MOSCOW, June 15 (HS/RIA Novosti) - The US Space Force is requesting a total of $1.06 billion in fiscal year 2027 for its Space-Based Moving Target Indicator program to expand orbital target tracking capabilities, splitting the request between $253.4 million in discretionary base funding to track ground and maritime targets and $803 million in mandatory funding transferred from the Golden Dome for America account to detect airborne targets globally, according to a RIA Novosti correspondent's analysis of the US Space Force's fiscal year 2027 budget report.

The discretionary portion of the request allocates $253.4 million toward the Ground Moving Target Indicator project, which is designed to acquire a next-generation radar satellite system capable of providing day-night, all-weather detection, tracking, and imagery of ground and maritime targets. According to the budget documents, this project focuses on improving target detection, custody, and sensor-to-shooter timelines necessary for dynamic targeting and long-range strike operations in highly contested and non-permissive environments. Managed as an Acquisition Category 1B Major

Defense Acquisition Program, the project received approval at Milestone B in August 2024 to enter the engineering manufacturing and development phase, with development and fielding scheduled to run from the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 through the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2031.

Complementing the ground-tracking efforts, the $803 million mandatory funding request targets the Space-Based Air Moving Target Indicator, focusing on global coverage and low-band radar development to track airborne threats. Classified as part of the Space Superiority funding, this request represents a direct transition of efforts initiated in fiscal year 2026 under the Golden Dome for America account, which supports the newly proposed homeland missile defense program. The budget details indicate that $663 million of the request will fund the expansion of high-band radar systems to achieve regional and global coverage for joint force requirements. The remaining $140 million is earmarked to mature designs and build up manufacturing capability for additional vendors, utilizing alternative technologies to augment the high-band system with a low-band wide-area search capability.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar