# Project A5D — Air Launched Effects (ALE)

**Program element:** 0605345A — Unmanned Aerial Systems Launched Effects Systems Development  
**Project:** A5D  
**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/A5D  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605345A

## Summary

Project A5D — Air Launched Effects (ALE) requests $172.8M in FY2027, 21% of the $816.4M requested for program element 0605345A, up 2.1% on FY2026. 1 R-2A activity decomposes the request.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | Enacted | 169.2 |
| FY2027 | Request | 172.8 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 156.6 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 118.0 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 117.9 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 119.1 |

> 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 A5D buys

Launched Effects (LE) are a family of air- and ground-launched unmanned systems designed to autonomously or semi-autonomously deliver mission effects-either as independent agents or as a member of a collaborative networked team. LE extends the speed, range, lethality, and survivability of maneuver formations through the integration of air vehicles, mission systems, payloads, and behaviors. LE will provide Army formations with the ability to expedite and strengthen the kill web, facilitate the penetration and dis-integration the enemy's Anti-Access Area Denial (A2AD) environment and extend the maneuver force's reach, lethality, and survivability. LE efforts are based on requirements from an Army Requirements Oversight Council (AROC), approved Abbreviated-Capability Development Document (A-CDD), approved 19 July 2024, and the Army Transformation and Acquisition Reform SECDEF memorandum signed 30 April 2025. In FY 2026, UAS continued the Urgent Capability Acquisition (UCA) authority requirement and will issue LE capability to every division per 30 April 2025 SECDEF memorandum. In FY 2027 LE will respond to high demand signal from EUCOM, PACOM, and other areas of responsibility for LE. Manned, optionally-manned, and uncrewed systems will penetrate defense-in-depth environments by employing LE with teaming and swarming effects to detect, decoy, jam radar and communications, conduct cyber-attack, spoof and jam Global Positioning System (GPS), and kinetic engagement. The UAS Marketplace expands the Defense Industrial Base, expedites capability delivery, and provides warfighters with vetted, flexible solutions to meet mission requirements. The UAS Marketplaces operationalizes a streamlined acquisition framework for both Programs of Record (PoR) and emerging capabilities, while also serving as the mechanism to demonstrate, assess and perform verifications on a range of UAS solutions. The UAS Marketplace empowers the warfighter at the tactical edge, providing the flexibility to procure vetted, mission-specific UAS solutions. The PM UAS will leverage this centralized marketplace to execute UAS procurements and deliveries, ensuring soldiers are equipped through a modern, efficient, scalable, and capability-validated marketplace.

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

## Activities (R-2A) — 1

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LE System Development | — | 169.2 | 172.8 | +2% | [a0](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605345A/A5D/a0) |

> 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.

### LE System Development

Funds will be utilized to execute LE System Development for LE Short Range, LE Medium Range, and LE Long Range to include system integration, system test and evaluation, system engineering and program management, and transportation.

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605345A/A5D/a0

## 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 A5D (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.*