeat Ground Enhanced Round (BADGER) | — | 11.6 | 10.1 | −13% | — |
| 30x113mm Aviation Proximity Explosive (APEX) | — | 3.7 | 7.4 | +100% | — |

> 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.

### 25mm Bradley Aerial Defeat Ground Enhanced Round (BADGER)

**FY2027 planned work.** Complete prototype build for Developmental Test and Evaluation (DT&E) and conduct DT&E test.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Decrease due to completion of Safety Confirmation and Engineering tests.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Technology maturation, munition development, prototype builds, conduct engineering tests for 25mm Bradley Aerial Defeat Ground Enhanced Round (BADGER) munition in support of Urgent Materiel Release, and achieve Milestone B (MS-B).

### 30x113mm Aviation Proximity Explosive (APEX)

**FY2027 planned work.** Complete prototype build for Developmental Test and Evaluation (DT&E) and conduct DT&E test.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Increase due to initiation of Developmental Test and Evaluation (DT&E).

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Procure long lead materials for munition development, conduct preliminary design review, and live fire design engineering test of 30x113mm Aviation Proximity Explosive (APEX) munition in support of Full Materiel Release.

## 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/0604802A.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Army RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 0604802A project XT6 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0604802A")`.

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