Sec. 173. Transfer from Commander of United States Strategic Command to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of responsibilities and functions relating to electromagnetic spectrum operations
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Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act and subject to subsection (c), the Secretary of Defense shall transition to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a Chairman's Controlled Activity all of the responsibilities and functions of the Commander of United States Strategic Command that are germane to electromagnetic spectrum operations, including— advocacy for joint electronic warfare capabilities, providing contingency electronic warfare support to other combatant commands, and supporting combatant command joint training and planning related to electromagnetic spectrum operations.
The Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as the Electronic Warfare Senior Designated Official, shall be responsible for the following: Executing the functions transitioned to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under subsection (a). Overseeing, with the Chief Information Officer of the Department of Defense, the development and implementation of the Electromagnetic Spectrum Superiority Strategy of the Department of Defense and subsequent Department-wide electromagnetic spectrum and electronic warfare strategies.
Managing the Joint Electronic Warfare Center and the Joint Electromagnetic Preparedness for Advanced Combat organizations. Overseeing, through the Joint Requirements Oversight Council and the Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations cross-functional team, the acquisition activities of the military services as they relate to electromagnetic spectrum operations. Overseeing and, as appropriate, setting standards for the individual and unit training programs of the military services and the joint training and mission rehearsal programs of the combatant commands as they relate to electromagnetic spectrum operations.
Overseeing the development of tactics, techniques, and procedures germane to electromagnetic spectrum operations. Overseeing the integration of electromagnetic spectrum operations into operation plans and contingency plans. Developing and integrating into the joint warfighting concept operational concepts for electromagnetic spectrum operations, including the following: The roles and responsibilities of each of the military services and their primary contributions to the joint force.
The primary targets for offensive electromagnetic spectrum operations and their alignment to the military services and relevant capabilities. The armed forces’ positioning, scheme of maneuver, kill chains, and tactics, techniques, and procedures, as appropriate, to conduct offensive electromagnetic spectrum operations. The armed forces’ positioning, scheme of maneuver, kill chains, and tactics, techniques, and procedures, as appropriate, to detect, disrupt, avoid, or render ineffective adversary electromagnetic spectrum operations.
The transfer required by subsection
(a)and the responsibilities specified in subsection
(b)shall remain in effect until such date as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff considers appropriate, except that such date shall not be earlier than the date that is 180 days after the date on which the Chairman submits to the congressional defense committees notice that— the Chairman has made a determination that— the military services’, geographic combatant commands’, and functional combatant commands’ electromagnetic spectrum operations expertise, capabilities, and execution are sufficiently robust; and an alternative arrangement described in paragraph
(2)is justified; and the Chairman intends to transfer responsibilities and activities in order to carry out such alternative arrangement. An alternative arrangement described in this paragraph is an arrangement in which certain oversight, advocacy, and coordination functions allotted to the Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by subsections
(a)and
(b)are performed either by a single combatant command or by the individual geographic and functional combatant commands responsible for executing electromagnetic spectrum operations with long-term supervision by the Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Chief of Staff of the Army, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and the Chief of Space Operations shall each conduct and complete an evaluation of the armed forces for their respective military services and their ability to perform the electromagnetic spectrum operations missions required of them in— the Electromagnetic Spectrum Superiority Strategy; the Joint Staff-developed concept of operations; and the operation and contingency plans of the combatant commanders. Each evaluation under paragraph
(1)shall include assessment of the following: Current programs of record, including— the ability of weapon systems to perform missions in contested electromagnetic spectrum environments; and the ability of electronic warfare capabilities to disrupt adversary operations. Future programs of record, including— the need for distributed or network-centric electronic warfare and signals intelligence capabilities; and the need for automated and machine learning- or artificial intelligence-assisted electronic warfare capabilities. Order of battle. Individual and unit training. Tactics, techniques, and procedures, including— maneuver, distribution of assets, and the use of decoys; and integration of nonkinetic and kinetic fires. The Commander of the United States European Command, the Commander of the United States Pacific Command, and the Commander of the United States Central Command shall each conduct and complete an evaluation of the plans and posture of their respective commands to execute the electromagnetic spectrum operations envisioned in— the Electromagnetic Spectrum Superiority Strategy; and the Joint Staff-developed concept of operations. Each evaluation under paragraph
(1)shall include assessment of the following: Operation and contingency plans. The manning, organizational alignment, and capability of joint electromagnetic spectrum operations cells. Mission rehearsal and exercises. Force positioning, posture, and readiness. Not less frequently than twice each year until January 1, 2026, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shall brief the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives on the implementation of this section by each of the Joint Staff, the military services, and the combatant commands.