Sec. 1690. Sense of Congress and plan for development of space-based ballistic missile intercept layer
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It is the sense of Congress that— a space-based missile defense layer will exploit the natural advantages of space systems and integrate them into the ballistic missile defense system; and these advantages include— a 24/7 global presence to defend against asymmetric threats; access to geographically denied areas; an ability to close a global fire control loop for such system; complementing existing terrestrial capabilities; and increasing the overall survivability and resilience of the entire national missile defense system.
The Director of the Missile Defense Agency shall develop a space-based ballistic missile intercept layer to the ballistic missile defense system that is— regionally focused; capable of providing boost-phase defense; and achieves an operational capability at the earliest practicable date. Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a plan to carry out subsection
(b)during the five-year period following the date of the plan. Such plan shall include the following: A concept definition phase consisting of multiple awarded contracts to identify feasible solutions consistent with architectural principles, performance goals, and price points established by the Director, such as contracts relating to— refined requirements; conceptual designs; technology readiness assessments; critical technical and operational issues; cost, schedule, performance estimates; and risk reduction plans. A technology risk reduction phase consisting of up to three competitively awarded contracts focused on maturing, integrating, and characterizing key technologies, algorithms, components, and sub-systems, such as contracts relating to— refined concepts and designs; engineering trade studies; medium-to-high fidelity digital representations of the space-based ballistic missile intercept weapon system; and a proposed integration and test sequence that could potentially lead to a live-fire boost phase intercept during fiscal year 2022. During the technology risk reduction phase, contractors will define proposed demonstrations to a preliminary design review level prior to a technology development phase down-select. A technology development phase consisting of two competitively awarded contracts to mature the preferred space-based ballistic missile intercept weapon system concepts and to potentially conduct a live-fire boost phase intercept fly-off during fiscal year 2022 with brassboard hardware and prototype software on a path to the operational goal. A concurrent space-based ballistic missile intercept weapon system fire control test bed activity that incrementally incorporates modeling and simulation elements, real-world data, hardware, algorithms, and systems to evaluate with increasing confidence the performance of evolving designs and concepts of such weapon system from target detection to intercept. Any other matters the Director determines appropriate. In carrying out subsection (b), the Director of the Missile Defense Agency shall establish a space test bed to— conduct research and development regarding options for a space-based defensive layer, including with respect to space-based interceptors and directed energy platforms; and identify the most cost-efficient and promising technological solutions to implementing such layer. In this section, the term appropriate congressional committees means— the congressional defense committees; and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives.