# Operational Test & Eval Capability — Program Element 0605865N

**Program element:** 0605865N  
**Component:** U.S. Navy  
**Appropriation:** 1319 — RDT&E, Navy  
**Budget Activity:** 6 — RDT&E Management Support  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605865N

## Summary

U.S. Navy requests $31.9M in FY2027, sustained across the five-year plan. In the FY2027 defense authorization, the House funded it in full; the Senate funded it in full; House appropriators funded it in full.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 30.0 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 30.9 |
| FY2027 | Request | 31.9 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 34.6 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 36.5 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 37.3 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 38.0 |

> Estimate types are not summed — the profile mixes actuals, enacted law, the request, and outyear projections.

## Congressional marks (FY2027)

| Stage | Marked ($M) | Change ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| Request | 31.9 | — |
| House NDAA (HASC) | 31.9 | +0.0 |
| Senate NDAA (SASC) | 31.9 | +0.0 |
| House Approps (HAC-D) | 31.9 | +0.0 |

> FY2027 NDAA authorization marks, as of 2026-07-27. Not appropriations or final law.

## Projects (2)

| Project | Title | FY2025 actual | FY2026 enacted | FY2027 request | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0831 | OPTEVFOR Support | 27.8 | 28.6 | 29.6 | +4% |
| 2958 | Cyberspace Activities | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.3 | +1% |

> Projects are the summable leaves: the program element total is their sum, never added to it.

### Project 0831 — OPTEVFOR Support

This program element (PE) provides OPTEVFOR general support funding for headquarters annual operating expenses and ensures compliance with Secretary of War and Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) directives during the conduct of independent operational test and evaluation (OT&E). This funding supports planning, testing, and reporting on the operational effectiveness, suitability, and cyber survivability of new and improved systems and informs recommendations to the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) regarding Fleet employment. Funding also supports initiatives, including the manpower required to execute them, that improve OPTEVFOR's ability to develop minimum adequate test strategies that maximize efficiency while minimizing the assets and time required to conduct operational testing. These efforts help reduce overall test and evaluation costs for the Navy. The CNO, as well as acquisition executives and managers at all levels, rely on timely and efficient OT&E to inform decisions on fielding new and upgraded warfighting capabilities to the Fleet. To support this requirement, funding enables OPTEVFOR to pursue initiatives that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of OT&E. These initiatives include developing organizational level metrics that inform command performance; improving information technology infrastructure to support planning, testing, analysis, and reporting; maximizing the use of operational test data collection opportunities while delivering timely insight to Fleet and acquisition decision makers across the Department of the Navy; and reducing the data collection burden through streamlined development of measures and data requirements during Mission Based Test Design. Collectively, these initiatives improve the quality of OT&E and help ensure combat systems are adequately tested prior to delivery to Fleet units. Issues identified during OT&E can have long term implications for Fleet readiness and warfighting capability. As adversaries continue to advance technologically and naval systems become increasingly complex, the demand for rigorous and timely technical and operational analysis continues to grow in order to ensure an optimal return on investment of Navy resources.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| OPTEVFOR SUPPORT | 27.8 | 28.6 | 29.6 |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project 2958 — Cyberspace Activities

This project funds the civilian salaries and supports associated maintenance and sustainment of cyber hygiene and resiliency of network infrastructure, as well as enterprise IT services for OPTEVFOR operational support networks. Additionally, these funds ensure the hardware and software required to maintain is in compliance with cybersecurity directives that support command operations as required. The Cyber Pure funding under this project directly supports the Assessment & Authorization (A&A) of OPTEVFOR IT systems and the monthly patching and scanning, and reauthorization required for continuous monitoring.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cyberspace Activities | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.3 |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

## Mission & acquisition strategy

This program is funded under Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Management Support because it supports efforts directed toward sustaining or modernizing facilities and conducting operations required for general research, development, test, and evaluation. Headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, OPTEVFOR serves as the Service Operational Test Agency for the Navy and Marine Corps Aviation. In addition to the headquarters element, OPTEVFOR includes a Fleet scheduling detachment in San Diego, a detachment supporting the Joint Strike Fighter, and the U.S. Operational Test Team at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.

## Related program elements

- [0605864N — Test & Evaluation Support](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605864N) (Navy)
- [0207133F — F-16 Squadrons](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0207133F) (Air Force)
- [0902498N — Management HQ - Departmental Spt Acts](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0902498N) (Navy)
- [0804772F — Training Developments](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0804772F) (Air Force)

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Navy RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-3, PE 0605865N (PB PB2027); FY2027 NDAA committee marks (as of 2026-07-27).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0605865N")`.

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