Reports to Congress

(a) Interim report Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees an interim report on the status of the assessment required under section 2, which shall include— (1) an identification of any additional allied and partner country frameworks selected for review and analysis beyond those specified in section 2(b); (2) a summary of findings from the architectural analysis required under section 2(c)(1); (3) a preliminary assessment of interoperability requirements under section 2(c)(3); and (4) any significant findings or challenges identified to date. (b) Final report Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees a final report containing the complete findings and recommendations of the Secretary with respect to the assessment required under section 2. The final report shall include— (1) a determination as to whether the development of a Department unmanned system command and control framework based on open-architecture principles is feasible, operationally necessary, and cost-effective; (2) if the determination under paragraph (1) is affirmative, a recommended framework architecture, phased implementation roadmap, and legislative or regulatory actions required to proceed; (3) if the determination under paragraph (1) is negative or qualified, a description of the specific barriers identified and recommendations for addressing them; and (4) a classified annex, as appropriate, containing any elements that the Secretary determines must be protected from public disclosure for national security reasons. (c) Form Reports required under this section shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. Unclassified portions shall be made publicly available on the Department public website not later than 30 days after submission. (d) Annual update For a period of five years following submission of the final report under subsection (b), the Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees, as part of the annual budget justification materials submitted to Congress in support of the budget of the Department (as submitted with the budget of the President under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code), an update describing— (1) actions taken by the Department in response to the recommendations of the Secretary contained in the final report; (2) material changes in allied or partner country unmanned systems command and control frameworks or practices relevant to the assessment’s conclusions; (3) emerging unmanned systems technologies or cybersecurity threats that would materially affect the recommended framework architecture; and (4) the status of any pilot programs, exercises, or acquisition activities initiated pursuant to the recommendations of the Secretary contained in the final report.