Sec. 904. Modification to authorities of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation
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Section 139 of title 10, United States Code, is amended— in subsection (b)— in paragraph (5), by striking and at the end; in paragraph (6), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and ; and by adding at the end the following new paragraph: have access to approved test and evaluation master plans and test strategies of the armed forces for purposes of conducting independent reviews of such plans and strategies. ; in subsection (k), by inserting , and the Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the amount requested for the Office of the Director in the Department of Defense budget for each fiscal year is sufficient to enable the Director to fulfill the duties and responsibilities assigned by this section before the period at the end; and by adding at the end the following new subsection:
The Director may enter into contracts or other agreements with one or more federally funded research and development centers pursuant to which personnel of such centers may assist the Director with program oversight, including through— test planning, preparation, and monitoring; data collection; data analysis; drafting and reviewing test reports; providing technical expertise and support to program offices; and performing such other duties as the Director determines appropriate.
The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the Director has sufficient funding to enter into the contracts or other agreements for which authorization is provided under paragraph (1). . During the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on September 30, 2027, the Secretary of Defense may not— divest or consolidate a capability specified in paragraph (2); transfer responsibility for such a capability away from the organization responsible for the capability as of the date of the enactment of this Act; or take any other action that would reduce the scope or effectiveness of the capability.
The capabilities specified in this paragraph are— the Cyber Assessment Program; the Center for Countermeasures; the Test and Evaluation Threat Resource Activity; the Joint Technical Coordinating Group for Munitions Effectiveness Program; the Joint Aircraft Survivability Program; the Joint Test and Evaluation Program; and the Test and Evaluation Transformation Program. The Secretary of Defense, acting through the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, may a waive the limitation under paragraph
(1)with respect to capability specified in paragraph (2), on a case-by-case basis, if— the Secretary submits to the congressional defense committees a plan for divesting, consolidating, transferring, or otherwise reducing the scope or effectiveness the capability (as the case may be), which shall include— in the case of a capability proposed to be transferred to another organization within the Department of Defense— identification of the organization to which such capability will be transferred; and an explanation of the level of resources needed to sustain such capability at the new organization, staffing levels for the capability at such organization, and any agreements needed to implement the proposed transfer; and in the case of a capability proposed to be divested or consolidated by the Secretary, a justification for the divestment or consolidation together with an explanation of how the proposed divestment or consolidation will not result in a loss of capabilities or functions in a manner that poses a risk to any mission of the Department of Defense; and a period of 30 days has elapsed following the date on which the plan under subparagraph
(A)was submitted. The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that sufficient funding and personnel are made available to the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation to maintain the capabilities specified in paragraph
(2)during the period in which the limitation under paragraph
(1)applies.