# Project A5C — Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS)

**Program element:** 0605345A — Unmanned Aerial Systems Launched Effects Systems Development  
**Project:** A5C  
**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/0605345A/A5C  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605345A

## Summary

Project A5C — Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) requests $486.8M in FY2027, 60% of the $816.4M requested for program element 0605345A, up 13138% on FY2026. 3 R-2A activities decompose the request, 1 new this cycle. AMTC, ATEC, RTC, and ACC is the largest named R-3 performer at $83.2M, 17% of the project's FY2027 R-3 total.

**Markets:** Uncrewed & Autonomy — matched on the project title only, and no market size is quoted.

## Funding profile

| 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 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 0605345A; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## 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.

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

## Named R-3 performers

| Performer | $M | Share of this project's FY2027 R-3 total |
|---|---|---|
| AMTC, ATEC, RTC, and ACC | 83.2 | 17% |
| PM UAS | 13.9 | 2.9% |

> Budget-justification contract funding, not obligations. Shares need not reach 100% — unnamed and government work is in the denominator.

## Activities (R-2A) — 3

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) System Development | — | — | 389.6 | new | [a2](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605345A/A5C/a2) |
| Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Demonstration and Experimentation efforts | — | 3.4 | 83.2 | +2360% | [a0](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605345A/A5C/a0) |
| Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Engineering/Program Management | — | 0.3 | 13.9 | +4621% | [a1](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605345A/A5C/a1) |

> 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.

### Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) System Development — NEW START

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…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605345A/A5C/a2

### Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Demonstration and Experimentation efforts

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.

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605345A/A5C/a0

### Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Engineering/Program Management

Provides Systems Engineering and Program Management support for the development and integration of future UAS systems.

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605345A/A5C/a1

## 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/0605345A.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Army RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 0605345A project A5C (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0605345A")`.

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