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TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

Subtitle C--Provisions Relating to Major Defense Acquisition Programs

P. L. 114-

House Conference Report. 114-270

(a) Consolidation of requirements relating to acquisition strategy.—

(1) NEW TITLE 10 SECTION.—Chapter 144 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 2431 the following new section:

Ҥ 2431a. Acquisition strategy

“(a) Acquisition strategy required.—There shall be an acquisition strategy for each major defense acquisition program, each major automated information system, and each major system approved by a milestone decision authority.

“(b) Responsible official.—For each acquisition strategy required by subsection (a), the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics is responsible for issuing and maintaining the requirements for—

“(1) the content of the strategy; and

“(2) the review and approval process for the strategy.

“(c) Considerations.— (1) In issuing requirements for the content of an acquisition strategy for a major defense acquisition program, major automated information system, or major system, the Under Secretary shall ensure that—

“(A) the strategy clearly describes the proposed top-level business and technical management approach for the program or system, in sufficient detail to allow the milestone decision authority to assess the viability of the proposed approach, the method of implementing laws and policies, and program objectives;

“(B) the strategy contains a clear explanation of how the strategy is designed to be implemented with available resources, such as time, funding, and management capacity;

“(C) the strategy is tailored to address program requirements and constraints; and

“(D) the strategy considers the items listed in paragraph (2).

“(2) Each strategy shall, where appropriate, consider the following:

“(A) An approach that delivers required capability in increments, each depending on available mature technology, and that recognizes up front the need for future capability improvements.

“(B) Acquisition approach, including industrial base considerations in accordance with section 2440 of this title.

“(C) Risk management, including such methods as competitive prototyping at the system, subsystem, or component level, in accordance with section 2431b of this title.

“(D) Business strategy, including measures to ensure competition at the system and subsystem level throughout the life-cycle of the program or system in accordance with section 2337 of this title.

“(E) Contracting strategy, including—

“(i) contract type and how the type selected relates to level of program risk in each acquisition phase;

“(ii) how the plans for the program or system to reduce risk enable the use of fixed-price elements in subsequent contracts and the timing of the use of those fixed price elements;

“(iii) market research; and

“(iv) consideration of small business participation.

“(F) Intellectual property strategy in accordance with section 2320 of this title.

“(G) International involvement, including foreign military sales and cooperative opportunities, in accordance with section 2350a of this title.

“(H) Multiyear procurement in accordance with section 2306b of this title.

“(I) Integration of current intelligence assessments into the acquisition process.

“(J) Requirements related to logistics, maintenance, and sustainment in accordance with sections 2464 and 2466 of this title.

“(d) Review.— (1) Subject to the authority, direction, and control of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, the milestone decision authority shall review and approve, as appropriate, the acquisition strategy for a major defense acquisition program, major automated information system, or major system at each of the following times:

“(A) Milestone A approval.

“(B) The decision to release the request for proposals for development of the program or system.

“(C) Milestone B approval.

“(D) Each subsequent milestone.

“(E) Review of any decision to enter into full-rate production.

“(F) When there has been—

“(i) a significant change to the cost of the program or system;

“(ii) a critical change to the cost of the program or system;

“(iii) a significant change to the schedule of the program or system; or

“(iv) a significant change to the performance of the program or system.

“(G) Any other time considered relevant by the milestone decision authority.

“(2) If the milestone decision authority revises an acquisition strategy for a program or system, the milestone decision authority shall provide notice of the revision to the congressional defense committees.

“(e) Definitions.—In this section:

“(1) The term ‘major defense acquisition program’ has the meaning provided in section 2430 of this title.

“(2) The term ‘major system’ has the meaning provided in section 2302(5) of this title.

“(3) The term ‘Milestone A approval’ means a decision to enter into technology maturation and risk reduction pursuant to guidance prescribed by the Secretary of Defense for the management of Department of Defense acquisition programs.

“(4) The term ‘Milestone B approval’ has the meaning provided in section 2366(e)(7) of this title.

“(5) The term ‘milestone decision authority’, with respect to a major defense acquisition program, major automated information system, or major system, means the official within the Department of Defense designated with the overall responsibility and authority for acquisition decisions for the program or system, including authority to approve entry of the program or system into the next phase of the acquisition process.

“(6) The term ‘management capacity’, with respect to a major defense acquisition program, major automated information system, or major system, means the capacity to manage the program or system through the use of highly qualified organizations and personnel with appropriate experience, knowledge, and skills.

“(7) The term ‘significant change to the cost’, with respect to a major defense acquisition program or major system, means a significant cost growth threshold, as that term is defined in section 2433(a)(4) of this title.

“(8) The term ‘critical change to the cost’, with respect to a major defense acquisition program or major system, means a critical cost growth threshold, as that term is defined in section 2433(a)(5) of this title.

“(9) The term ‘significant change to the schedule’, with respect to a major defense acquisition program, major automated information system, or major system, means any schedule delay greater than six months in a reported event.”.

(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 2431 the following new item:

“2431a. Acquisition strategy.”.

(b) Additional amendments.—

(1) Section 2350a(e) of such title is amended—

(A) in the subsection heading, by striking “Document”;

(B) in paragraph (1), by striking “the Under Secretary of Defense for” and all that follows through “of the Board” and inserting “opportunities for such cooperative research and development shall be addressed in the acquisition strategy for the project”; and

(C) in paragraph (2)—

(i) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)—

(I) by striking “document” and inserting “discussion”; and

(II) by striking “include” and inserting “consider”;

(ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking “A statement indicating whether” and inserting “Whether”;

(iii) in subparagraph (B)—

(I) by striking “by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics”; and

(II) by striking “of the United States under consideration by the Department of Defense”; and

(iv) in subparagraph (D), by striking “The recommendation of the Under Secretary” and inserting “A recommendation to the milestone decision authority”.

(2) Section 803 of the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107–314; 10 U.S.C. 2430 note) is repealed.

The Senate amendment contained a similar provision (sec. 841).

The conference agreement includes a provision that combines these two provisions. The provision would mandate that the Department of Defense create an acquisition strategy for each major defense acquisition program, each major automated information system, and each major system approved by an MDA. The provision further outlines key areas that should be considered in the strategies, as well as a process for the periodic review of the strategy by the MDA.

House Report 114-201 to accompany H. R. 1735 as it was reported out of the House Armed Services Committee.

Section 822--Acquisition Strategy Required for Each Major Defense Acquisition Program and Major System

This section would establish a new section in chapter 144 of title 10, United States Code, that requires an acquisition strategy for each major defense acquisition program and each major system approved by a Milestone Decision Authority (MDA). This section would require the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics to issue and maintain requirements for the content of these acquisition strategies as well as the review and approval process for these strategies. This section would also require the Under Secretary to ensure that each strategy addresses several considerations, including: the proposed business, technical management, and sustainment approaches; how it will be implemented with available resources; industrial base considerations; risk management approaches; contract strategies; and other considerations as required in current statute. Additionally, this section would require the MDA to review and approve, as appropriate, these acquisition strategies at key decision points in the acquisition process.

This section is intended to consolidate various existing requirements by allowing other statutory reporting requirements to be met with this single acquisition strategy requirement and to streamline the acquisition strategy approval process. This section also repeals section 803 of the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107- 314) that established specific requirements for spiral development strategies, many elements of which will now be met with this single acquisition strategy requirement.

Senate Report 114-49 to accompany S. 1376 as it was reported out of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Acquisition strategy required for each major defense acquisition program (sec. 841)

The committee recommends a provision that would amend chapter 144 of title 10, United States Code to add a new section that would require the development of an acquisition strategy for each Department of Defense major defense acquisition program. The program's acquisition strategy is already a core document developed and updated in advance of key program reviews within the Department. This provision would consolidate various related statutory provisions and outline conforming changes to existing statute and establish the importance of the acquisition strategy as the key management document for a major weapon systems acquisition. Currently, a number of sections of law require content to be placed in an acquisition strategy undefined in statute. By codifying the existence of the acquisition strategy and consolidating the various content requirements, this proposal eliminates uncertainty regarding the open-ended range of requirements that can be imposed on an acquisition program's published strategy.