Military organizations worldwide are continuing to integrate uncrewed vehicles (UxV) into their operations at a growing rate. The United States (U.S.) Department of Defense (DOD) has funded the research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) and procurement of UxV for decades, and support for these systems and associated technologies continues with the President’s most recent budget request. The President’s Budget (PB) request is released each year which includes justification documents detailing the range of technologies that will be procured and developed with that budget. Since 2013, AUVSI has been tracking and summarizing that spending for our members, enabling them to make better business decisions as they position for contracts and future opportunities.
In support of that effort, AUVSI has published a detailed analysis of key uncrewed systems programs for FY23. That report includes:
- Information on uncrewed vehicles and supporting technologies both deployed and under development.
- Trends and projections for future funding.
- Detailed information on specific programs developing and procuring uncrewed systems in the air, ground, and maritime surface/subsurface domains.
For accessibility, the report has been separated into three main sections:
- An introduction with some overview information on the primary funding efforts related to uncrewed systems;
- An analysis of programs that show strong growth potential in the forecasted years (FY 2024 – FY 2027); and
- Detailed information on specific procurement and research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) programs (further sectioned by domain of operation).
Please Note: While AUVSI’s preferred term for the technologies referenced in this report is “uncrewed systems,” the U.S. Department of Defense continues to use the legacy term “unmanned systems” for programs of record and procurement processes. Given the focus of this report and to avoid confusion for the reader, the term “unmanned systems” will be used throughout this analysis. Click here to read more about AUVSI’s commitment to inclusive language.
This report is available to AUVSI Organizational Members. To download a copy, click here and sign in.
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FY 2023 House and Senate Authorized NDAA
After the initial President’s budget is released, congressional committees convene to determine whether the requested amounts should be authorized and appropriated. Any changes to the President’s budget are implemented through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the Consolidated Appropriations Act where the NDAA authorizes the budget and the Consolidated Appropriations Act serves as the final operating budget for the next Fiscal Year. AUVSI tracked the progress of the NDAA for FY 2023 and this addendum represents any changes made to UxV-related programs in the House and Senate versions of the NDAA. The finalized changes for the NDAA and Appropriations Act can be referenced in the FY 2023 Interactive Report.
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FY 2023 Interactive Report
We are pleased to offer our community unprecedented access to the data supporting our written reports to explore the data for all unmanned programs of record as we track funding throughout the appropriations process — from the President’s proposed budget, through the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), to final appropriations.
The Tableau workbook presents the entire raw data set with the ability to filter information by categories like domain, technologies, and the DoD organization requesting funding. This allows users to conduct granular investigations based on individual topics of interest.
- $1,500 for AUVSI Organizational Members
- $2,500 for Nonmembers (includes the written report)
- Contact your account manager to purchase the interactive report.
Executive Summary of Interactive Report
The United States (U.S.) Armed Forces are a primary adopter of unmanned systems, and numerous facets of unmanned systems and robotics — in the air, ground, and maritime domains — are currently being used to support deployed forces and counter a range of threats posed to national security. To support the continued adoption of new technologies that maintain competitiveness in an ever-developing security landscape, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 budget for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) includes an estimated $8.2 billion to support the research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) and procurement of these technologies. This represents an increase of about $700 million for unmanned vehicles (UxV) relative to the budget from FY 2021.
Historically, UxV were considered simple tools which required the supervision and control of a remote operator to complete the “dull, dirty, and dangerous” tasks on the battlefield. While some of these basic forms of operation still exist, recent advancements in autonomy, sensors, energy/propulsion systems, and navigation/control systems have improved the efficiency and effectiveness of UxV, allowing them to function for long periods of time with minimal human input and oversight. Sustained investments in UxV systems will expand their uses, enabling DOD to more effectively allocate resources and speed response times in a hybrid fleet system. In fact, UxV have also ingrained themselves in the daily missions of soldiers to the extent that they are deemed an essential component of the operations team by their human operators.
The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) manages a range of programs and events to support the unmanned industry, and consistent feedback from members and attendees reflects their desire for more information on how DOD funds are spent in the unmanned arena. The purpose of this research is to present information on the range of technologies being developed and acquired by the U.S. DOD to support current and future UxV operations. With the U.S. Armed Forces at the forefront in advancing unmanned systems, understanding which technologies and capabilities are being procured and developed provides a strong understanding of the current direction of the industry and can help inform future investments. This analysis highlights the various unmanned vehicle RDT&E and procurement focus areas of the U.S. DOD Defense Budget.
In FY 2022, AUVSI has identified and captured data on over 280 RDT&E Program Elements (PEs) and more than 140 Procurement Line Items (LIs). These programs are associated with 15 different departments and agencies that seek to develop and deploy UxS in support of U.S. troops. The parameters captured for each of these efforts include domain(s) of operation (air, ground, maritime surface/sub-surface, counter-UAV, counter-UMV); funding type (procurement or RDT&E); funding amount for FY 2020 – 2022; and specific technologies supported (autonomy, communications/data management, cyber, electronic warfare, mobility, manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T), navigation/control, platform, propulsion/energy, sensors/payloads, simulation, training, and weapons). We then plugged this data set into Tableau allowing users to manipulate the infographics and find the information of interest. Please click on the link below to explore the range of infographics that we have created. Also, please reference the notes below which provide explanations for each of the infographics.
