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RDT&E Program Element · President's Budget PB2027

Tactical Network Radio Systems (Low-Tier)

PE 0605042A·U.S. Army·Approp. 2040 — RDT&E·BA5 — System Development & Demonstration
FY2027 Request
$3.8M
Army · RDT&E
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U.S. Army funding ramps 18% to a $3.8M 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 funded it in full. EPG & MBL leads the industry work.

FY2027 Request
$3.8M
▲ 18% vs FY2026
FY2026 Enacted
$3.2M
▼ 22% vs FY2025
FY2025 Actual
$4.1M
Prior year

Roll-up of 2 projects. Projects are the summable leaves — the PE total is their sum, never added to it.

For fiscal year 2027, the U.S. Army is requesting $3.8M for Tactical Network Radio Systems (Low-Tier) under RDT&E program element 0605042A, up 18% over FY2026.

Funding trajectory

Funding profile, FY2025–FY2031

Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure.

04.1FY25ACTUAL3.2FY26ENACTED3.8FY27REQUEST3.9FY284.0FY294.0FY304.1FY31
Actual Enacted Request Outyear (FYDP)
Fiscal YearEstimate TypeAmount ($M)
FY2025Actual4.1
FY2026Enacted3.2
FY2027Request3.8
FY2028Outyear3.9
FY2029Outyear4.0
FY2030Outyear4.0
FY2031Outyear4.1
Where it sits

Acquisition lifecycle

This program is funded in RDT&E Budget Activity 5 — System Development & Demonstration.

Complete
Research
BA 1–2
Complete
Advanced Technology
BA 3
Complete
Prototyping
BA 4
Current
Development & Fielding
BA 5–7
Inside the program element

2 projects roll up into PE 0605042A

Projects are the summable leaves — the PE total is their sum, never added to it. Program elements and projects carry the full five-year plan; activities stop at the budget year. This PE moves 18% overall, which can hide much larger swings below.

Congressional action

Congressional marks

Committee marks on the FY2027 request. Adds and cuts are reconciled in conference before they become law.

RequestPresident's Budget
$3.8M
House NDAA (HASC)HASC
$3.8M full · +$0
Senate NDAA (SASC)SASC
$3.8M full · +$0
House Approps (HAC-D)HAC_D
$3.8M full · +$0
unresolved as of 2026-07-27. These are FY2027 authorization marks (NDAA); appropriations and the conference agreement may differ.
Who's building it

Where the FY2027 request goes

Performers named in the R-3 exhibit, resolved into industry, government-lab, and unspecified shares. Budget-justification contract funding, not obligations.

EPG & MBL
$1.2M · 31%
Follow on Delta Development & Testing
EPG
$1.1M · 29%
Follow on Delta Development & Testing
Where FY2027 funding flowsShare$M
Industry primes100%3.8
FY2027 request100%3.8
See EPG & MBL's full federal contract ledger members →
Program detail

Mission & acquisition strategy

This funding supports the Army's Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) initiative to modernize Command and Control (C2) systems, Transport Layer. Handheld radios provide both Classified and Unclassified communications. Leader radios provide the Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS) legacy waveform for Classified and Unclassified communications. HMS radios also provide advanced waveforms (e.g., TrellisWare TSM) that provide Sensitive But Unclassified-Encryption (SBU-E) and Secret and Below (SAB) communications. The SBU-E is a critical component of radio modernization for the Army.

On 13 September 2016 the Army Acquisition Executive approved a decrease to the Basis of Issue (BOI) for the single channel Rifleman Radio (RR), increase the BOI for the two channel Leader Radio (LR) and move forward with acquisition activities for the two channel LR. An acquisition strategy addendum adding LR was approved in March 2017. The addendum continued the multi-vendor approach utilizing the existing Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) RR base contract (awarded 29 April 2015) to on-ramp LR capabilities (18 September 2018). The LR effort is a separate competition under the Handheld radio suite.

Project FA1, FA2 — Manpack Radio
  • Management Services
  • Support
  • Test and Evaluation
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Answers are generated from the figures on this page — the FY2027 justification exhibits and the marks tracked above — and nothing else is consulted. Confirm any figure against the cited exhibit before you use it externally.

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Questions this page can answer
How does the FY2027 request compare with FY2026, and what does the five-year plan show?What did the FY2027 NDAA committees do to this request?Which project inside PE 0605042A is growing fastest, and which is shrinking?How is the FY2027 request split between industry and government performers?
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This page carries the budget justification and the NDAA marks — nothing else. For what EPG & MBL has actually been obligated, the ledger is at hitchintel.com/vendors; for live solicitations, hitchintel.com/opportunities. Both are member surfaces.

Provenance

Cite this page

Sources
FY2027 Department of the Army RDT&E Budget Justification · Exhibits R-2 / R-3 · PE 0605042A (President's Budget PB2027) — and FY2027 NDAA committee marks, as tracked 2026-07-27.
Suggested citation
HitchAI, "Tactical Network Radio Systems (Low-Tier) (PE 0605042A)," federal budget intelligence, PB2027 vintage. hitchintel.com/programs/0605042A
Machine access
Markdown twin /programs/0605042A.md · MCP mcp.hitchintel.com → budget_get_program_element, budget_get_cong_marks
FY2027 Request
$2.1M
▲ 10% vs FY2026
FY2026 Enacted
$1.9M
▼ 32% vs FY2025
FY2025 Actual
$2.7M
Prior year

Manpack Radio — one RDT&E project inside PE 0605042A. Congressional marks are recorded on the program element, not on a project.

Project FA1 — Manpack Radio — requests $2.1M in FY2027, 54% of the $3.8M requested for program element 0605042A. Year over year it grows 10% against FY2026.

Funding trajectory

Project FA1 funding, FY2025–FY2031

Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure. Projects carry the full five-year plan; the activities inside them stop at the budget year.

02.7FY25ACTUAL1.9FY26ENACTED2.1FY27REQUEST2.1FY282.2FY292.2FY302.2FY31
Actual Enacted Request Outyear (FYDP)
Fiscal YearEstimate TypeAmount ($M)
FY2025Actual2.7
FY2026Enacted1.9
FY2027Request2.1
FY2028Outyear2.1
FY2029Outyear2.2
FY2030Outyear2.2
FY2031Outyear2.2
Inside the project

3 accomplishments / planned programs

The R-2A exhibit. Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan — and they are descriptive: coverage is partial and they do not always add back to the project, so count them, never total them.

Program Management▲ 2%
FY2025 actual$0.1M
FY2026 enacted$0.1M
FY2027 request$0.1M

FY2027 planned work FY 2027 funds will provide overall management and oversight to implement HMS acquisition strategy - to include Matrix and Contractor support.

FY2026 to FY2027 change Program Management increases reflect revised economic assumptions.

FY2026 plans — current year FY 2026 funds will provide overall management and oversight to implement HMS acquisition strategy - to include Matrix and Contractor support.

FY2025 accomplishments FY 2025 funds will provide overall management and oversight to implement HMS acquisition strategy - to include Matrix and Contractor support.

HMS Engineering/Technical Support▲ 2%
FY2025 actual$0.9M
FY2026 enacted$0.8M
FY2027 request$0.9M

FY2027 planned work FY 2027 funds will provide technical systems engineering support to evaluate technical alternatives and perform communication architecture analysis to identify alternatives to reduce cost, improve performance, and achieve tactical radio objectives.

FY2026 to FY2027 change Engineering/Technical Support increases reflect revised economic assumptions.

FY2026 plans — current year FY 2026 funds will provide technical systems engineering support to evaluate technical alternatives and perform communication architecture analysis to identify alternatives to reduce cost, improve performance, and achieve tactical radio objectives.

FY2025 accomplishments FY 2025 funds will provide technical systems engineering support to evaluate technical alternatives and perform communication architecture analysis to identify alternatives to reduce cost, improve performance, and achieve tactical radio objectives.

Test and Evaluation▲ 18%
FY2025 actual$1.7M
FY2026 enacted$0.9M
FY2027 request$1.1M

FY2027 planned work FY 2027 funds will support HMS delta testing, Performance Verification Tests (PVTs), Operational User Assessments (OUAs), Soldier Touch Points (STP), examination of modular and open system architectures to decrease future integration and waveform porting costs.

FY2026 to FY2027 change Test and Evaluation increases are relative to additional testing/verification required on HMS products.

FY2026 plans — current year FY 2026 funds will support HMS delta testing, Performance Verification Tests (PVTs), Operational User Assessments (OUAs), Soldier Touch Points (STP), examination of modular and open system architectures to decrease future integration and waveform porting costs.

FY2025 accomplishments FY 2025 Research Development Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) funding supports HMS delta testing, Performance Verification Tests (PVTs), Operational User Assessments (OUAs), examination of modular and open system architectures to decrease future integration and waveform porting costs.

Who's building it

Named performers on project FA1

Performers named in the R-3 exhibit under this project. Share is of the project's whole FY2027 R-3 total — the same denominator the program-element split uses, so the two read on one scale and will not sum to 100% when unnamed or government work is in the mix. Budget-justification contract funding, not obligations.

EPG
$1.1M · 54%
PEO C3N, MBL, & C5ISR
$0.9M · 42%
PEO C3N & C5ISR
$0.1M · 4.5%
Project detail

What project FA1 buys

This funding supports the Army's Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) initiative to modernize Command and Control (C2) systems, Transport Layer. Manpack (MP) radios provide: both Classified and Unclassified communications; the Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS) waveform for Classified and Unclassified communications; advanced waveforms (e.g. TrellisWare TSM) that provide SBU communications; and the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) waveform for Tactical Satellite (TACSAT) communications. The HMS program received a positive Full Rate Production (FRP) decision in 2021 and conducts annual Performance Verification Tests (PVTs) and Operational User Assessment (OUAs)/Soldier Touch Points (STPs) to verify vendor enhancements. The Handheld, Manpack, and Small Form Fit (HMS) radio systems serve as the backbone of the Integrated Tactical Network (ITN) architecture, supporting a converged Mission Command network. HMS completed Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) during January 2021. Following the IOT&E test event, HMS outlined specific actions required to resolve test findings from the IOT&E event. RDT&E funding supports testing activities including laboratory technical testing, PVTs, and OUAs/STPs. Each of these events provides both technical and operational user feedback on increased capabilities, future waveform incorporation, soldier usability, and life-cycle sustainment improvements. FY2027 funds in the amount of $2.062 million support delta testing, PVTs, OUAs/STPs. Examination of modular and open system architectures potentially decrease future integration and waveform porting costs.

R-3 lines of work
  • Management Services
  • Support
  • Test and Evaluation
FY2027 Request
$1.7M
▲ 29% vs FY2026
FY2026 Enacted
$1.3M
▼ 2.9% vs FY2025
FY2025 Actual
$1.4M
Prior year

Rifleman Radio (RR) — one RDT&E project inside PE 0605042A. Congressional marks are recorded on the program element, not on a project.

Project FA2 — Rifleman Radio (RR) — requests $1.7M in FY2027, 46% of the $3.8M requested for program element 0605042A. Year over year it grows 29% against FY2026.

Funding trajectory

Project FA2 funding, FY2025–FY2031

Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure. Projects carry the full five-year plan; the activities inside them stop at the budget year.

01.4FY25ACTUAL1.3FY26ENACTED1.7FY27REQUEST1.8FY281.8FY291.8FY301.9FY31
Actual Enacted Request Outyear (FYDP)
Fiscal YearEstimate TypeAmount ($M)
FY2025Actual1.4
FY2026Enacted1.3
FY2027Request1.7
FY2028Outyear1.8
FY2029Outyear1.8
FY2030Outyear1.8
FY2031Outyear1.9
Inside the project

3 accomplishments / planned programs

The R-2A exhibit. Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan — and they are descriptive: coverage is partial and they do not always add back to the project, so count them, never total them.

Program Management▲ 2%
FY2025 actual$0.1M
FY2026 enacted$0.1M
FY2027 request$0.1M

FY2027 planned work FY 2027 funds will provide overall management and oversight to implement HMS acquisition strategy - to include Matrix and Contractor support.

FY2026 to FY2027 change Program Management increases reflect revised economic assumptions.

FY2026 plans — current year FY 2026 funds will provide overall management and oversight to implement HMS acquisition strategy - to include Matrix and Contractor support.

FY2025 accomplishments FY 2025 funds will provide overall management and oversight to implement HMS acquisition strategy - to include Matrix and Contractor support.

HMS Engineering/Technical Support▲ 2%
FY2025 actual$0.5M
FY2026 enacted$0.5M
FY2027 request$0.5M

FY2027 planned work FY 2027 funds will provide technical systems engineering support to evaluate technical alternatives and perform communication architecture analysis to identify alternatives to reduce cost, improve performance, and achieve tactical radio objectives.

FY2026 to FY2027 change Engineering/Technical Support increases reflect revised economic assumptions.

FY2026 plans — current year FY 2026 funds will provide technical systems engineering support to evaluate technical alternatives and perform communication architecture analysis to identify alternatives to reduce cost, improve performance, and achieve tactical radio objectives.

FY2025 accomplishments FY 2025 funds will provide technical systems engineering support to evaluate technical alternatives and perform communication architecture analysis to identify alternatives to reduce cost, improve performance, and achieve tactical radio objectives.

Test and Evaluation▲ 49%
FY2025 actual$0.8M
FY2026 enacted$0.8M
FY2027 request$1.2M

FY2027 planned work FY 2027 Research Development Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) funding supports HMS delta testing, Performance Verification Tests (PVTs), Operational User Assessments (OUAs)/Soldier Touch Points (STPs), examination of modular and open system architectures to potentially decrease future integration and waveform porting costs.

FY2026 to FY2027 change Test and Evaluation increases are relative to additional testing/verification required on HMS products.

FY2026 plans — current year FY 2025 Research Development Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) funding supports HMS delta testing, Performance Verification Tests (PVTs), Operational User Assessments (OUAs)/Soldier Touch Points (STPs), examination of modular and open system architectures to potentially decrease future integration and waveform porting costs.

FY2025 accomplishments FY 2025 Research Development Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) funding supports HMS delta testing, Performance Verification Tests (PVTs), Operational User Assessments (OUAs)/Soldier Touch Points (STPs), examination of modular and open system architectures to potentially decrease future integration and waveform porting costs.

Who's building it

Named performers on project FA2

Performers named in the R-3 exhibit under this project. Share is of the project's whole FY2027 R-3 total — the same denominator the program-element split uses, so the two read on one scale and will not sum to 100% when unnamed or government work is in the mix. Budget-justification contract funding, not obligations.

EPG & MBL
$1.2M · 67%
PEO C3N & C5ISR
$0.6M · 33%
Project detail

What project FA2 buys

This funding supports the Army's Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) initiative to modernize Command and Control (C2) systems, Transport Layer. Handheld radios provide both Classified and Unclassified communications. Leader radios provide the Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS) legacy waveform for Classified and Unclassified communications. HMS radios also provide advanced waveforms (e.g., TrellisWare TSM) that provide Sensitive But Unclassified-Encryption (SBU-E) and Secret and Below (SAB) communications. The SBU-E is a critical component of radio modernization for the Army. The HMS program plans to host a PVT and Operational User Assessments (OUAs)/Soldier Touch Points (STPs) annually to verify vendor enhancements. The Single Channel Data Radio (SCDR) is an Associated Support Items of Equipment (ASIOE) for the Soldier Born Mission Command (SBMC). HMS completed Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) during January 2021. Following the IOT&E test event, HMS outlined specific actions required to resolve test findings from the IOT&E event. RDT&E funding supports testing activities including laboratory technical testing, Performance Verification Tests (PVTs), and OUAs/STPs. Each of these events provides both technical and operational user feedback on increased capabilities, future waveform incorporation, soldier usability, and life-cycle sustainment improvements. Handheld radios provide voice/data communication to the expeditionary Warfighter with an on-the-move, at-the-halt, and stationary Line of Sight (LOS)/Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) capability for both dismounted personnel and platforms. Handheld radio systems are software reprogrammable, networkable, multi-mode systems capable of simultaneous voice and data communication. Handheld radios will support a variety of other platforms, including tactical End User Devices (EUD) voice and data needs. HMS provides tailorable and scalable, software-defined radio systems meeting U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Special Operations Command communications needs. The HMS program serves as the transportation component of the Tactical Network in support of NGC2.

R-3 lines of work
  • Management Services
  • Support
  • Test and Evaluation