Printed from https://fiscalreceipts.com/program/4787/ — built September 26, 2026. Every figure is citation-backed; see the page online for per-number provenance.
UAS Payloads
Budget figures
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 | $19.1M |
| FY25 | $12.2M |
| FY26 | $12.2M |
All series figures: P-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 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actuals | $3.07M | $8.62M | $19.1M | ||
| Enacted | – | $8.62M | $19.1M | $12.2M | |
| Request | – | – | $19.1M | $17.2M | $12.2M |
blank = series not published for this year; – = absent from that edition.
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
Description — UAS Payloads
The Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Sensor Payload program provides the capability to develop, integrate, field, and sustain Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) and non-ISR payloads and enabling technologies for the USMC Family of Small UAS. These payloads will alleviate Marine Corps ISR capability gaps caused by changes in mission, threats, and technologies and will increase the versatility of UAS in support of Marine Corps Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) mission accomplishment. In support of Force Modernization requirements, UAS sensor payloads provide modular, low-cost aerial sensing technologies to achieve the Maritime Domain Awareness required by Marine Littoral Regiments (MLRs) and Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs) in support of the Joint Forces Maritime Component Command (JFMCC). Within the context of Maritime Domain Operations, Marine forces executing Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) require the organic capability to establish and maintain awareness of potential adversary activities in communications degraded or denied environments. UAS Payloads enable the sensing of threat indicators across the electromagnetic spectrum and within the visual and radar spectrum and physical domain, with reduced signature, and minimized risk to personnel. The incorporation of advanced technology enablers such as artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) and precision geolocation provides automated recognition, identification, tracking, and cross-cueing in support of accelerated battlespace awareness and targeting. As an essential element of the kill web, UAS payloads are critical to the JFMCC targeting process to find, fix, track, target, engage, and assess the effects of lethal and non-lethal fires. Employment of UAS payloads on platforms distributed across the MLRs and MEUs during EABO allows for greater distribution of forces while maintaining persistent awareness, enhances the security of tactical units and personnel moving across the battlespace, and enables the rapid transition between positions necessary for force survivability. The program integrated the following ISR payload capabilities: Electronic Support (ES) - Payloads to locate Signals of Interest (SOI) aligned to adversary forces, criminal elements, and local threats for force protection. Wide Area Surveillance (WAS)/Wide Area Motion Imagery (WAMI) - Imaging over wide areas (multiple square kilometers, city size area) at varying spatial and temporal resolution at substantial stand-off distances using various sensor modalities, with full motion video (FMV) access, picture in picture user defined watch boxes, and ability to cue other ISR sensors to specific target geolocations. Ability to monitor and disseminate processed imagery data and static full field of view or user defined watch box imagery and disseminate to ground-based disadvantaged users. Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) - This effort will place advanced target recognition and tracking processors on tactical UAS to perform object detection, classification, and identification of targets of interest in the data stream in real time at the tactical edge. Communication Relay Payloads (CRP)/Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANET) - Provides extended communications and data relay, utilizing radios such as the AN/PRC-117G or PRC-163, and the ANW2 or TSM waveforms. MANET provides Marine Corps ground units with an organic airborne communication relay which allows the transmission of mission critical intelligence between widely distributed units. Additional Sensors - Provide additional sensors such as laser, magnetic, gravity, acoustic, Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI), Multi-spectral Imaging (MSI), Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), and other sensor modalities as the warfighter requires. Modular Payload Interface - Provides aircraft interface for payloads designed to the platform-agnostic Mod payload standard. Cross Domain Solution (CDS) - Provides ability to transfer unidirectional and bidirectional platform and payload data between unclassified and classified tactical networks. Common Sensor Workstation (CSW) - Provides the ability to consolidate the mission management and data exploitation application for multiple payloads into a single workstation.
Justification
Justification — UAS Payloads
FY 2026 Base Appropriation Request: $12.232M FY 2026 will fund continued modifications and procurements of: ISR payloads (ES; CRP/MANET; WAMI; AI/ML; Mod Payload Interface); CDS; CSW; Nonrecurring Engineering for AI/ML, CDS, CSW, and SAR; and government/contractor program management, engineering and logistics support for the ES, CRP/MANET, WAMI, AI/ML, and Mod Payload Interface assets procured in FY 2026. UAS Payloads investments in FY 2026 continue to enable alignment with Force Modernization investment in Long Range/Long Endurance (LR/LE) Tactical UAS platforms. These investments directly support the Maritime Force's conduct of Distributed Maritime Operations and meet Force Modernization and CMC planning guidance. FY 2026 funding is required to fulfill LR/LE Payloads capabilities requirements as set forth by the Marine Corps per the approved Top Level Requirement Letter (TLR), the CMC's planning guidance, and in support of Force Modernization. A full Payload suite consists of three (3) ES, three (3) AI/ML, three (3) Modular Payload Interfaces, three (3) Communication Relays, two (2) CSW, two (2) CDS, and one (1) Wide Area Motion Imagery payload.
Budget line items(workbook-cited)
P-1/R-1 workbook Total Obligation Authority basis (USD thousands) · PB2026.
Exhibit P-1
| Account | Org | Type | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Procurement, Marine Corps | N | FY24 Actuals | $19.1M |
| Procurement, Marine Corps | N | FY25 Enacted | $12.2M |
| Procurement, Marine Corps | N | FY26 Disc. Request | $12.2M |
| Procurement, Marine Corps | N | FY26 Total | $12.2M |
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 | $53.7M | $19.1M | $12.2M | $12.2M | $12.2M |
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 UAS Payloads. 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: Procurement Programs (P-1) · comptroller.war.gov
Exhibit P-1 · O807
Complete workbook · unchanged saved copy. Saves as PB2026_DoD_P-1_Procurement.xlsx.
FY2024 Department of Defense Budget: Procurement Programs (P-1) · comptroller.war.gov
Exhibit P-1 · O779
Complete workbook · unchanged saved copy. Saves as PB2024_DoD_P-1_Procurement.xlsx.
FY2025 Department of Defense Budget: Procurement Programs (P-1) · comptroller.war.gov
Exhibit P-1 · O822
Complete workbook · unchanged saved copy. Saves as PB2025_DoD_P-1_Procurement.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.