Printed from https://fiscalreceipts.com/program/0305204N/ — data as of July 28, 2026. Every figure is citation-backed; see the page online for per-number provenance.
Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Budget Figures
FY2026 award data is a partial year — USASpending awards are reported on a rolling basis and the fiscal year does not close until September 30. why partial FY2026 data? →
Insufficient trajectory data for sparkline (only FY24 available).
● actuals (line) · ○ enacted · ◇ request — gaps are editions the program is absent from, never interpolated.
| Series | FY15 | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actuals | $8.51M | $8.55M | $8.44M | $7.77M | $8.53M | $9.45M | $7.11M | $9.84M | $10.6M | $7.52M |
| Enacted | $8.55M | $8.44M | $7.77M | $8.53M | $9.45M | $7.11M | $9.84M | $10.6M | $11.2M | |
| Request | $8.44M | $7.77M | $8.53M | $9.45M | $7.11M | $9.84M | $10.6M | $11.2M |
blank = series not published for this year; – = absent from that edition.
Asked vs spent: the PB2024 book requested $11.2M for FY2024; the PB2026 book reports $7.52M actually spent — $3.72M below the request.
Program Lineage
No predecessor/successor lineage was recorded for this program element — no FY-to-FY transfer into or out of this line was stated in the ingested J-books, and none was inferred from the program structure.
Description
Mission — Tactical Unmanned Aer Vehicles
The MQ-8 Unmanned Air System is a Joint Military Intelligence Program. The Tactical Control System FY 2026 budget is dependent on the MQ-8 Fire Scout Program Element 0305231N. There is no funding requested in FY 2026 based on a Navy decision to divest current inventory of MQ-8C Air Vehicles (AVs) and associated equipment. The Navy will divest the MQ-8C Fire Scout Uncrewed Aircraft System at the conclusion of FY 2024. Through coordination with Commander Naval Air Forces, Commander Naval Surface Forces, Naval Air Systems Command and Naval Sea Systems Command, operational employment of the MQ-8C will end in Q4 FY2024 and sundown will be completed by Q4 FY2026. This program element provides funding for the software development capabilities associated with Mission modules of the Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. The Tactical Control System (TCS), a component of the MQ-8 System, provides software for the joint tactical MQ-8 Fire Scout System. TCS integrated into the MQ-8 Mission Control System (MCS) provides the warfighters with the capability for day/night aerial Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), target acquisition, voice, data and command and control communications/relay, and mine detection and localization. Additionally, TCS provides a multi-level, scalable, and flexible operator control of the air vehicles and payloads as well as direct receipt and dissemination of unmanned aerial vehicle sensor data.
Mission — Tactical Control System
The Tactical Control System (TCS) program supports the MQ-8 Fire Scout System and is a standards-based system, which provides interoperability and commonality for Command and Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) interfaces of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). TCS software, operating on Mission Control System (MCS) (also referred to as a Ground Control Station) hardware, utilizes North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Standardization Agreements (STANAG)-4586 architecture to communicate across a Tactical Common Data Link. TCS provides a full range of scalable UAS capabilities from passive receipt of air vehicle and payload data to full air vehicle and payload command and control. TCS offers the warfighter a common core operating environment to simultaneously receive, process, and disseminate data from different UAS types for intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, and combat assessment. This program supports enhancements and updates to TCS in order to continue to meet supported air vehicle enhancements, incorporation of new technologies that will be used to enhance overall system performance, includes software updates to support Mission System Trainers (MST), incorporate new payloads and payload capabilities, incorporate multi-vehicle control, incorporate NATO STANAG-4586 and Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence enhancements, and alignment with OSD direction for UAS control segments. TCS software is incorporated into the MQ-8 Fire Scout System and fields in conjunction with MQ-8. TCS software addresses MQ-8 requirements validated by the Joint Requirements Oversight Council in the MQ-8 Capability Production Document (Nov 2016) and multiple Joint Emergent Operational Need/Urgent Operational Needs statements. TCS is supported by an Operational Requirements Document (Feb 2000). TCS maximizes the use of contractor and government off-the-shelf hardware and software whenever possible and incorporates software/hardware enhancements where appropriate to maintain growth potential and minimize hardware and operating system dependence. TCS software is interoperable and is compliant with the OSD Command and Control, Communications, Intelligence Joint Technical Architecture, Distributed Common Ground System standards, Global Command and Control System, and NATO standards. TCS hardware and software upgrades support the Navy's Common Control System (CCS) migration and as such can be used to support future UAS MCS requirements.
Justification
No accomplishments or planned-program narratives in this line's J-book detail — some exhibits carry figures without per-project prose.
Budget Line Items(workbook-cited)
Exhibit R-1
| Account | Org | Type | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Navy | N | FY24 Actuals | $7.52M |
Budget Details(R-2/P-40 facts)
| Project | All Prior Years | FY24 Actuals | FY25 Total | FY26 Base | FY26 Request |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Program Element | $315.1M | $7.52M | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| 2478: Tactical Control System | $315.1M | $7.52M | $0 | $0 | $0 |
No follow-the-dollar view — this program's awards haven't been crosswalked at high confidence (flows cover 17 of 1741 programs). why coverage is partial? →
Awards
No awards are linked to this program element at high confidence — the budget→award crosswalk only asserts links it can defend, and this line has none yet.
Lobbying Mentions
No Senate LDA lobbying filing in the tracked data mentions this program element by code or alias.
No research dossier for this program — dossiers cover 50 of 1741 programs, the largest fully J-book-detailed lines by FY2026 requested dollars. why no dossier here? →