# Project 650015 — Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) GRIFFON & Crypto

**Program element:** 1206855SF — Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS)  
**Project:** 650015  
**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/1206855SF/650015  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206855SF

## Summary

Project 650015 — Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) GRIFFON & Crypto requests $571.8M in FY2027, 31% of the $1.84B requested for program element 1206855SF — a new start, with no prior-year and no current-year money. 2 R-2A activities decompose the request, 2 new this cycle. Lockheed Martin is the largest named R-3 performer at $201.0M, 35% of the project's FY2027 R-3 total.

**Markets:** Space & Missile Warning/Tracking — matched on the project title only, and no market size is quoted.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 0.0 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 0.0 |
| FY2027 | Request | 571.8 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 696.2 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 271.0 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 646.6 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 545.1 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 1206855SF; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project 650015 buys

ESS is the backbone for Joint All Domain Nuclear Command, Control and Communications (NC3). The system will replace Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) Strategic Satellite Communications (SATCOM) services to provide global, integrated, survivable, resilient, and dynamic ground and satellite communications for assured strategic capabilities across the conflict continuum. The ESS program underwent a resiliency architecture shift to address emerging sophisticated threats and to ensure strategic SATCOM capabilities are available to the National Command Authority (NCA), Combatant Commanders, and joint warfighters in any potential future conflict. ESS will provide the only arctic DoW strategic communication capability across the joint enterprise, and will provide worldwide secure, jam-resistant communications for strategic ground, sea, and air assets. ESS will support existing strategic user terminals in all operational environments. ESS is acquired and developed in several parallel efforts to accelerate delivery of capability to warfighters by the strategic need date in FY 2032. The ESS System includes a Space Segment (ACAT-I), Ground, User, and Integration Segment (ACAT-I equiv), and a Crypto Segment (ACAT-III). The Space Segment is a Major Capability Acquisition (MCA) program in the Engineering Manufacturing and Development (EMD) phase. The Ground Segment, also known as GRIFFON - Ground Resilient Integration & Framework for Operational NC3, is comprised of the Ground Integration and Framework (GIF), System of Systems Integration (SoSI), and Mission Software Applications. This enables a resilient and modular cybersecure architecture that bridges the gap between modern software practices and legacy user terminal capability. The GIF/SoSI and Mission Planning Software efforts are leveraging the Software Acquisition Pathway Other Transactional Authorities for rapid prototyping of ground software. The ESS Ground Framework creates cybersecure software development, integration, and operational environments utilizing agile Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) principles and onboards hosted external mission applications and services. SoSI ensures all ESS segments that are acquired in parallel, in addition to external entities, work together to accomplish the mission.

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

## Named R-3 performers

| Performer | $M | Share of this project's FY2027 R-3 total |
|---|---|---|
| Lockheed Martin | 201.0 | 35% |
| RTX / Raytheon | 79.7 | 14% |
| General Dynamics | 25.0 | 4.4% |
| Boeing | 22.5 | 3.9% |

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

## Activities (R-2A) — 2

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ground Resilient Integration & Framework for Operational NC3 (GRIFFON) | — | 0.0 | 519.6 | new | [a0](https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206855SF/650015/a0) |
| End-Cryptographic Unit (ECU) | — | 0.0 | 52.2 | new | [a1](https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206855SF/650015/a1) |

> 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.

### Ground Resilient Integration & Framework for Operational NC3 (GRIFFON) — NEW START

The GRIFFON program will continue efforts in the Execution Phase of the Software Acquisition Pathway for integration and testing across the entire ESS architecture, to include the Ground software applications, framework, terminals, and test sites. Continue maturation of the ESS ground framework and integration prototype. Complete Systems…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206855SF/650015/a0

### End-Cryptographic Unit (ECU) — NEW START

Continue National Security Agency (NSA) cybersecurity certification process and procedures for AVE and GOE ECUs for the ESS Space Segment and ST2. Maintain all required and appropriate Interim Authority to Test (IATT) approval letter(s) from NSA. Deliver AVE and GOE PRAs to Space Segment and MIT- LL to support ST2 development. Begin…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206855SF/650015/a1

## 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/1206855SF.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 1206855SF project 650015 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="1206855SF")`.

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