Transition to advanced manufacturing for certain critical items

(a) Plan required Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Program Executive Officer for each major weapon system shall, in coordination with each covered contractor and such contractor’s first-tier subcontractors— (1) conduct an assessment of critical items that could be produced via advanced manufacturing processes within the period of 24 months following the date of the enactment of this Act for the purposes of— (A) reducing fabrication time and costs; and (B) increasing the ability to scale production rapidly; (2) identify any development, engineering or testing (whether conducted by the original equipment manufacturer, contractor, or Federal Government) required to transition production of critical items to advanced manufacturing; (3) estimate any non-recurring costs to complete such transition and recommend whether such costs are properly borne by the contractor involved or the Federal Government; and (4) submit a plan to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment to transition production of such critical items to advanced manufacturing to the maximum extent practicable. (b) Use of existing authorities The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment shall use every available authority to waive or accelerate the development, engineering, or testing requirements identified in subsection (a)(2). (c) Report Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment shall submit the plans required by subsection (a) to— (1) the Defense Industrial Resilience Consortium established under section 1842 of this Act; and (2) the congressional defense committees. (d) Implementation Following receipt of the plans under subsection (c)(1), the Defense Industrial Resilience Consortium shall commence implementation and competitive solicitation of advanced manufacturing solutions of the critical items identified under subsection (a)(1), with the goal of maximizing the transition of such items to production via advanced manufacturing by not later than 24 months after the date of enactment of this Act. (e) Definitions In this section: (1) The term covered contractor means a contractor manufacturing or integrating hardware for a major weapon system. (2) The term critical items means components, subassemblies, and assemblies that are among the top 10 drivers of current or future degraded mission capability for a major weapon system, as determined by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. (3) The term advanced manufacturing shall have the meaning given that term by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment for purposes of this section. Such definition shall, at a minium— (A) encompass manufacturing technologies that integrate interconnected digital technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, across the entire value stream to create highly efficient, flexible, and data-driven production systems, leading to improved quality, lower costs, and faster innovation; and (B) include software-controlled subtractive manufacturing, additive manufacturing, powder bed fusion manufacturing, and other similar manufacturing technologies.

(a) Plan required Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Program Executive Officer for each major weapon system shall, in coordination with each covered contractor and such contractor’s first-tier subcontractors— (1) conduct an assessment of critical items that could be produced via advanced manufacturing processes within the period of 24 months following the date of the enactment of this Act for the purposes of— (A) reducing fabrication time and costs; and (B) increasing the ability to scale production rapidly; (2) identify any development, engineering or testing (whether conducted by the original equipment manufacturer, contractor, or Federal Government) required to transition production of critical items to advanced manufacturing; (3) estimate any non-recurring costs to complete such transition and recommend whether such costs are properly borne by the contractor involved or the Federal Government; and (4) submit a plan to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment to transition production of such critical items to advanced manufacturing to the maximum extent practicable. (b) Use of existing authorities The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment shall use every available authority to waive or accelerate the development, engineering, or testing requirements identified in subsection (a)(2). (c) Report Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment shall submit the plans required by subsection (a) to— (1) the Defense Industrial Resilience Consortium established under section 1842 of this Act; and (2) the congressional defense committees. (d) Implementation Following receipt of the plans under subsection (c)(1), the Defense Industrial Resilience Consortium shall commence implementation and competitive solicitation of advanced manufacturing solutions of the critical items identified under subsection (a)(1), with the goal of maximizing the transition of such items to production via advanced manufacturing by not later than 24 months after the date of enactment of this Act. (e) Definitions In this section: (1) The term covered contractor means a contractor manufacturing or integrating hardware for a major weapon system. (2) The term critical items means components, subassemblies, and assemblies that are among the top 10 drivers of current or future degraded mission capability for a major weapon system, as determined by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. (3) The term advanced manufacturing shall have the meaning given that term by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment for purposes of this section. Such definition shall, at a minium— (A) encompass manufacturing technologies that integrate interconnected digital technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, across the entire value stream to create highly efficient, flexible, and data-driven production systems, leading to improved quality, lower costs, and faster innovation; and (B) include software-controlled subtractive manufacturing, additive manufacturing, powder bed fusion manufacturing, and other similar manufacturing technologies.