What the FY2027 request buys
Verbatim from the R-2A exhibit for project A5C of PE 0605345A. This is the budget justification's own description of work that has not happened yet — the one thing no other level of the budget carries.
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 battlefield view by conducting reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition missions, while also integrating communication, lethality, and electronic warfare payloads. The systems feature a modular design that allows for rapid upgrades to keep pace with technological advancements and adversarial threats. These development efforts rely on direct soldier feedback through continuous user assessments to enhance survivability and effectiveness in any operational environment.
FY 2027 funding increase supports the start of the Future Group 4+ UAS S/VTOL program as well as new iterations of BDE assets. This funding was realigned from PE 0604113A - Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (FTUAS), Project EX8 - Future Unmanned Aircraft System (FUAS).
Three years, and no five-year plan
An R-2A activity publishes the prior year, the current year and the budget year. The FYDP outyears exist at project and program-element level and are deliberately absent here rather than inferred. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure.
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2027 | Request | 389.6 |
This activity is 80% of project A5C's FY2027 request and 48% of PE 0605345A's. In the request year the activities under a project sum to it exactly; in the current year they under-cover it in about 9% of cases, so an activity's delta can legitimately exceed its parent's and the two must not be compared row to row.
3 activities in project A5C
Every R-2A line of this project, largest FY2027 request first. Linked where the activity has enough of its own narrative to carry a page; the rest are shown in full on the project page.