Ballistic Missile Defense Sensor Test

MDARDT&EPartial Reconciliation0604879C

What it is

Ballistic Missile Defense Sensor Test (0604879C) is a MDA research & development line funded in the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide account. Its J-book detail breaks the line into 2 projects.

What changed

-$28.2M FY25→26 R-1 TOA · PB2026

Who gets it

No award linkage at high confidence.

Budget Figures

FY24 Actuals

$102.1MR-1 TOA · PB2026

FY25 Total

$96.9MR-1 TOA · PB2026

FY26 Request

$68.7MR-1 TOA · PB2026

FY25→26 Change

-$28.2MR-1 TOA · PB2026

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

The program's 3 summary figures for FY24 to FY26, plotted in fiscal-year order so the direction of travel is readable at a glance: this line ends lower than it starts. The points are the summary cards above, not a separate derivation; the table beside the chart carries each figure with its own citation.

Budget trajectory: one row per fiscal year, carrying the summary figure the sparkline plots. Every figure opens its own citation.
Fiscal year	Amount
FY24	$102.1M
FY25	$96.9M
FY26	$68.7M

All series figures: R-1 TOA · PB2026

Decade view — P-1/R-1 workbook TOA basis, shown compact in $B/$M (the workbook records USD thousands); each figure cites its own President's Budget edition

12 fiscal years of this program as published (FY2015–FY2026): a line through the actuals (filled dots), with the enacted (hollow circles) and request (diamonds) markers each edition reported. Read it for direction, not for precision — this program's actuals line rises across the span. The grid below is the same data as text, one cited figure per cell.

The vertical scale does not start at zero: the baseline sits just below this program’s smallest year, so a low point on this line is not a small amount. Read the shape for direction and the grid below for the figures.

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

Decade series values by fiscal year and President's Budget edition: one row per series (actuals, enacted, request), one column per fiscal year. Every figure opens its own citation.
Series	FY15	FY16	FY17	FY18	FY19	FY20	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26
Actuals	$60.0M	$83.6M	$81.4M	$88.8M	$71.9M	$96.1M	$64.2M	$77.4M	$88.3M	$102.1M
Enacted		$83.6M	$83.3M	$101.8M	$77.4M	$105.5M	$64.2M	$77.4M	$88.3M	$111.0M	$96.9M
Request			$83.3M	$84.2M	$81.0M	$105.5M	$76.5M	$77.4M	$88.3M	$111.0M	$96.9M	$68.7M

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

Asked vs spent: the PB2021 book requested $76.5M for FY2021; the PB2023 book reported $64.2M as actual total obligation authority — $12.2M below the request. 64.25 − 76.46 = -12.21 USD millions — the compact figures above are rounded for reading.

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 — Ballistic Missile Defense Sensor Test

The Missile Defense Agency executes a robust test program, including flight and ground tests supporting both strategic and regional Missile Defense System capabilities against medium- and long-range threats. The Sensor elements of the Missile Defense System IMTP are intended to demonstrate the integrated missile defense capabilities under development to ensure the capabilities delivered to the Warfighter are operationally effective, suitable, and survivable. The Sensor Test Program Element specifically includes the planning, execution, and analysis of flight and ground tests, as well as the associated infrastructure to provide data required for Missile Defense technical Capability Declarations. The Sensor Test program supports the integration of radar improvements into the Missile Defense System, mid- and far-term Discrimination Improvements, and Operational Test and Evaluation of the theater/regional and strategic Missile Defense System architecture.

Mission — Program Wide Support

PWS contains non-headquarters management costs in support of Missile Defense Agency (MDA) functions and activities across the entire Missile Defense System. These functions include Government Civilians and Contract Support Services. This effort provides integrity and oversight of the Missile Defense System as well as supports MDA in the development and evaluation of technologies that will respond to the changing threat. Additionally, PWS includes personnel to support global deployments performing deployment site preparation and activation, and provides facility capabilities for MDA Executing Agent locations worldwide. Other MDA wide costs include: physical and technical security; civilian drug testing; audit readiness; the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) program; legal services and settlements; travel and agency training; office, equipment, vehicle, and warehouse leases; utilities and base operations across multiple geographic locations; commercial and ancillary facility services; management of all facility aspects regardless of lifecycle stage; supplies and maintenance; compliance with statutory environmental requirements; data and unified communications support; materiel and readiness and central property management of equipment; Facilities Sustainment, Restoration and Modernization (FSRM) program (formerly Real Property Maintenance) to keep the Department's inventory of facilities in good working order; and similar operating expenses. PWS is allocated on a pro-rata basis across most Agency PEs; therefore, fluctuates per PE by FY based on the total Agency budget in that FY.

Mission — BMDS Radars Test

This project provides activities for planning, analysis, and execution of Missile Defense System flight test events, including pre-and post-test ground testing (e.g. Digital and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWIL) System Pre-Mission Tests and System Federation Validation Events). Sensor Test provides planning, analysis, and execution in accordance with the Ground Test Concept of Operations (CONOPS) supporting the Ground Test level of effort concept for Missile Defense System system-level ground tests identified in the IMTP. Test infrastructure funding provides for HWIL labs, Mission Operation Center/Mission Support Center (MOC/MSC), and program management required to operate and maintain a flight and ground test capability.

Justification

Accomplishments & Planned Programs (3)

Program Wide Support

PWS contains non-headquarters management costs in support of MDA functions and activities across the entire Missile Defense System. These functions include Government Civilians and Contract Support Services. This effort provides integrity and oversight of the Missile Defense System as well as supports MDA in the development and evaluation of technologies that will respond to the changing threat. Additionally, PWS includes personnel to support global deployments performing deployment site preparation and activation, and provides facility capabilities for MDA Executing Agent locations worldwide. Other MDA wide costs include: physical and technical security; civilian drug testing; audit readiness; the STEM program; legal services and settlements; travel and agency training; office, equipment, vehicle, and warehouse leases; utilities and base operations across multiple geographic locations; commercial and ancillary facility services; management of all facility aspects regardless of lifecycle stage; supplies and maintenance; compliance with statutory environmental requirements; data and unified communications support; materiel and readiness and central property management of equipment; the FSRM program to keep the Department's inventory of facilities in good working order; and similar operating expenses. PWS is allocated on a pro-rata basis across most Agency PEs; therefore, fluctuates per PE by FY based on the total Agency budget in that FY. Specific and/or unique accomplishments to each FY are as follows:

Test Resources

Test Resources efforts include configuration and maintenance of Sensor HWILs for use in ground test execution (Missile Defense System testing and element interoperability developmental testing) and in Missile Defense System flight test execution pre-mission testing, and technical oversight to all Missile Defense System system-level activities with Sensor participation. It also includes conducting the detailed test event planning and design, integration, and execution for all Missile Defense System ground test campaigns. Test Resources supports evolving Objective Simulation Framework (software upgrades) integration into the Missile Defense System HWIL ground test execution and flight test execution. It also provides a Level of Effort support to Missile Defense System Ground Tests in accordance with the Missile Defense System IMTP and the Ground Test CONOPS. Specific and/or unique accomplishments to each FY are as follows:

Flight Test Execution

Flight Test Execution includes test planning, pre-flight analysis, transportation of radars and MOC/MSC, test execution, and post-flight analysis for Sensor's participation in Missile Defense System flight tests in accordance with the Missile Defense System IMTP. Specific and/or unique accomplishments to each FY are as follows:

Budget Line Items(workbook-cited)

P-1/R-1 workbook Total Obligation Authority basis (USD thousands) · PB2026.

Exhibit R-1

Account	Org	Type	Amount
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide	MDA	FY24 Actuals	$102.1M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide	MDA	FY25 Enacted	$96.9M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide	MDA	FY25 Total	$96.9M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide	MDA	FY26 Disc. Request	$68.7M
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide	MDA	FY26 Total	$68.7M

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

J-book detail basis (R-2/P-40, USD millions) · PB2026 — a different accounting basis from the P-1/R-1 workbook TOA above; where the two disagree, the reconciliation strip under Budget Figures shows both.

Wider than this screen — swipe the table sideways for the remaining fiscal-year columns.

Project	All Prior Years	FY24 Actuals	FY25 Total	FY26 Base	FY26 Request
Program Element	$696.7M	$102.1M	$96.9M	$68.7M	$68.7M
MD40: Program Wide Support	$27.5M	$5.11M	$3.73M	$2.38M	$2.38M
MT11: BMDS Radars Test	$669.2M	$97.0M	$93.1M	$66.3M	$66.3M

No follow-the-dollar view — this program's awards haven't been crosswalked at high confidence (flows cover 17 of 1,741 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

16 mentions from the Senate LDA disclosure database.

BAE SYSTEMS INCBallistic|Missile2026matched 2+ title words

National Defense Authorization Act, 2027 (HR XXXX/S XXXX); provisions regarding R&D - Navy, US Marine Corps, Air…