What project A5C buys
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) are critical systems in the cross-domain capabilities concept that will employ multi-domain operation (MDO) capabilities at all echelons and will allow ground-based forces to project power from land into other domains to defeat highly capable enemies, secure terrain, and consolidate gains. Group 4+ UAS S/VTOL provides a short/vertical takeoff and landing, expeditionary, extended range reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition (RSTA) with multiple sensors, communications, lethality and electromagnetic warfare capability. UAS supports Human Machine Integrated Formations (HMIF) and provides the opportunity to learn, fail, refine requirements, and develop solutions faster than our adversaries. UAS incorporates soldier feedback from materiel solution(s) to enhance survivability in an MDO environment through modular payloads to facilitate upgraded communication, encryption, and lethality at the pace of technology. UAS provides enhanced transportability, rapid deployability, expeditionary maneuver, and mobility for adaptive and agile operations. One system consists of multiple air vehicles with Modular Mission Payloads (MMPs), ground control stations, and ancillary equipment. The aircraft subsystem includes the airframe, propulsion system, avionics, communications, navigation, and software systems. Aircraft-specific ground support equipment includes power generation, transportation, command and control equipment, aircraft software and MMPs. Additionally, Ultra Endurance-UAS (UE-UAS; previously referred to as Long Endurance) provide an organic solution capable of long endurance, aerial tier network extension with deep sensing and effects needed for highly dispersed, Anti-Access/Area Denial environments. LE-UAS meets Combatant Command persistent Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance coverage and loiter capability, increased communications relay, and Assured Positioning, Navigation, and timing deep sensing and aerial tier network extension critical capability gaps within the Southern border and other requiring COCOMs. The Brigade (BDE) UAS initiative will rapidly deliver critical capabilities to Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) and the Army Transformation and Training Command (T2COM), addressing identified gaps in RSTA, communications, lethality, and electronic warfare.
- Management Services
- Product Development
- Test and Evaluation
Project A5C funding, FY2026–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.
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | Enacted | 3.7 |
| FY2027 | Request | 486.8 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 353.5 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 318.9 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 168.2 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 167.8 |
3 accomplishments / planned programs
The R-2A exhibit — the only level of the budget that describes work that has not happened yet. Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only, no five-year plan. Each describe FY2027 work in enough detail to have their own page; the rest are shown here in full. Coverage is partial across the corpus, so count activities, never total them.
FY 2027 funding will be used to support UE-UAS, BDE UAS system developments and to rapidly develop and issue a Group 4+ UAS distinguished by its short or vertical takeoff and landing capability, allowing it to launch and/or operate without a traditional runway and in austere environments. The UAS systems will provide a comprehensive…
Read the FY2027 plan →FY 2027 funding will support the Demonstration and Experimentation of major weapon system components encompassing six air vehicles, associated Ground Support Equipment (GSE), and Expeditionary Ground Control Stations for Future Group 4+ UAS S/VTOL and will support Brigade UAS demonstration and experimentation efforts.
Read the FY2027 plan →Provides Systems Engineering and Program Management support for the development and integration of future UAS systems.
Read the FY2027 plan →Named performers on project A5C
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.