RDT&E Program Element · President's Budget PB2027

Ground Robotics

PE 0605053A·U.S. Army·Approp. 2040 — RDT&E·BA5 — System Development & Demonstration
FY2027 Request
$192.2M
⚑ Contested — House approps cuts 12%
HitchAI read

U.S. Army funding ramps 20% to a $192.2M request in FY2027 — the program's peak. In the FY2027 defense authorization, the House cut 5.2% (to $182.2M); the Senate funded it in full; House appropriators cut 12% (to $169.5M).

FY2027 Request
$192.2M
▲ 20% vs FY2026
House approps mark
$169.5M
▼ $22.7M vs request
FY2026 Enacted
$160.8M
In law

For fiscal year 2027, the U.S. Army is requesting $192.2M for Ground Robotics under RDT&E program element 0605053A, up 20% over FY2026. In the FY2027 defense authorization, House approps moved to cut it to $169.5M.

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.

5010015002.6FY25ACTUAL160.8FY26ENACTED192.2FY27REQUEST180.0FY28170.8FY29149.6FY30152.1FY31HOUSE APPROPS
Actual Enacted Request Outyear (FYDP) House approps mark
Fiscal YearEstimate TypeAmount ($M)
FY2025Actual2.6
FY2026Enacted160.8
FY2027Request192.2
FY2028Outyear180.0
FY2029Outyear170.8
FY2030Outyear149.6
FY2031Outyear152.1
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

1 project rolls up into PE 0605053A

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 20% overall, which can hide much larger swings below.

Project FB3

Robotics Architecture

$192.2MFY2027 request ▲ 20%
FY2025 actual$2.6M
FY2026 enacted$160.8M
FY2027 request$192.2M
Management ServicesProduct DevelopmentTest and Evaluation

The Robotic Architecture (RA) supports the Continuous Transformation Initiative (CTI) by enabling the integration of robotics into evolving maneuver capabilities. The goal of this portfolio is to accelerate the delivery of technology to warfighters, enabling them to gain the initiative in future engagements. This will be achieved by employing robotics systems to shape the battlefield and disrupt enemy capabilities across all domains. Robotic systems will be used across the Army formations to enhance survivability, lethality, and sustainment while reducing the cognitive load on Soldiers. FY 2027 dollars provides the engineering and development resources for rapid prototyping. It will manage the interoperability standards, payload interfaces, common software and common architecture for robotics and autonomous platforms, payloads and universal controllers, and testing to verify safety and performance in support of robotics modernization.

Accomplishments / planned programs (R-2A) — prior, current and budget year only
Robotics Architecture
FY2025 actual$2.6M
FY2026 enacted
FY2027 request

FY2025 accomplishments FY 2025 RDTE supports the finalization of the Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Ground (RAS-G) Interoperability Profile (IOP) Version 7.0, the initiation of IOP Version 8.0, and the continued maturation of IOP to a single-source model to enable digital engineering. FY 2025 RDTE funds will continue the development, iteration & hardening of Robotic Operating System, Military (ROS-M) software modules and ROS-M instantiation documents, and management of ROS-M registry & repository infrastructure. FY 2025 RDTE funds will also iteratively mature the Common Specification Reference (CSR) from its minimum viable capability release.

FY2025 actual
FY2026 enacted$11.3M
FY2027 request$21.7M

Funding supports the engineering and development for robotics that will support formations to conduct enabling tasks such as Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance missions, sensing and detecting targets and call for fires, resupply, casualty evacuation, and protection. Platforms will be capable of providing the power and…

Read the FY2027 plan →
FY2025 actual
FY2026 enacted$38.6M
FY2027 request$34.5M

Funding supports robotics engineering formations with aggressive prototyping efforts. Platforms will conduct overwatch, suppress threats, obscure breaches, and detect, neutralize, and proof enemy obstacles. Cleared lanes will be marked digitally and physically to enhance mobility in a multidomain environment. FY 2027 funds will procure…

Read the FY2027 plan →
FY2025 actual
FY2026 enacted$26.9M
FY2027 request$34.9M

Funding supports the engineering and development for robotics that will support sustainment formations resupply operations with the following capabilities: power offload (exportable power and energy recharge), automated loading/unloading, universal ports for charging equipment, and standardized docking mechanisms to attach multi-mission…

Read the FY2027 plan →
FY2025 actual
FY2026 enacted$23.0M
FY2027 request$30.2M

Funding will continue to build upon the features started in FY2026. With Soldier feedback, continuous development and delivery of features will enable ground robotics to grow with the Soldiers that they are supporting. Hardware agnostic software solutions continue to mature and iterate the automated acceptance testing within a continuous…

Read the FY2027 plan →
FY2025 actual
FY2026 enacted$29.8M
FY2027 request$30.8M

Funding supports an Army decision on the production and fielding of Ground Autonomous Mobility solutions based on FY2026 demonstrations and Soldier feedback. Production-ization tasks will also occur. Continued software and hardware development to enable, or enhance, robotic autonomy across a spectrum of use cases, to include "non-primary…

Read the FY2027 plan →
FY2025 actual
FY2026 enacted$11.5M
FY2027 request$22.6M

FY 2027 RDTE supports the development of payloads that are unique and tailorable to specific mission sets for integration onto robotic platforms. Funding provides for hardware and software development, integration, and test for kitted capabilities that can be applied for specified mission environments.

Read the FY2027 plan →
FY2025 actual
FY2026 enacted$19.8M
FY2027 request$17.6M

Activities include Government engineering, financial management, acquisition planning, risk assessment and mitigation, contract preparation, and operations support necessary for development of Robotic systems.

Read the FY2027 plan →
Congressional action

The request is contested

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

RequestPresident's Budget
$192.2M
House NDAA (HASC)HASC
$182.2M −$10.0M · −5.2%
Senate NDAA (SASC)SASC
$192.2M full · +$0
House Approps (HAC-D)HAC_D
$169.5M −$22.7M · −12%
▲ $22.7M chamber gap — 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.

Where FY2027 funding flowsShare$M
Other / unspecified100%192.2
FY2027 request100%192.2
Program detail

Mission & acquisition strategy

The Robotic Architecture (RA) supports the Continuous Transformation Initiative (CTI) by enabling the integration of robotics into evolving ground maneuver capabilities. The goal of this portfolio is to accelerate the delivery of technology to warfighters, enabling them to gain the initiative in future engagements. This will be achieved by employing robotics systems to shape the battlefield and disrupt enemy capabilities across all domains. Robotic systems will be used across the Army formation to enhance survivability, lethality, and sustainment while reducing the cognitive load on Soldiers. FY 2027 Base dollars provides the engineering and development resources for rapid prototyping.

The Robotics Architecture line provides hardware and software solutions that support the Continuous Transformation Initiative and adding autonomous capability to the formation. The goal of development is to provide lightweight, low relative cost robots that take advantage of proven commercial application of technologies that remove humans from dangerous or routine tasks and free Soldiers for higher priority missions. Rapid prototyping, leveraging Other Transaction Authority (OTA) and Commercial Solutions Offerings (CSO), will foster competition and mitigate cost and schedule risks. Government test and evaluation will be conducted through soldier touchpoints and demonstrations.

Project FB3 — Robotics Architecture
  • Management Services
  • Product Development
  • 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 House approps do to this request, and what is still unresolved?How is the FY2027 request split between industry and government performers?In plain terms, what is this program element for and how is it being acquired?

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Provenance

Cite this page

Sources
FY2027 Department of the Army RDT&E Budget Justification · Exhibits R-2 / R-3 · PE 0605053A (President's Budget PB2027) — and FY2027 NDAA committee marks, as tracked 2026-07-27.
Suggested citation
HitchAI, "Ground Robotics (PE 0605053A)," federal budget intelligence, PB2027 vintage. hitchintel.com/programs/0605053A
Machine access
Markdown twin /programs/0605053A.md · MCP mcp.hitchintel.combudget_get_program_element, budget_get_cong_marks