Printed from https://fiscalreceipts.com/program/1105219BB/ — built September 26, 2026. Every figure is citation-backed; see the page online for per-number provenance.
MQ-9 UAV
Budget figures
No FY2026 R-1/P-1 request line for this program element. The FY2026 President's Budget request workbook carries no FY2026 line for it; its last workbook figure is FY2025. An absent line is not by itself an ending — PB2026 renumbered program elements at scale across the services and defense agencies, so this work may continue under a different number. No successor is linked for this line: this site's program-lineage layer holds no keyed edge pointing forward from here. That is an absence in this site's lineage layer, not a finding about the program: if the J-book narrative on this page describes a realignment, it is quoted below in the document's own words, and this note does not restate it.
FY2026 award data is a partial year — USAspending reports awards on a rolling basis, and this corpus runs through 2026-09-04. why partial FY2026 data? →
Budget trajectory
| Fiscal year | Amount |
|---|---|
| FY24 | $90.8M |
| FY25 | $34.9M |
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
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.
| Series | FY15 | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actuals | $14.4M | $21.4M | $17.2M | $33.1M | $17.7M | $20.0M | $20.5M | $60.8M | $43.3M | $90.8M | |
| Enacted | $22.2M | $17.8M | $37.9M | $18.4M | $20.7M | $21.3M | $63.1M | $27.3M | $37.2M | $34.9M | |
| Request | $17.8M | $37.9M | $18.4M | $20.7M | $21.3M | $19.1M | $14.0M | $37.2M | $34.9M |
blank = series not published for this year; – = absent from that edition.
Asked vs spent: the PB2024 book requested $37.2M for FY2024; the PB2026 book reported $90.8M as actual total obligation authority — $53.6M above the request. 90.8 − 37.2 = 53.6 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 — MQ-9 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
This Program Element (PE) identifies, develops, rapidly prototypes, integrates, and tests Special Operations (SO)-peculiar mission kits, mission payloads, weapons, and modifications on MQ-9 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Ground Control Stations (GCSs), and training systems as a component of the Medium Altitude Long Endurance Tactical (MALET) program. The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) is designated as the DoD lead for planning, synchronizing, and as directed, executing global operations against terrorist networks. The USSOCOM requires the capability to find, fix, finish, exploit, and analyze time-sensitive high-value targets. These targets can often only be identified with patient collection of information and require rapid, decisive action during the short periods in which they present themselves. This program element addresses the primary areas of Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Target Acquisition and Strike. This PE received Congressional Add funding in FY 2024 for Adaptive Airborne Enterprise ($55.000 million). Beginning in FY 2026, all MQ-9 RDT&E funding has transitioned to PE 1160403BB, Aviation Systems, Project SF100: Aviation Systems Advanced Development, to support the acceleration of the A2E concept. The total cost of the MQ-9 Middle Tier of Acquisition effort is $240.605 million, including RDT&E and procurement of prototype units. The MQ-9 is fully funded through completion in FY 2025.
Mission — MQ-9 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
As the supported Combatant Command in global operations, the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) requires the capability to find, fix, finish, exploit, and analyze time-sensitive high-value targets. These targets can often only be identified with patient collection of information and require rapid, decisive action during the short periods in which they present themselves. This project addresses the primary areas of Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Target Acquisition and Strike. The majority of the developmental funds provides for the Operational Flight Program (OFP) Software for the aircraft, Ground Control Station (GCS), and turret. Special Operations-peculiar (SO-p) modifications to the OFP allow for a rapid integration of emerging capabilities in order to maintain relevance and dominance of the MQ-9.
Justification
Accomplishments & Planned Programs (1)
MQ-9 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Program Number 839
Identifies, develops, integrates, and tests SO-p mission kits, mission payloads, weapons, and modifications on MQ-9 UAS, GCSs, and training systems.
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 | SOCOM | FY24 Actuals | $90.8M |
| Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide | SOCOM | FY25 Enacted | $34.9M |
| Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide | SOCOM | FY25 Total | $34.9M |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Program Element | $275.6M | $90.8M | $34.9M |
| S851: MQ-9 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) | $275.6M | $90.8M | $34.9M |
Follow the dollar
No follow-the-dollar view — this program's awards haven't been crosswalked at high confidence (flows cover 312 of 1,938 programs). why coverage is partial? →
Awards
No awards are linked to this program element at high or medium 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.
Oversight
Department-level designation (not specific to this program)
GAO lists 5 high-risk areas for DOD as a whole. That designation covers the department, not MQ-9 UAV. No program-specific GAO finding for this line is in the ingested data. See the DOD oversight record.
Program dossier
No research dossier for this program — dossiers cover 50 of 1,938 programs, the largest fully J-book-detailed lines by FY2026 requested dollars. why no dossier here? →
Primary sources
Open any budget figure for its exact receipt. Verified line items lead with the highlighted government PDF; original spreadsheets download with their budget edition and exhibit in the filename.
Budget totals · TOA sources
FY2026 Department of Defense Budget: RDT&E Programs (R-1) · comptroller.war.gov
Exhibit R-1 · J1110
Complete workbook · unchanged saved copy. Saves as PB2026_DoD_R-1_Research-Development-Test-Evaluation.xlsx.
FY2017 Department of Defense Budget: RDT&E Programs (R-1) · comptroller.war.gov
Exhibit R-1 · J897
Complete workbook · unchanged saved copy. Saves as PB2017_DoD_R-1_Research-Development-Test-Evaluation.xlsx.
FY2018 Department of Defense Budget: RDT&E Programs (R-1) · comptroller.war.gov
Exhibit R-1 · J1010
Complete workbook · unchanged saved copy. Saves as PB2018_DoD_R-1_Research-Development-Test-Evaluation.xlsx.
FY2019 Department of Defense Budget: RDT&E Programs (R-1) · comptroller.war.gov
Exhibit R-1 · J1037
Complete workbook · unchanged saved copy. Saves as PB2019_DoD_R-1_Research-Development-Test-Evaluation.xlsx.
FY2020 Department of Defense Budget: RDT&E Programs (R-1) · comptroller.war.gov
Exhibit R-1 · J1036
Complete workbook · unchanged saved copy. Saves as PB2020_DoD_R-1_Research-Development-Test-Evaluation.xlsx.
FY2021 Department of Defense Budget: RDT&E Programs (R-1) · comptroller.war.gov
Exhibit R-1 · J1101
Complete workbook · unchanged saved copy. Saves as PB2021_DoD_R-1_Research-Development-Test-Evaluation.xlsx.
FY2022 Department of Defense Budget: RDT&E Programs (R-1) · comptroller.war.gov
Exhibit R-1 · J1076
Complete workbook · unchanged saved copy. Saves as PB2022_DoD_R-1_Research-Development-Test-Evaluation.xlsx.
FY2023 Department of Defense Budget: RDT&E Programs (R-1) · comptroller.war.gov
Exhibit R-1 · J1054
Complete workbook · unchanged saved copy. Saves as PB2023_DoD_R-1_Research-Development-Test-Evaluation.xlsx.
FY2024 Department of Defense Budget: RDT&E Programs (R-1) · comptroller.war.gov
Exhibit R-1 · J1048
Complete workbook · unchanged saved copy. Saves as PB2024_DoD_R-1_Research-Development-Test-Evaluation.xlsx.
FY2025 Department of Defense Budget: RDT&E Programs (R-1) · comptroller.war.gov
Exhibit R-1 · J1084
Complete workbook · unchanged saved copy. Saves as PB2025_DoD_R-1_Research-Development-Test-Evaluation.xlsx.
Detailed budget justification
The related TOA spreadsheets above use a different accounting basis from R-2/P-40 detail. Their amounts are not assumed to match these detailed sources.