Department of Defense (DoD) Unmanned System Common Development

OSDRDT&EPartial Reconciliation0604400D8Z

What it is

Department of Defense (DoD) Unmanned System Common Development — a research & development program run by OSD.

What changed

-$7.38M FY25→26

Who gets it

No award linkage at high confidence.

GAO oversight: DOD — 5 high-risk areas

Budget Figures

FY24 Actuals

$41.3M

FY25 Total

$9.53M

FY26 Request

$2.14M

FY25→26 Change

-$7.38M

Budget Trajectory

FY24: $41.3M
FY25: $9.53M
FY26: $2.14M

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? →

No research dossier for this program — dossiers cover 50 of 462 programs, the largest fully J-book-detailed lines by FY2026 requested dollars. why no dossier here? →

Budget Line Items(workbook-cited)

Exhibit R-1

Account	Org	Type	Amount
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide	OSD	FY24 Actuals	$41.3M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide	OSD	FY25 Enacted	$9.53M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide	OSD	FY25 Total	$9.53M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide	OSD	FY26 Disc. Request	$2.14M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide	OSD	FY26 Total	$2.14M

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

Project	All Prior Years	FY24 Actuals	FY25 Total	FY26 Base	FY26 Request
443: Unmanned Systems Integration Support	$4.68M	$1.18M	$1.23M	$617.0K	$617.0K
442: Unmanned Systems Integration	$43.4M	$6.25M	$7.08M	$726.0K	$726.0K
440: Unmanned Systems Development	$61.5M	$33.9M	$1.21M	$799.0K	$799.0K
Program Element	$109.6M	$41.3M	$9.53M	$2.14M	$2.14M

Program Narratives

Mission— Department of Defense (DoD) Unmanned Systems Common Development

The Department of Defense (DoD) Unmanned System Common Development Program allows the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (OUSD(A&S)) to support both the near-term and long-term advancement of DoD unmanned systems capabilities. This includes the development of common technologies, standards, concepts, and guidance that can be applied across all Military Services. Currently, this effort is primarily focused on the development of technologies and concepts that support the operation of DoD Small Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) both in the U.S. National Airspace and in an expeditionary environment. While the initial focus is on Small UAS, supporting unmanned systems of all sizes and modalities is the long-term goal. Key aspects of the initial Small UAS effort include (1) making available unmanned systems and components for DoD procurement and operation that are safe, secure, interoperable, and effective on the modern battle field, (2) facilitating access and integration of unmanned systems into military and civilian environments in a safe and effective manner, and (3) establishing and overseeing coordination, agreements, guidance, and standards that enable the DoD’s operation of unmanned systems in military and civilian environments.

Mission— Unmanned Systems Development

The FY 2026 request for Unmanned Systems Development includes $0.799 thousand of discretionary funds which supports the Department’s unmanned system development goals of making available commercial unmanned systems and components for DoD procurement and operations that are safe, secure, interoperable, and effective on the modern battlefield. This effort includes: (1) identifying and mitigating unmanned system related cyber and operations security threats, (2) developing standards, concepts, and guidance that support the Department’s procurement and operation of unmanned systems, and (3) facilitating the acquisition of modern commercially developed unmanned systems for DoD use that are sourced from trusted supply chains and are cyber-secure.

Mission— Unmanned Systems Integration

The FY 2026 request for Unmanned Systems Integration includes $0.726 thousand of discretionary funds which supports the Department’s unmanned system integration goals of facilitating access and integration of unmanned systems into military and civilian environments in a safe and effective manner. This effort includes: (1) the safe and effective integration of UAS within civil and military airspace and (2) the development of standards, concepts, and guidance to support this integration. In the near-term, this project is focused on the development of concepts and prototype systems that support the DoD UAS integration mission and includes the execution of various evaluation events that integrate military UAS with ATC operations and other airspace related activities. This effort also includes the development and integration of the following current airspace access and integration system initiatives: (1) UAS Drone Zone, (2) Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC), and (3) UAS Traffic Management (UTM). The long-term goal of this project is to establish the ability for DoD UAS to operate beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) safely, effectively, and routinely in U.S. national, foreign national, international, training, and combat airspace. The results from this effort will be shared with federal partners, to include the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in order to help shape the development of UAS airspace access and integration related concepts, technology, and rulemaking.

Mission— Unmanned Systems Integration Support

The FY 2026 request for Unmanned Systems Integration Support includes $0.617 thousand of discretionary funds which supports the Department’s unmanned system integration goals of establishing and overseeing coordination, agreements, guidance, and standards that enable the DoD’s operation of unmanned systems in military and civilian environments. This effort includes leading multiple Joint and Interagency forums focused on identifying, prioritizing, and executing tasks aimed at overcoming challenges associated with the successful development, fielding, and operation of DoD unmanned systems.

Accomplishments & Planned Programs (3)

Unmanned Systems Integration Support

FY 2024 Accomplishments: Under this program the DOD continued to support the establishment and oversight of coordination, agreements, guidance, and standards that enable the operation of unmanned systems in military and civilian environments. Specific accomplishments included (1) continued support of the UAS EXCOM, the UAS Science and Research Panel (SARP), and other interagency organizations that are focused on synchronizing the federal government towards achieving the goal of enabling routine, efficient, safe, and secure airspace access and integration for member UAS operations within U.S. National Airspace and (2) the development of the Department’s UAS airspace operations concept document which is necessary to align all DoD UAS airspace integration Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) efforts towards a single objective.

Unmanned Systems Development

FY 2024 Accomplishments: Under this program the DOD continued to support its goal of making available unmanned systems and components for DoD procurement and operations that are safe, secure, resilient, and interoperable. Specific accomplishments included overseeing the procurement and operation of all UAS to ensure the compliance with applicable policies and regulations and the mitigation of potential cyber and operations security vulnerabilities. Accomplishments also included supporting the effort to make safe, secure, resilient, and interoperable unmanned systems and components available for the Department’s use by (1) adding several unique platforms to the Blue UAS Cleared List, (2) adding numerous vetted components to the Blue UAS Component List, (3) supporting the sustainment of existing and new Blue UAS systems to ensure the integrity of these platforms are maintained over time, and (4) updating the Department’s policy to streamline the review and approval process for the use of commercially developed UAS.

Unmanned Systems Integration

FY 2024 Accomplishments: Under this program the DoD conducted various testing efforts that focused on the continued development and testing of technologies and concepts that will support the DoD’s long-term goal of enabling routine, efficient, safe, and secure airspace access and integration for DoD UAS operations. Specific accomplishments included (1) the successful evaluation of the FAA Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability for DoD use, setting the stage for integrating systems at DoD Air Traffic Control facilities across the Department, (2) transitioning the Department’s airspace access program from the Certificate of Authorization (COA) Approval Processing System (CAPS) to the Drone Zone system, (3) the development and evaluation of DoD UTM related prototype systems that will enable future UAS beyond visual line-of-sight operations for the Department within both civil and military airspace, and (4) demonstrating the ability to successfully pass telemetry data from multiple platforms on the Blue UAS Cleared list to the DoD prototype UTM system.

No follow-the-dollar view — this program's awards haven't been crosswalked at high confidence (flows cover 17 of 462 programs). why coverage is partial? →

Lobbying Mentions

Showing 25 of 165 from the Senate LDA disclosure database.

BOEING COMPANYUnmanned2024

FY25 Appropriations Homeland security and border security. Bioterrorism. Immigration. Aviation security. Unmanned aerial