(a) In general
There is established in the Department of Defense a program to be known as the Autonomy Integration Account (in this section referred to as the Account ) under which the Secretary of Defense shall seek to accelerate the resourcing and integration of autonomous mission execution capabilities into systems of the Department to enable the operational availability of such systems.
(b) Elements
Activities carried out under the Account shall primarily emphasize the procurement, research and development, training and simulation, integration, and continuous modernization of applicable software capabilities for navigation, targeting, communications, mission autonomy, battle management, and other mission-critical software-defined functions that enable autonomous mission execution.
(c) Standards
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Director of the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group and each Secretary of a military department, shall establish standards for autonomous mission execution capabilities for any portfolio acquisition executive who leads an unmanned system portfolio. Such standards shall include, at a minimum—
the capability of unmanned systems within such portfolio to execute mission objectives autonomously within the domain of such systems, including in GPS-denied and communications-denied environments;
the capability of such systems to integrate autonomy-enabling software consistent with a modular open systems approach as defined in section 4401 of title 10, United States Code;
common autonomy interfaces, data standards, and safety and assurance criteria that permit the use of autonomy-enabling and other mission-critical software across multiple platforms and domains to the maximum extent practicable in alignment with existing government reference architectures;
establishment of an autonomy software baseline and a process for continuous integration, simulation and training, security testing, and deployment of autonomy-enabling software updates across systems within the portfolio; and
an acquisition preference for scalable commercial solutions, including licensing and service agreements to enable continuous improvement, training and simulation, and rapid deployment, that—
have been operationally validated in real-world deployments to conflict zones; and
have achieved a Technology Readiness Level of 7 or above.
(d) Funding
Activities under the Account shall be carried out using amounts authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2027 to Program Element 0604539D8Z on Line 115 of the account for Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Defense-wide .
(e) Annual report
The Secretary of Defense shall include with the budget justification materials submitted to Congress in support of the budget of the Department of Defense for a fiscal year (as submitted with the budget of the President under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code) a report on the activities carried out under the Account for such fiscal year, including—
progress towards adoption of standards under subsection (b);
results from cross-portfolio experimentation, integration, and fielding activities conducted;
an assessment of software modernization efforts, frequency of updates, cybersecurity posture, and workforce readiness to support long-term sustainment of software-enabled capabilities;
an inventory of programs that have transitioned from the integration phase to the sustainment phase; and
identification of any statutory, regulatory, or budgetary barriers limiting rapid integration of autonomy-enabling software across unmanned platforms.