Sec. 1645. PILOT PROGRAM ON DEVELOPMENT OF REENTRY VEHICLES AND RELATED SYSTEMS
511 words·~2 min read·
/statute-compilations/comps-17632/sec-1645A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
## SEC. 1645 PILOT PROGRAM ON DEVELOPMENT OF REENTRY VEHICLES AND RELATED SYSTEMS ###
(a)In General The Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Secretary of the Air Force, acting jointly or separately, may carry out a pilot program, to be known as the “Reentry Vehicle Flight Test Bed Program”, to assess the feasibility of providing regular flight test opportunities that support the development of reentry vehicles and reentry systems to— ####
(1)facilitate technology upgrades tested in a realistic flight environment; ####
(2)expand the availability of operationally qualifiable vendors within the defense industrial base; ####
(3)provide an enduring, high-cadence test bed to mature technologies for planned reentry vehicles and reentry systems; and ####
(4)transition technologies developed under other programs and projects relating to long-range ballistic or hypersonic strike missiles from the research and development or prototyping phases into operational use. ###
(b)Grants, Contracts, and Other Agreements ####
(1)Authority In carrying out a pilot program under this section, each Secretary may, subject to paragraph (2), award grants and enter into contracts or other agreements with appropriate entities for the conduct of relevant flight tests of reentry vehicles and reentry systems. ####
(2)Grant and contract requirements #####
(A)Merit-based grants Any grant under paragraph
(1)shall be awarded through merit-based selection procedures. #####
(B)Competitive contract procedures Any contract or other agreement under paragraph
(1)shall be awarded using competitive procedures (as defined in section 3012 of title 10, United States Code). ####
(3)Use of funds An entity that receives a grant, or enters into a contract or other agreement, as part of a pilot program carried out under this section shall use the grant, or any amount received under the contract or other agreement, to carry out one or more of the following activities: #####
(A)Conducting flight tests to develop or validate— ######
(i)aeroshell design; ######
(ii)thermal protective systems; ######
(iii)guidance and control systems; ######
(iv)sensors; ######
(v)communications; ######
(vi)environmental sensors; or ######
(vii)other relevant technologies. #####
(B)Expanding flight test opportunities through low-cost, high-cadence platforms. ###
(c)Coordination If the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Navy, or the Secretary of the Air Force, acting jointly or separately, carries out a pilot program under this section, such Secretary or Secretaries shall ensure that the activities under the pilot program are carried out in coordination with the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and the Director of the Missile Defense Agency. ###
(d)Semiannual Briefings Not later than March 1 and September 1 of each year in which the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Navy, or the Secretary of the Air Force, acting jointly or separately, carries out a pilot program under this section, such Secretary or Secretaries shall provide to the congressional defense committees a briefing on the activities of the pilot program. ###
(e)Termination The authority to carry out a pilot program under this section shall terminate on December 31, 2029.