OFFSETOFFSET

Army_Modernization_Priorities

5 min read

Army Modernization Priorities

From 2017 to 2025 the Army organized modernization around six numbered priorities, each with a Cross-Functional Team and a matching ASAALT program executive office. The Army_Transformation_Initiative replaced that framework with two things: a set of dated capability delivery goals, and a portfolio structure of six Program Acquisition Executives and twelve Capability Portfolio Executives. The six priority areas still describe where the money is. They no longer describe how the Army is organized.

FieldValue
TypeModernization framework
Original frameworkSix priorities plus “31+4 signature efforts,” targeting a MDO-capable force by 2028
Owner (2018 to 2025)Army_Futures_Command
Superseded byATI capability goals; ASAALT PAE/CPE portfolio structure (announced November 14, 2025)

The original six (2017 to 2025)

Stated in priority order. The order mattered: it drove resourcing sequence and CFT staffing.

#PrioritySignature effortsPage
1Long-Range Precision FiresPrSM, ERCA, LRHW/Dark Eagle, Mid-Range CapabilityLong_Range_Precision_Fires
2Next-Generation Combat VehicleOMFV/XM30, M1E3 Abrams, RCV, AMPV, MPF/M10 BookerNext_Generation_Combat_Vehicle
3Future Vertical LiftFLRAA, FARA, FTUAS, ALE, ITEPFuture_Vertical_Lift
4Network (mobile and expeditionary)ITN, Capability Sets, unified network, NGC2Army_Network_Modernization
5Air and Missile DefenseIBCS, LTAMDS, IFPC, M-SHORAD, C-sUASAir_and_Missile_Defense_Modernization
6Soldier LethalityNGSW, IVAS, synthetic training environmentSoldier_Lethality

Two additional Cross_Functional_Teams cut across all six: Synthetic Training Environment and Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing. Contested Logistics was added in 2023 and All-Domain Sensing in 2024.

What replaced the framework

1. Dated capability goals

The May 1, 2025 “Letter to the Force: Army Transformation Initiative,” signed by Secretary of the Army Dan_Driscoll and Chief of Staff Randy_George, substituted delivery dates for numbered priorities. As summarized in CRS R48606, the Army committed to:

  • Field long-range missiles capable of striking moving land and maritime targets by 2027
  • Achieve electromagnetic and air-littoral dominance by 2027
  • Field unmanned systems in every division by the end of 2026
  • Integrate counter-small-UAS into maneuver platoons by 2026 and maneuver companies by 2027
  • Enable AI-driven command and control at theater, corps, and division by 2027

Named platform commitments in the same letter: field the M1E3 tank, develop the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, close the counter-small-UAS capability gap, and align Multi-Domain Task Forces with theater headquarters.

This is a different kind of framework. The six priorities were capability categories owned by organizations. The ATI goals are dated outcomes owned by the Secretary and Chief of Staff, and they are explicitly indifferent to which program delivers them. That is why programs inside a priority area could be cancelled without the priority area losing standing. See ATI_Program_Cancellations.

2. The portfolio structure

Announced November 14, 2025, the ASAALT restructuring consolidated the Program Executive Offices into six Program Acquisition Executives, each dual-reporting to ASA(ALT) for acquisition and to T2COM for requirements, with twelve Capability Portfolio Executives beneath them. This is now the operative map of Army modernization money.

Legacy priorityCurrent acquisition home
Long-Range Precision FiresPAE_Fires via CPE_Offensive_Fires and CPE_Integrated_Fires
Next-Generation Combat VehiclePAE_Maneuver via CPE_Ground
Future Vertical LiftPAE_Maneuver_Air via CPE_Aviation and CPE_Mission_Autonomy
NetworkPAE_C2_CC2 via CPE_C2_Information_Network and CPE_Intelligence_Spectrum_Warfare
Air and Missile DefensePAE_Fires via CPE_Defensive_Fires; PAE_Layered_Protection_CBRN for protection
Soldier LethalityPAE_Maneuver; training and simulation via CPE_Simulation_Training_Test_Threat

What did not survive

  • The “31+4 signature efforts” construct and the “MDO-capable force by 2028” framing were AFC-era formulations tied to a command that no longer exists. They still appear on legacy Army and DEVCOM web pages. Do not cite them as current.
  • The numbered priority order is no longer used in Army budget or posture material in the way it was through FY2025.
  • The CFT-to-PEO pairing that defined each priority area’s governance is gone. See Cross_Functional_Teams.

Why it matters

The categories are still where the money is, even though the labels changed. Procurement and RDT&E dollars still flow to fires, ground combat vehicles, aviation, network, air defense, and soldier equipment. What changed is which office owns the requirement and which owns the buy. Mapping a company’s offering to the right ASAALT CPE and the right Futures_and_Concepts_Command Future Capability Directorate is the current version of “which priority are you in.”

Dated goals create different procurement behavior than priority rankings. A 2026 or 2027 delivery date with no named program of record is an invitation for commercial and rapid-acquisition paths: OTAs, directed requirements, middle-tier acquisition, and buying existing product rather than developing new. The counter-UAS and unmanned systems goals in particular have been executed this way.

Priority-area survival is not program survival. Long-Range Precision Fires remains a top-line priority while ERCA was terminated. Future Vertical Lift remains a priority while FARA and FTUAS were cancelled. Next-Generation Combat Vehicle remains a priority while RCV and the M10 Booker were killed. Read the portfolio, then read the individual program’s budget line.

Watch the FY2027 budget structure, not the FY2026 one. The Army’s FY2027 request, submitted in 2026, is the first built end-to-end inside the PAE/CPE structure. Its program element and procurement line organization is the authoritative expression of the current framework.

See Also

Graph View

Backlinks