# Project SF100 — Aviation Systems Advanced Development

**Program element:** 1160403BB — Aviation Systems  
**Project:** SF100  
**Component:** Defense-Wide  
**Appropriation:** 0400 — RDT&E, Defense-Wide  
**Budget Activity:** 7 — Operational System Development  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/1160403BB/SF100  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/1160403BB

## Summary

Project SF100 — Aviation Systems Advanced Development requests $125.2M in FY2027, 58% of the $216.8M requested for program element 1160403BB, up 337% on FY2026. 6 R-2A activities decompose the request, 1 new and 1 restarted this cycle. General Atomics is the largest named R-3 performer at $19.7M, 16% of the project's FY2027 R-3 total.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 82.3 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 28.7 |
| FY2027 | Request | 125.2 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 104.2 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 87.4 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 85.9 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 86.1 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 1160403BB; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project SF100 buys

This project provides for the development, rapid prototyping, demonstration, and integration of current and maturing technologies for Special Operations-peculiar (SO-p) aviation and training requirements to transform the foundation of future SOF aviation for the Joint Force. Timely application of SO-p technology is critical and necessary to meet requirements in areas such as: Aviation Engineering Analysis (AEA); Electronic Warfare (EW)-Radio Frequency Countermeasures (RFCM); MH-47G and MH-60M SOF Common Terrain Following (TF)/Terrain Avoidance (TA) Silent Knight Radar (SKR); Precision Strike Package (PSP), Medium Altitude Long Endurance Tactical (MALET) MQ-9, and the Adaptive Airborne Enterprise (A2E). AEA provides engineering analysis, market research, and conceptual designs to mature critical technology priorities for crewed and uncrewed SOF airborne platforms, including but not limited to aircraft survivability, signature management, mission autonomy, reduced workload, advanced ISR capabilities, situational awareness, precision strike, resilient architectures, secure communications & networks, enhanced logistics, and next-generation mobility. The EW-RFCM supports development, integration, and test activities to provide EW capability against Radio Frequency (RF) threats for SO-p AC/MC-130J aircraft. MH-47G and MH-60M SOF Common TF/ TA SKR supports development, integration, and testing of SOF Common TF/TA Multi-Mode Radar (MMR) that provides Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) and Low Probability of Detection (LPD) capabilities for MH-47G and MH-60M aircraft. The PSP supports systems engineering, analysis, development, and enhancement of the baseline PSP for integration, installation, and test for the SOF AC-130J aircraft and other SOF aviation platforms. MQ-9 identifies, develops, rapidly prototypes, integrates, and tests Special Operations (SO)-peculiar mission kits, mission payloads, weapons, and modifications on MQ-9 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Ground Control Stations (GCSs), and training systems. MQ-9 funding also integrates A2E capabilities into this mission. The Adaptive Airborne Enterprise (A2E) is AFSOC’s modernization effort to enhance Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR), Electronic Warfare (EW), and precision strike capabilities.

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

## Named R-3 performers

| Performer | $M | Share of this project's FY2027 R-3 total |
|---|---|---|
| General Atomics | 19.7 | 16% |
| Gerneral Atomics Aeronautical Services | 9.9 | 7.9% |
| RTX / Raytheon | 1.4 | 1.1% |

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

## Activities (R-2A) — 6

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adaptive Airborne Enterprise (A2E) | 46.0 | — | 63.1 | restart | [a4](https://hitchintel.com/programs/1160403BB/SF100/a4) |
| MQ-9 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Program Number 839 | — | — | 29.5 | new | [a5](https://hitchintel.com/programs/1160403BB/SF100/a5) |
| Precision Strike Package (PSP) for SOF, Program Number 843 | 14.2 | 5.8 | 11.7 | +101% | [a1](https://hitchintel.com/programs/1160403BB/SF100/a1) |
| (EW)-Radio Frequency Countermeasures (RFCM), Program Number 768 | 7.2 | 9.2 | 9.5 | +4% | — |
| Aviation Engineering Analysis (AEA) | 12.7 | 11.4 | 9.0 | −21% | — |
| MH-47/MH-60 SOF Common Terrain Following/Terrain Avoidance (TF/TA) Silent Knight Radar (SKR), Program Number 778 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.3 | +4% | — |

> 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.

### Adaptive Airborne Enterprise (A2E) — RESTART

Continues developing foundational open system Human Autonomy Common Control Architecture (HACCAr) for phase three delivery providing initial operational capability for a new human-machine interface (HMI) to enable simultaneous, multi-platform control. Continues integration efforts for A2E autonomy to enable small UAS (sUAS) behaviors…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/1160403BB/SF100/a4

### MQ-9 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Program Number 839 — NEW START

Initial development, testing, and integration of SO-p emerging technology mission kits, mission payloads, weapons and modifications onto the MQ-9 aircraft for UAS, GCSs, and training systems. Key efforts include enhancements to Operational Flight Program (OFP) Command and Control (C2) software development and Tactical situation…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/1160403BB/SF100/a5

### Precision Strike Package (PSP) for SOF, Program Number 843

Continues development and integration of enhanced AESA Radar capabilities, includes hardware and software development.

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/1160403BB/SF100/a1

### (EW)-Radio Frequency Countermeasures (RFCM), Program Number 768

**FY2027 planned work.** Continues spiral design, development and test activities, to include: technical refresh of system hardware architecture to increase system capacity and software integration to updated hardware architecture.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Increase of $0.342 million for increased Spiral Development efforts.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Continue spiral design, development and test activities, to include: technical refresh of system hardware architecture to increase system capacity and software integration to updated hardware architecture.

**FY2025 accomplishments.** Continue spiral design, development and test activities, to include: began technical refresh of system hardware architecture to increase system capacity, software integration to updated hardware architecture, and hardware integration testing.

### Aviation Engineering Analysis (AEA)

**FY2027 planned work.** Continues to perform engineering analysis and evaluate capabilities for rapid transition onto Fixed Wing next generation ISR, mobility, and strike platforms. Activities include but are not limited to accelerating artificial intelligence-enabled flight and mission autonomy, advancing distributed targeting capabilities, maturing full-spectrum situational awareness, enhancing navigation and command/control systems, improving survivability via signature management and countermeasures, hastening contested logistics technologies, and designing SOF-peculiar mission payloads to meet operational outcomes in denied environments.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Decrease of $2.432 million due to reduction in planned engineering analysis activities in FY 2027.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Continue to perform engineering analysis and demonstrations to improve aviation mission survivability, aircraft and mission systems autonomy, sensor anatomy, sensor fusion, targeting enhancement, cyber hardening, navigation in denied environments, and data link enhancements to support Fixed Wing next generation ISR, Mobility and Strike platforms. Activities include: signature management; SA with full spectrum threat warning and countermeasures; and versatile mission equipment (payloads, communications and weapons) to improve SOF survivability in less than permissive operating environments. Other technology advancements for Fixed Wing platforms include improvements for increased range, speed with reduced time to target, improving ability to insert and recover forces in contested environments and technology analysis on advanced mobility platforms (deep penetrating). Strike enhancements include targeting/engagement automation, weapons effects and stand-off capability. Conduct engineering analysis for mission systems autonomy capabilities and demonstrate strike mission systems automation. Capabilities include, yet are not limited to, multi-platform weapon target pairing recommendation algorithm and engagement sequence optimization.

**FY2025 accomplishments.** Continue to perform engineering analysis and demonstrations to improve aviation mission survivability, aircraft and mission systems autonomy, sensor fusion, targeting enhancement, cyber hardening, navigation in denied environments, and data link enhancements to support Fixed Wing next generation ISR, Mobility and Strike platforms. Activities include: signature management; SA with full spectrum threat warning and countermeasures; and versatile mission equipment (payloads, communications and weapons) to improve SOF survivability in less than permissive operating environments. Other technology advancements for Fixed Wing platforms include improvements for increased range, speed with reduced time to target, improving ability to insert and recover forces in contested environments and technology analysis on advanced mobility platforms (deep penetrating). Strike enhancements include targeting/engagement automation, weapons effects and stand-off capability. Conduct engineering analysis for mission systems autonomy capabilities and demonstrate strike mission systems automation. Capabilities includes yet not limited to multi-platform weapon target pairing recommendation algorithm and engagement sequence optimization.

### MH-47/MH-60 SOF Common Terrain Following/Terrain Avoidance (TF/TA) Silent Knight Radar (SKR), Program Number 778

**FY2027 planned work.** Continues spiral design, development and test activities, to include: technical refresh of system hardware architecture to increase system capacity and software integration to updated hardware architecture.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Increase of $0.083 million supports increased SKR developmental test and evaluation costs.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Continue software spiral efforts to reduce TF/TA SKR signature, support data fusions initiatives, and increase reliability.

**FY2025 accomplishments.** Continue software spiral efforts to reduce TF/TA SKR signature, support data fusions initiatives, and increase reliability.

## 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/1160403BB.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Office of the Secretary of Defense RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 1160403BB project SF100 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="1160403BB")`.

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