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Code · BILL · 119th Congress · S. 2296 (Engrossed in Senate) — To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2026 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military c... · Sec. 836

Sec. 836. Instructions for continued operational readiness

1,530 words·~7 min read·/bill/119/s/2296/es/section-836

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Chapter 363 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section: The Secretary of Defense (referred to in this section as the Secretary ) may not enter into a contract or agreement for the procurement, sustainment, or subsequent modifications of covered defense equipment unless the contract or agreement requires that the contractor deliver, or offer as a negotiated price option, Instructions for Continued Operational Readiness ( ICOR ) to the Secretary upon delivery of the equipment. The Secretary may grant an exception to paragraph
(1)if the product support strategy and associated business case analysis for the covered defense equipment indicates that the Government does not have a justified need for ICOR, consistent, when applicable, with section 3771 of this title. The contractor shall deliver the ICOR to the Department of Defense (referred to in this section as the Department ) and provide the Secretary with the rights to diagnose, maintain, and repair the covered defense equipment. The Secretary shall withhold payment to the contractor under the contract or agreement until the Secretary accepts the ICOR as complete under subsection (c)(2). When ICOR are required to be delivered under a contract or agreement, the Secretary shall ensure that updated ICOR data is required as necessary in subsequent contracts or agreements or included as priced options to reflect modifications in data deliverables. A contractor for covered defense equipment shall include in the ICOR, at a minimum, data that is necessary for operations, maintenance, installation, and training, form fit, and function data, and any additional data required for operational readiness, which may include— recommended methods, techniques, inspections, processes, procedures, maintenance manuals, service bulletins, diagnostic procedures, proprietary systems, special tooling, special testing procedures, and equipment necessary to maintain, repair, and sustain the covered defense equipment in a condition for safe and effective operation, including diagnostic protocols, troubleshooting guides, and overhaul instructions, consistent with the maintenance practices of the contractor or those of the authorized maintenance providers of the contractor; an operational limitations section ( OLS ) that includes mandatory schedules for replacement of life-limited components, inspection intervals, and other sustainment requirements critical to equipment reliability and safety, approved by the Secretary; engineering drawings, schematics, software, and wiring diagrams; a complete list of replacement parts, components, and specialized equipment required for maintenance and repair, including part numbers, specifications, and sources, to ensure availability to authorized maintenance providers; procedures for documenting maintenance actions, life-limited component replacements, and compliance with the OLS, including standardized formats for maintenance logs to ensure traceability and verification of operational readiness; and clear identification of maintenance information essential for safe operation, distinguished from non-safety-related service enhancements, to facilitate compliance with operational readiness requirements. A contractor shall submit the ICOR to the Secretary as a contract deliverable prior to equipment delivery or within a timeframe specified by the contract. The Secretary shall review and accept the ICOR, verifying that they provide sufficient information to maintain the operational readiness of the equipment. In accordance with design changes and contract modifications approved by the Secretary and in a manner that is in accordance with subsection (a), the contractor shall deliver updates to the ICOR for approval by the Secretary whenever modifications, upgrades, safety issues, or new sustainment requirements are identified. A contractor shall not impose restrictions on the use of the ICOR by authorized maintenance providers of the Department, including requirements to use only contractor-supplied parts, unless such restrictions are explicitly approved by the Secretary as necessary for safety or operational reliability. Notwithstanding restrictions approved by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (d), the Secretary may authorize alternative maintenance or repair actions for covered defense equipment, if any of the following conditions are met: A program cannot reasonably obtain sufficient data to maintain operational readiness. The contractor fails to deliver complete and current ICOR. The contractor cannot deliver required parts, repairs, or ICOR within a timeframe that meets operational needs, as defined by the Secretary, resulting in unacceptable readiness degradation. The contractor discontinues support for a component or software critical to the equipment’s operation without providing a viable substitute or sufficient ICOR to enable sustainment of the equipment by the Department. An urgent operational or logistical circumstance, such as wartime conditions, active combat, or disrupted logistics, necessitates immediate repair or part production to maintain mission readiness. The Secretary determines alternative maintenance or repair actions would result in significant cost savings. If an alternative action is authorized under paragraph (1), the Secretary may— issue a written determination citing the relevant condition described in paragraph (1), including evidence of contractor practices that prevent delivery of or restrict license rights to the ICOR in a manner that may impede competition, consistent with antitrust laws; and authorize data delivery for the alternative action. If time permits, the Secretary shall notify the contractor if any of the conditions described in paragraph
(1)are met and shall provide the contractor with not more than 30 days to address the issue before the alternative action is taken. Alternative maintenance or repair actions may include, but is not limited to, reverse engineering, use of existing technical data, fabrication of parts by the Department or third-party providers, or advanced manufacturing, as necessary to restore operational readiness. This provision does not restrict the ability of the Secretary to employ these practices in other contexts. A contractor shall ensure the ICOR contains sufficient information to maintain the operational readiness of the equipment, including updates to address safety or performance issues and necessary information on systems or components produced by subcontractors. A contractor shall promptly notify the Secretary of any safety-related deficiencies in the ICOR and provide corrected materials at no additional cost. If a contractor fails to comply with the requirements of this section, the Secretary may withhold contract payment, enforce contract penalties, take corrective action, reduce contractor performance ratings, or exclude the contractor from future contracts or agreements with the Department. The Secretary shall establish procedures to verify contractor compliance with the requirements of this section, including periodic audits of the content and availability and maintenance of ICOR. The Secretary shall maintain a centralized repository of ICOR for covered defense equipment, accessible to maintenance providers authorized by the Secretary, to ensure consistent application. Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this section, and every year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees a list of the items designated as excluded commercial items to which the requirement to deliver ICOR does not apply. In this section: The term covered defense equipment means any system, subsystem, or component procured by the Secretary, including aircraft, ships, ground vehicles, electronic systems, and other systems, that require contractor-provided maintenance or repair data to ensure operational readiness, excluding any excluded commercial items. The term excluded commercial item means an unmodified product customarily used by the general public or by nongovernmental entities or sold, leased, or licensed to the general public and maintained under standard commercial practices, as designated by the Secretary. The terms Instructions for Continued Operational Readiness and ICOR mean contractor-provided technical data, software, and other information, including maintenance instructions and manuals, operational limitations, parts identification, record-keeping procedures, safety-related provisions, engineering drawings, schematics, software, service bulletins, wiring diagrams, diagnostic procedures, and other data or information necessary to maintain and repair covered defense equipment in a condition for safe and effective operation. . Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every two years thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report that assesses— the compliance of the Secretary of Defense with section 4664 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a); the effectiveness of the requirements of section 4664 in ensuring operational readiness and reducing sustainment costs; contractor compliance with the requirements of section 4664; the frequency and impact of the conditions described in section 4664(e)(1); and recommendations for improving the maintenance and repair capabilities of the Department of Defense. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall issue guidance to implement this section that includes— procedures for integrating the requirements of section 4664 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), into acquisition contracts and agreements of the Department of Defense; the criteria for designating items as excluded commercial items, as defined in section 4664(i); processes for reviewing, accepting, and updating instructions for continued operational readiness (as defined in section 4664(i)) and operational limitations sections, in accordance with section 4664; mechanisms for tracking contractor compliance and resolving disputes over instructions for continued operational readiness and compensation; and directions for the operation, repair, and maintenance of defense equipment that government-owned, government-operated entities of the Department of Defense can use if the contract or agreement for the defense equipment does not require the delivery of ICOR. Section 4664 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), applies to contracts and agreements for covered defense equipment, as defined in subsection
(i)of that section, entered into on or after one year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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