Independent Advisory Panel

(a) Establishment Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish an independent advisory panel (in this section referred to as the Panel) to provide independent review and technical guidance to the assessment required under section 2. (b) Composition The Panel shall consist of not fewer than 10 and not more than 15 members appointed by the Secretary, including— (1) not fewer than two individuals who have direct operational experience in unmanned aircraft systems employment in a joint or combined military environment; (2) not fewer than two individuals who have technical expertise in open-architecture software systems, modular systems design, or command and control software architecture; (3) not fewer than two individuals who have expertise in cybersecurity, including experience with operational technology cybersecurity in contested environments; (4) at least three individuals who have expertise in unmanned aircraft systems command and control operations, doctrine, or command and control from an allied or partner country with significant unmanned aircraft systems operational experience, appointed in coordination with relevant allied or partner country authorities; (5) at least one individual with experience in unmanned aircraft system (UAS) traffic management in the National Airspace System; and (6) such additional members as the Secretary determines appropriate, which may include representatives from the defense industrial base, federally funded research and development centers, academic institutions with relevant expertise, and the Department of Defense test and evaluation community to ensure early consideration to interoperability, testability, and certification requirements. (c) Limit on active Government employees Not more than two-thirds of the members of the Panel may be a full-time officer or employee of the United States Government. (d) Duties The Panel shall provide written assessments and recommendations on each element of the assessment described in section 2(c) and shall have the opportunity to review and comment on draft findings before finalization. (e) Termination The Panel shall terminate on the date that is 90 days after the date of the submittal of the final report required under section 4(b). (f) Compensation Members of the Panel who are not full-time officers or employees of the United States Government shall be compensated at a daily rate equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each day they are engaged in the performance of Panel duties and shall be allowed travel expenses as authorized under section 5703 of title 5, United States Code.