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Fiscal Receipts

University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) - Tactical Autonomy

FRDT&EPartial Reconciliation0602022F
What it is
University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) - Tactical Autonomy — a research & development program run by Air Force.
What changed
-$1.93M FY25→26
Who gets it
No award linkage at high confidence.

Budget Figures

FY24 Actuals
$6.18M
FY25 Total
$8.22M
FY26 Request
$6.29M
FY25→26 Change
-$1.93M

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? →

Budget Trajectory
FY24: $6.18MFY25: $8.22MFY26: $6.29MFY24FY25FY26
FY24
$6.18M
FY25
$8.22M
FY26
$6.29M
Decade view — each figure cites its own President's Budget edition
FY2022 actuals — PB2024 editionFY2024 actuals — PB2026 editionFY2023 enacted — PB2024 editionFY2024 enacted — PB2025 editionFY2025 enacted — PB2026 editionFY2024 request — PB2024 editionFY2025 request — PB2025 editionFY2026 request — PB2026 editionFY22FY26

● actuals (line)  ·  ○ enacted  ·  ◇ request — gaps are editions the program is absent from, never interpolated.

SeriesFY22FY23FY24FY25FY26
Actuals$0$6.18M
Enacted$0$8.02M$8.22M
Request$8.02M$8.22M$6.29M

blank = series not published for this year; – = absent from that edition.

Asked vs spent: the PB2024 book requested $8.02M for FY2024; the PB2026 book reports $6.18M actually spent — $1.84M 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 HBCU University Affiliated Research Center (UARC)

The Tactical Autonomy University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) supports a consortium performing innovative research to advance the state of the art as well as cultivate awareness of and expertise in the field of tactical autonomy. Research topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: Trust in Mission Autonomy, Collaboration between Platforms, and Human Machine Teaming. Funds in this program element are planned to investigate, design, develop, digitize, and/or analyze specified technology advancements in air, space, ground, sea, and/or cyber domains. This research will address factors that have complicated the deployment and adoption of autonomous technologies such as trust in mission autonomy, collaboration between platforms, and human-machine teaming. Research will also seek to integrate autonomous technologies with advanced battle management systems. This research initiative will support the Department of Defense Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Strategic Plan and the Air and Space STEM Outreach Strategic Plan by establishing long-term core research expertise in tactical autonomy that will leverage scientific and engineering capabilities among the consortium of contributing universities. Tactical autonomy will be a critical technology in prolonged great power conflict because the development of autonomous systems is a realistic approach to counter an adversary approaching parity in conventional strength in theatre, and tactical autonomy will enable warfighting capability in an environment where command and control may be disrupted by cyber or electronic warfare effects. Research will produce creative solutions to optimize the capabilities of reliable data-driven autonomous platforms capable of operating in environments well suited to uncrewed systems, such as persistent defensive or force protection-related missions, or in high-risk environments such as heavy anti-access or Nuclear, Chemical, Biological (NBC) affected settings. One of the foremost advantages of the United States in technological competition is its advanced university-based scientific research institutions. This research initiative will strengthen the universities' scientific and engineering capabilities, advance the early career development of STEM students, leverage the research contributions of university faculty, and expand the pipeline of STEM graduates with national security experience for the government and the private-sector defense industrial base. This program is in Budget Activity 2, Applied Research because this budget activity includes studies, investigations, and non-system specific technology efforts directed toward general military needs with a view toward developing and evaluating the feasibility and practicality of proposed solutions and determining their parameters.

Justification

Accomplishments & Planned Programs (1)

University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) For Tactical Autonomy

Development of technologies and tools to enable autonomous systems to act with delegated and bounded authority of humans in support of tactical, short-term actions, associated with longer-term strategic visions. Examples of capability objectives are: Enhancing multi-domain situational awareness, faster data processing and analysis, enhancing force protection, supporting cyber defense, augmenting logistics operations, and automating maneuverability and mobility functions.

Budget Line Items(workbook-cited)

Exhibit R-1

AccountOrgTypeAmount
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air ForceFFY24 Actuals$6.18M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air ForceFFY25 Enacted$8.22M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air ForceFFY25 Total$8.22M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air ForceFFY26 Disc. Request$6.29M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air ForceFFY26 Total$6.29M

Budget Details(R-2/P-40 facts)

ProjectAll Prior YearsFY24 ActualsFY25 TotalFY26 BaseFY26 Request
Program Element$0$6.18M$8.22M$6.29M$6.29M
622408: HBCU University Affiliated Research Center (UARC)$0$6.18M$8.22M$6.29M$6.29M

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? →