Strategy to enhance Indo-Pacific defense industrial cooperation

(a) In general The Secretary of Defense shall develop and implement a strategy to enhance defense industrial cooperation between the United States and allies and partners of the United States in the Indo-Pacific region. (b) Strategy requirements The strategy required by subsection (a) shall— (1) describe current activities and identify future actions to be taken over the next 5 years by the Department of Defense to enhance defense industrial cooperation (as such term is defined in the Security Assistance Management Manual of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency) between the United States and allies and partners of the United States in the Indo-Pacific region, including efforts under the existing Partnership for Indo-Pacific Industrial Resilience; (2) identify lessons the Department has learned from defense industrial cooperation initiatives with European allies, including through meetings among National Armament Directors of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the European Union, and NATO, for efforts to enhance defense industrial cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region; (3) identify priority armaments for joint development, production, or sustainment with Indo-Pacific allies and partners, including priority weapons systems for joint acquisition and sustainment with Taiwan; and (4) describe plans for cooperating with the Department of State, the Department of Commerce, and other relevant Federal departments or agencies to resolve bureaucratic hurdles, such as export controls, that could impede deeper defense industrial collaboration with Indo-Pacific allies and partners of the United States. (c) Briefing and report (1) Briefing Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall brief the congressional defense committees on the strategy required by subsection (a), including an identification of any changes to funding or policy required to enhance defense industrial collaboration with Indo-Pacific allies and partners of the United States. (2) Interim report on implementation Not later than March 15, 2027, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the progress of the implementation of the strategy required by subsection (a), including any resource or authority gaps identified in the Department’s ability to execute the strategy.