Study on improvement of Army contracted sealift assets

(a) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) there is reason for concern with respect to the adequacy, availability, and alignment of lift assets—both strategic and tactical—within the area of operations of the United States Indo-Pacific Command; and (2) given ongoing operational requirements, contested logistics challenges, and the need for rapid mobility in support of both deterrence and contingency operations, a comprehensive analysis of current and projected Army sealift capacity is warranted. (b) Study Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on options for expanding a reserve contracted wartime sealift capacity in the Indo-Pacific region. In producing the report, the Assistant Secretary shall take into consideration the effects of contested logistics environments, anti-access/area denial threats, and the necessity of distributed operations under both steady-state and high-end conflict conditions. The report shall include each of the following: (1) An identification of each Army contracted sealift asset available during fiscal year 2025 in the area of operations of the United States Indo-Pacific Command. (2) An evaluation of current and projected mission requirements and operational tempo through fiscal year 2028, including an analysis of whether the existing Army contracted sealift assets are sufficient to meet the needs of the United States Indo-Pacific Command and United States Army Pacific in both peacetime and conflict scenarios. (3) Recommendations for improving the contracted sealift capability, capacity, and responsiveness of the sealift capacity of the Army in the area of operations of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, including through— (A) budgeting changes to ensure stable and reliable sources of funding; (B) improved coordination with the contracted options of other military departments; (C) on-call contracting during quickly escalating crisis and conflict; (D) posture adjustments; (E) force structure changes; and (F) interoperability improvements with allies and partners.