§3602. Middle tier of acquisition for rapid prototyping and rapid fielding

(a) Guidance Required.-The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in consultation with the Comptroller of the Department of Defense and the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shall establish pathways as described under subsection (b) to establish a process for conducting middle tier acquisitions for programs or projects that are intended to be completed in a period of two to five years.

(b) Acquisition Pathways.-The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment shall establish the following two acquisition pathways:

(1) Rapid prototyping.-The rapid prototyping pathway shall provide for the use of innovative technologies to rapidly develop fieldable prototypes to demonstrate new capabilities and meet emerging military needs. The objective of an acquisition program or project under this pathway shall be to field a prototype that can be demonstrated in an operational environment and provide for a residual operational capability within five years of the development of an approved requirement.

(2) Rapid fielding.-The rapid fielding pathway shall provide for the use of proven technologies to field production quantities of new or upgraded systems with minimal development required. The objective of an acquisition program or project under this pathway shall be to begin production within six months and complete fielding within five years of the development of an approved requirement.

(c) Expedited Process.-

(1) In general.-Before using the authority under this section, the Under Secretary shall develop a streamlined and coordinated requirements, budget, and acquisition process that results in the development of an approved requirement for each acquisition program or project in a period of not more than six months from the time that the process is initiated. Programs or projects carried out under the authority of this section shall not be subject to the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System Manual and Department of Defense Directive 5000.01.

(2) Rapid prototyping.-With respect to the rapid prototyping pathway, the process described in paragraph (1) shall include-

(A) a merit-based process for the consideration of innovative technologies and new capabilities to meet needs communicated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the combatant commanders;

(B) a process for developing and implementing acquisition and funding strategies for a program or project to be carried out under such pathway;

(C) a process for demonstrating and evaluating the performance of fieldable prototypes developed pursuant to such program or project in an operational environment;

(D) a process for transitioning successful prototypes to new or existing acquisition programs for production and fielding under the rapid fielding pathway or the major capability acquisition pathway (as defined under Department of Defense Instruction 5000.85 or successor instruction); and

(E) a process for iterating prototyping and fielding within the rapid prototyping pathway that may use a process described in paragraph (4)(F).

(3) Rapid fielding.-With respect to the rapid fielding pathway, the process described in paragraph (1) shall include-

(A) a merit-based process for the consideration of existing products and proven technologies to meet needs communicated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the combatant commanders;

(B) a process for demonstrating performance and evaluating for current operational purposes the proposed products and technologies;

(C) a process for developing and implementing acquisition and funding strategies for a program or project to be carried out under such pathway;

(D) a process for considering lifecycle costs and addressing issues of logistics support and system interoperability; and

(E) a process for identifying and exploiting opportunities to use the rapid fielding pathway to reduce total ownership costs.

(4) Streamlined procedures.-The process described in paragraph (1) may provide for any of the following streamlined procedures:

(A) The service acquisition executive of the military department concerned may appoint a program manager for a program or project for which the authority under this section is used from among candidates from among civilian employees or members of the armed forces who have significant and relevant experience managing large and complex programs.

(B) A program manager appointed under subparagraph (A) may be provided staff positions for a technical staff, including experts in business management, cost estimation, contracting, auditing, engineering, certification, testing, and logistics, to enable the program manager to manage the program without the technical assistance of another element of the Department of Defense to the maximum extent practicable.

(C) A program manager appointed under subparagraph (A) may, in coordination with the users of the good or service to be acquired under such a program or project and the test community, to make trade-offs among life-cycle costs, requirements, and schedules to meet the goals of the program or project.

(D) Each service acquisition executive, acting in coordination with the defense acquisition executive, may serve as the decision authority for a program or project for which the authority under this section is used, or shall delegate such decision authority.

(E) A program manager appointed under subparagraph (A) may seek an expedited waiver from any regulatory requirement, or in the case of a statutory requirement, a waiver from Congress, that the program manager determines adds cost, schedule, or performance delays with little or no value to the management of such program or project.

(F) If an operational capability is fielded for a program or project for which the authority under this section is used, the appropriate service acquisition executive may permit continuous iterative prototyping and fielding under the same program or project for an unlimited number of subsequent periods, where each period is intended to be five years.

(Added Pub. L. 118–159, div. A, title VIII, §804(a), Dec. 23, 2024, 138 Stat. 1966 .)

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in Pub. L. 114–92, div. A, title VIII, §804, Nov. 25, 2015, 129 Stat. 882 , as amended by Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title VIII, §§849(a), 864(b), 897, title X, §1081(c)(2), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2293 , 2304, 2327, 2419; Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title VIII, §866, Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1495 ; Pub. L. 116–92, div. A, title IX, §902(33), Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1546 ; Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title VIII, §805, Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3742 , which was set out in a note preceding section 3201 of this title, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 118–159, div. A, title VIII, §804(b), Dec. 23, 2024, 138 Stat. 1968 .