# Project 653170 — GPS IIIF

**Program element:** 1203269SF — GPS III Follow-On (GPS IIIF)  
**Project:** 653170  
**Component:** U.S. Space Force  
**Appropriation:** 3620F — RDT&E, Space Force  
**Budget Activity:** 5 — System Development & Demonstration  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/1203269SF/653170  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/1203269SF

## Summary

Project 653170 — GPS IIIF requests $59.3M in FY2027, 48% of the $123.8M requested for program element 1203269SF, down 56% on FY2026. 3 R-2A activities decompose the request. Lockheed Martin is the largest named R-3 performer at $28.9M, 49% of the project's FY2027 R-3 total.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 171.2 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 134.6 |
| FY2027 | Request | 59.3 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 38.0 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 22.5 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 3.0 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 0.0 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 1203269SF; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project 653170 buys

System Delta 831 is developing the Global Positioning System III Follow-on (GPS IIIF) (Project 653170) for Guardians across Position, Navigation, and Timing. As a result, the Service will improve readiness and operational reach of existing force structure. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based navigation system that fills validated Joint Service requirements for worldwide, accurate, common grid three-dimensional positioning/navigation for military aircraft, ships, and ground personnel. The consistent accuracy, unaffected by location or weather and available in real time, significantly improves effectiveness of reconnaissance, weapons delivery, mine countermeasures and rapid deployment for all services. GPS must comply with Title 10 United States Code (USC) Sec. 2281, which requires that the Secretary of Defense ensures the continued sustainment and operation of GPS for military and civilian purposes, and 51 USC Sec. 50112, which requires that GPS complies with certain standards and facilitates international cooperation. The system is composed of three segments: User Equipment (funded under Program Element (PE) 1203164F, 1203164SF), Space (funded under PE 1203165F, 1203265F, 1203265SF, 1203269F, and 1203269SF), and a Control Network (funded under PE 1206423F, 1206423SF and 1203165F). The satellites broadcast high accuracy data using precisely synchronized signals that are received and processed by user equipment installed in military platforms. The user equipment computes the platform position and velocity and provides steering vectors to target locations or navigation waypoints. The control segment provides daily updates to the navigation messages broadcast from the satellites to maintain system precision in three dimensions to 16 meters (spherical error probable) worldwide. Additionally, GPS supports the United States (US) Nuclear Detonation (NUDET) Detection System (USNDS) mission and provides strategic and tactical support to the following Department of War (DoW) missions: Joint Operations by providing capabilities for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT); Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (C3I); Special Operations; Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT); Defense-Wide Mission Support (DWMS); Air Mobility; and Space Launch Orbital Support.

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

## Named R-3 performers

| Performer | $M | Share of this project's FY2027 R-3 total |
|---|---|---|
| Lockheed Martin | 28.9 | 49% |
| SAIC | 5.9 | 10.0% |

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

## Activities (R-2A) — 3

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPS III Follow-On (GPS IIIF) Development | 171.2 | 89.6 | 59.3 | −34% | [a0](https://hitchintel.com/programs/1203269SF/653170/a0) |
| Resilient GPS | — | 15.0 | 0.0 | −100% | — |
| PNT Architecture | 0.0 | 30.0 | 0.0 | −100% | — |

> 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.

### GPS III Follow-On (GPS IIIF) Development

Continue Development of GPS IIIF SV 11 and SV12. Continue development and initiate launch vehicle assembly of GPS IIIF SV12. Finalize the build, qualification, and delivery of GSS+ which will be utilized for Mission Readiness testing, Integrated Cyber Testing, System Integration Demo 31, and Space Vehicle risk reduction events and…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/1203269SF/653170/a0

### Resilient GPS

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** No funding planned for FY27.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Certify on-orbit, reprogrammable cryptography unit(s) to meet SERD 2.0 requirements, capitalize on new commercial capabilities, and mitigate major schedule risk. Validate program anti-jam opportunity, which could deliver key anti-jam capability to the warfighter using MGUE Inc 1. Design and prove out new, flexible architectures for GPS monitoring stations and data transport to take advantage of industry advancements and prepare control segment for a proliferated constellation

### PNT Architecture

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Funding ends in FY26. $30M in FY26 funds will further the efforts located in PE 1203165SF in FY27.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Initiate contracts for studies and analyses that will inform the development of a next-generation, reprogrammable, adaptable, and cost-effective future PNT enterprise architecture. Assess the application of Modular Open Systems Approaches (MOSA) and the integration of commercial capabilities and technologies on a wide range of architectural alternatives and development pathways for both space and ground segments. Program activities will include analysis, trade studies, modeling (MBSE), simulation, and prototyping to evaluate the feasibility, benefits, and risks of various architectural constructs for both space and ground.

## 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/1203269SF.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 1203269SF project 653170 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="1203269SF")`.

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