Sec. 218. Alternative test and evaluation pathway for designated defense acquisition programs
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The Secretary of Defense shall establish an alternative test and evaluation pathway as described in subsection
(b)for covered programs to enhance agility, accelerate delivery of capabilities, and ensure data-driven decisionmaking, while maintaining independent oversight of evaluation outcomes. The pathway required by subsection
(a)shall include the following elements: For each covered program, the Secretary of the military department concerned, through its service test activities, shall— develop and implement a unified test and evaluation strategy that aligns developmental testing and operational testing to a single set of test objectives that build system understanding throughout the test program to more effectively support capability delivery within rapid prototyping and iterative updates with early and continuous operational feedback; develop and implement a test data strategy that includes— collection of raw data from system components during test events and operational activities, including submission of industry-derived data from their development and testing evolutions; evaluation criteria to assess the mission effects and suitability of the system based on the data to be collected, including from live-fire test events, if applicable; a process for independently validating industry-derived data, if needed; provision of resources for automated data collection, storage, and access; and automated analytics tools to assess performance trends, reliability, and maintenance needs; incorporate, to the maximum extent practicable, best practices such as— hardware-in-the-loop testing to validate system integration; continuous data collection from prototypes and fielded systems to refine designs and update lifecycle costs; testing subsystem prototypes throughout system development to assess their contribution to the mission effect of the fielded system; and integration of supporting or complementary data from digital twins or other model-based systems engineering tools; define general test and evaluation objectives and data needs while allowing detailed execution plans to evolve based on test results and emerging requirements, avoiding rigid milestone-driven schedules; and ensure all raw test data and associated analytics are owned by the Federal Government, stored in accessible repositories, and available to authorized Department entities, including the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, throughout the program lifecycle. Each such covered program shall be exempt from— any requirement in law, regulation, or policy, including Department of Defense Instruction 5000.02 or other policies, to develop and submit a test and evaluation master plan, as long as a unified test and evaluation strategy and test data strategy are implemented, as required by subparagraphs
(A)and
(B)of paragraph (1); any requirement in law, regulation, or policy to conduct any milestone-specific operational test event, such as the requirement in section 4171 of title 10, United States Code, to conduct initial operational test and evaluation; and any other test and evaluation documentation or approval process that the Secretary determines is inconsistent with the agile and iterative nature of this pathway. For each covered program designated for oversight by the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation shall— provide independent evaluation of test data across all phases of the program lifecycle, including— assessing the sufficiency of the program’s test and evaluation strategy and data strategy to demonstrate military effectiveness; evaluating whether the program collects and analyzes sufficient raw data, learns from test results at a pace relevant to operational needs, and converges on military effectiveness based on data trends; identifying deficiencies in test and evaluation strategies that risk system performance, suitability, or survivability; and providing continuous oversight through ongoing analysis of test data; have unrestricted access to all raw test data, data repositories, and analytics maintained by the military departments for the covered program; not require of the covered program— any specific test plan, execution method, or documentation format, or any pre-approval of test and evaluation activities, as a condition of testing, data collection, or evaluation; or any Director of Operational Test and Evaluation-approved test and evaluation master plan or other pre-execution documentation under existing policies; and include in the annual report required under section 139(h) of title 10, United States Code, a summary of the adequacy of data strategies, rates of learning, and risks that aligns with the evaluation processes established in this section. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretaries of the military departments and the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, shall issue guidance to implement the alternative test and evaluation pathway under this section, including standards for data strategies and modern testing practices and procedures to support evaluation by the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation under subsection (c). Not later than three years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the implementation of this section, including an assessment of the effectiveness of the pathway in accelerating capability delivery and improving system performance and any recommendations for expanding or modifying the pathway. In this section, the term covered program means the following: A defense acquisition program that the Secretary of Defense designates, on or after the date on which guidance is issued under subsection (d), for use of the alternative test and evaluation pathway under this section. A defense acquisition program relating to software and covered hardware initiated on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.