# Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site — Program Element 0606002A

**Program element:** 0606002A  
**Component:** U.S. Army  
**Appropriation:** 2040 — RDT&E, Army  
**Budget Activity:** 6 — RDT&E Management Support  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0606002A

## Summary

U.S. Army funding ramps 64% to a $118.6M request in FY2027 — the program's peak, sustained across the five-year plan. In the FY2027 defense authorization, the House funded it in full; the Senate added 76% (to $208.6M); House appropriators funded it in full.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 71.0 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 72.3 |
| FY2027 | Request | 118.6 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 118.2 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 108.9 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 111.6 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 113.1 |

> 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 | 118.6 | — |
| House NDAA (HASC) | 118.6 | +0.0 |
| Senate NDAA (SASC) | 208.6 | +90.0 |
| House Approps (HAC-D) | 118.6 | +0.0 |

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

## Projects (1)

| Project | Title | FY2025 actual | FY2026 enacted | FY2027 request | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XW9 | Reagan Test Site | 71.0 | 72.3 | 118.6 | +64% |

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

### Project XW9 — Reagan Test Site

This Project funds management and contracting personnel support (salaries and travel) to enable the management of the test and evaluation of major Army and DoW missile systems for the RTS. Funds also provide contracting support for end item procurement, life cycle acquisition planning, and solicitation, negotiation, award, execution and management for weapon systems contracts. This PE provides contractors to accomplish key operations and maintenance functions for RTS instrumentation suites and also provides mission essential bandwidth via a fiber optic cable system. Funds provide the expertise required for operating and maintaining a number of one-of-a-kind radars, optical, telemetry, command/control/communications, safety, and data reduction systems. These systems include the four unique radars of the Kiernan Reentry Measurement Site; Super Recording Automatic Digital Optical Tracker long range video-metric tracking systems; high density data recorders for high data-rate telemetry collected by ten antennas; an underwater acoustic impact location system; and data analysis/reduction hardware/software and Continental United States (CONUS) based mission control center. The Advanced Research Project Agency Long-Range Tracking and Instrumentation Radar and the Target Resolution Discrimination Experiment radars located at RTS are the only radars in this area of operation that have deep-space tracking capability. The Millimeter Wave Radar is one of the highest resolution imaging radars in the world, providing critical intelligence data. Funding also enables weapon system assessment of operational effectiveness and suitability for the Army, Air Force, Navy and MDA, which all have programs planned that have significant test and data gathering requirements at RTS. This test data cannot be obtained except through the use of technical facilities available on and in the vicinity of RTS. Program supports Army's PATRIOT air defense system; Air Force's Minuteman III ICBM and the Space and Missile Center's associated programs; MDA's Ballistic Missile Defense System, ICBM Targets, and Layered Ballistic Missile Defense operational tests (including: PATRIOT, Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, and Aegis Weapon System), and NASA's space experiments.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civilian Pay | 7.9 | 5.0 | 5.2 |
| Temporary Duty (TDY)/Training/Supplies - Military and Civilian | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.8 |
| Outside Obligations/Other Government Agencies (OGAs) | 3.3 | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| Fiber Optic Cable (Kwajalein Cable System (KCS))/Inner Ring Submarine | 6.0 | 6.3 | 6.4 |
| RTS Contractor Labor | 36.0 | 40.6 | 53.5 |
| RTS Contractor Material | 7.3 | 7.0 | 7.5 |
| Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC) Contractor Pay | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Contractor Meteorological | 2.8 | 2.8 | 2.8 |
| Air and Sea Transportation | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 |
| Mission Specific Environmental | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.1 |
| Aviation and Watercraft Intra-Atoll | — | — | 32.5 |

> 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

The Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (RTS), with its remote location and one-of-a-kind instrumentation systems, provides a valuable strategic test environment that cannot be replicated. Its function is to: 1) support test and evaluation of major Army and Department of War (DOW) acquisition programs of strategic importance to the national defense; and 2) provide space operations and intelligence data (Space Situational Awareness, object tracking & identification) in support of United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), acting as a high value contributing sensor to the United States (U.S.) Space Surveillance Network.

## Related program elements

- [0604873C — Long Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR)](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604873C) (Defense-Wide)
- [0604759A — Major T&E Investment](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604759A) (Army)
- [0605301A — Army Kwajalein Atoll](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0605301A) (Army)
- [0601153N — Defense Research Sciences](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0601153N) (Navy)

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Army RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-3, PE 0606002A (PB PB2027); FY2027 NDAA committee marks (as of 2026-07-27).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0606002A")`.

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