(a) Establishment
The Secretary of the Army shall carry out a pilot program to evaluate the integration of electronic ammunition simulation systems into small arms training across the Army.
(b) Purposes
The purposes of the pilot program are to—
improve individual and collective small arms proficiency through increased training repetitions and enhanced training realism;
enable safe training with assigned weapon systems in a broad range of environments, including non-range locations, as determined appropriate by the Secretary;
reduce costs and logistics burdens associated with the procurement, storage, distribution, and disposal of blank ammunition;
reduce safety risks associated with blank ammunition, including negligent discharges and live-blank ammunition mixing incidents; and
assess the feasibility and scalability of integrating electronic ammunition simulation systems with training environments of the Armed Forces.
(c) Administration
(1) In general
The Secretary of the Army shall designate the Capability Program Executive for Simulation, Training, Test, and Threat as the lead actor responsible for carrying out the pilot program.
(2) Oversight
The Secretary of the Army shall designate a senior official within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology as the lead actor responsible for providing oversight of the pilot program.
(d) Selection of training environments
The Secretary of the Army shall select not fewer than four training environments with respect to which the Secretary shall carry out the pilot program under subsection (a), which shall include, at a minimum—
one Advanced Camp training event, regional training event, or other training event carried out at a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps training site;
one rotation at a combat training center;
one basic combat training activity; and
one brigade-level or battalion-level collective training event carried out at an operational military installation.
(e) Activities
In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary of the Army shall—
integrate electronic ammunition simulation systems into training for legacy and next-generation small arms provided through the training environments selected under subsection (d), including in connection with qualification ranges and force-on-force exercises;
evaluate the interoperability of electronic ammunition simulation systems with legacy and successor systems for simulated engagement, including the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System and synthetic training environments;
assess the integrated training carried out pursuant to paragraph (1) with respect to effectiveness, cost savings, safety improvements, and scalability across training environments of the Armed Forces, including the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps of the Armed Forces; and
develop and validate associated training tactics, procedures, and sustainment requirements for potential expansion of such integrated training.
(f) Coordination of efforts
The pilot program under subsection (a) shall supplement, and neither supplant nor duplicate, modernization efforts relating to synthetic training environments and other activities for the modernization of force-on-force training.
(g) Briefings
(1) Interim briefing
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Army shall provide to the congressional defense committees an interim briefing on the pilot program under subsection (a) that includes—
evaluation metrics for the pilot program;
an identification of the training environments selected under subsection (d); and
the plan of the Secretary for the integration of activities under the pilot program with respect to such selected training environments.
(2) Final briefing
Not later than March 1, 2028, the Secretary of the Army shall provide to the congressional defense committees a final briefing on the pilot program under subsection (a) that includes—
the results of the assessment required under subsection (e)(3), including, with respect to cost savings, a comparison between the cost of the integrated training provided pursuant to the pilot program with the cost of training using blank ammunition; and
recommendations regarding—
the continuation, expansion, or termination of the pilot program; and
with respect to such potential continuation or expansion, recommendations for the transition to acquisition of electronic ammunition simulation systems.
(h) Termination
The authority to carry out the pilot program under subsection (a) shall terminate on September 30, 2031.