Sec. 912. Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office
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Subchapter I of chapter 8 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section: There is established in the Department of Defense a joint activity to be known as the Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office (referred to in this section as the Office ). There is a Director of the Office (referred to in this section as the Director ) who shall be appointed by the Secretary of Defense from among personnel of the Department of Defense who are— general or flag officers of the covered armed forces; or members of the Senior Executive Service.
The Director shall report directly to Deputy Secretary of Defense and shall serve as the principal advisor to the Deputy Secretary and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on counter-small unmanned aircraft system matters. The Office shall— be designated as a jointly manned activity; and shall consist of such other subordinate organizational elements as the Director determines appropriate, subject to the authority, direction, and control of the Secretary of Defense. The Office shall do the following:
Lead, advocate, coordinate, and focus all Department of Defense actions in support of efforts of the combatant commands and the covered armed forces to defeat small unmanned aircraft systems (referred to in this section as sUAS ) as weapons of strategic influence. Integrate all counter-sUAS solutions throughout the Department of Defense, seeking interagency assistance as necessary. Identify innovative near-term (executable within a 5 year timeframe) counter-sUAS solutions. Coordinate with other components of the Department of Defense to carry out ongoing mid-term (covering a 5-10 year timeframe) research and development initiatives and long-term (covering a timeframe exceeding 10 years) science and technology efforts that could help address the counter-sUAS threat.
Coordinate efforts of the Department of Defense to identify, assess, and disrupt adversarial unmanned aircraft system supply chains and financial threat networks that support such supply chains. Coordinate with the United States Northern Command, or any successor entity serving as the lead synchronizer for homeland counter small unmanned aircraft systems, to develop and deploy counter-sUAS capabilities for homeland defense. Develop and share counter-sUAS training tools, expertise, and tactics, techniques, and procedures for components of the Department of Defense that address needs of the joint force, deploying forces, installation defense within and outside the United States, and other relevant scenarios.
Coordinate efforts across the Department of Defense to develop, test, evaluate, and procure counter-sUAS kinetic and non-kinetic defeat capabilities, including— systems to sense, identify, track, and defeat small unmanned aircraft systems, both kinetically and non-kinetically; command and control systems; and such other capabilities the Director determines appropriate. Carry out the counter-sUAS validation and acquisition responsibilities described in subsections
(e)and (f). Develop and regularly update a counter-sUAS strategic plan in accordance with subsection (g). Carry out such other activities relating to counter-sUAS as the Secretary of Defense determines appropriate. The Office shall serve as the entity within the Department of Defense with primary responsibility for the validation and approval of counter-sUAS systems for procurement and use by the Department. In coordination with other components of the Department of Defense, the Director shall develop, maintain, and regularly update a list of counter-sUAS systems that are validated and approved for procurement and use by the Department as described in paragraph (1). The Director shall ensure that each counter-sUAS system on the list has been vetted by the Office and has proven to be effective for use by the Department in countering sUAS. Except as provided in paragraph (4), no component of the Department of Defense may procure a counter-sUAS system unless such system— has been validated and approved by the Office under paragraph (1); and is included on the list maintained under paragraph (2). The service acquisition executive of the military department concerned (in the case of a procurement by a military department) or the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (in the case of a procurement not under the authority of a service acquisition executive) may waive the restriction under paragraph (3), on a case-by-case basis, by submitting to the congressional defense committees— notice of the intent to issue such a waiver; and an explanation of the reasons for issuing the waiver. The Director shall establish and maintain an acquisition oversight division within the Office. The acquisition oversight division shall— include acquisition professionals from relevant Program Executive Offices within each covered armed force; support and facilitate efforts of the covered armed forces— to budget and plan for the integration and sustainment of counter-sUAS capabilities that are approved and validated by the Office under subsection (e); and to efficiently and effectively transition such capabilities into operational use; and have such other duties and responsibilities as the Director determines appropriate. The Director shall coordinate with relevant components of the Department of Defense, to develop, publish, and regularly update a strategic plan for the counter-sUAS activities of the Department, which shall include— measures to coordinate the various counter-sUAS efforts of the Department to ensure cohesion among such efforts; guidance for counter-sUAS related investment and manpower decisions across the Department, including necessary science and technology investments; and performance measures, goals, and lines of effort required to achieve the strategic objectives of the plan. Not later than 120 days after the date on which the Office commences operations, the Director shall complete and submit to the congressional defense committees the initial strategic plan developed under paragraph (1). Not less frequently than once every two years after completion of the initial strategic plan under paragraph (2), the Director shall— update the plan; and submit the updated plan to the congressional defense committees. Following completion of each version of the strategic plan under this subsection, each commander of a geographic combatant command shall develop an implementation plan to guide the combatant command overseen by that commander in achieving the vision, mission, goals, and performance measures of the strategic plan. On an annual basis, the Director shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report that includes— a summary of the activities of the Office over the period covered by the report, including a description of— the progress of the Office in carrying out the requirements of this section; and the metrics used to measure such progress; and a summary of the expenditures made by the Office in the period covered by the report for counter-sUAS related research, development, test, and evaluation, procurement, and sustainment activities. In this section: The term counter-sUAS system means a system or device capable of lawfully and safely disabling, disrupting, or seizing control of a small unmanned aircraft or small unmanned aircraft system. The term covered armed forces means the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force. The terms small unmanned aircraft , unmanned aircraft , and unmanned aircraft system have the meanings given those terms in section 44801 of title 49. . Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report that includes— a strategy to ensure the Joint Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office has the funding and other resources necessary to execute its responsibilities, as required under section 199 of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)); and a plan for funding the Office across the period covered by the most recent future-years defense program submitted to Congress under section 221 of title 10, United States Code (as of the date of the report).