Prioritizing maintenance, repair, and overhaul for readiness

867. Prioritizing maintenance, repair, and overhaul for readiness Section 4323 of title 10, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 4323. Continuous sustainment review and analysis (a) Review required The Secretary of Defense shall require each Secretary concerned to conduct an assessment, updated not less frequently than annually, of the performance of each major weapon system and each critical readiness item of supply against established operational readiness requirements and the materiel readiness objectives under section 118(c) of this title. (b) Analysis of deficiencies For any major weapon system or critical readiness item of supply that fails to meet the requirements and objectives described in subsection (a), the Secretary concerned shall evaluate the applicable life-cycle sustainment plan (in accordance with section 4324 of this title) or other sustainment plan, as appropriate. If the Secretary concerned determines such a plan does not effectively meet the requirements and objectives at an affordable cost, the Secretary shall conduct a root cause analysis to determine the reasons and to identify the specific parts, services, software, and corresponding intellectual property required to meet the requirements and objectives. (c) Corrective action plan (1) Upon completion of a root cause analysis under subsection (b), the Secretary concerned shall develop and maintain a corrective action plan to address deficiencies identified by such analysis. (2) In developing and executing the corrective action plan, the Secretary concerned shall, to the maximum extent practicable, first seek to resolve any identified deficiencies through existing contractual and statutory authorities, including— (A) authorities described in subchapter I of chapter 275 of this title, to exercise an option, modify an existing contract or agreement, or enter into negotiations with a covered contractor for a covered system, including— (i) providing the covered contractor with the opportunity to submit an alternative corrective action plan to identify, qualify and secure other sources for the required parts, services, software, and intellectual property; and (ii) entering into another contract or agreement, or modifying an existing contract or agreement, with the covered contractor to create, develop, and validate technical instructions and procedures; or (B) the use of alternative sources, including advanced manufacturing, reverse engineering, re-engineering, or fabrication of parts by Government personnel or covered Government support contractors (as defined in section 3775 of this title). (3) (A) The Secretary concerned shall consider seeking assistance from the Intellectual Property Ombudsman (established in accordance with section 3792 of this title) in developing and implementing the corrective action plan if questions or disputes arise involving intellectual property acquired or licensed (or proposed to be acquired or licensed) by the Department for a major weapon system or critical readiness item of supply assessed under subsection (a), including questions or disputes involving rights and obligations relating to the delivery of, or access to, such intellectual property. (B) If such questions or disputes are not resolved through assistance from the Intellectual Property Ombudsman, the Secretary concerned shall consider submitting a written request for expert mediation in accordance with section 3792a of this title. (d) Submission to congress (1) Not later than five days after the date on which the budget of the President is submitted to Congress pursuant to section 1105 of title 31, each Secretary concerned, in coordination with the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report that includes the following: (A) Findings from the assessments required by subsection (a). (B) A description of how such assessments informed the submission of materials to Congress required by section 118(c)(2) of this title and the development of the future-years defense program required by section 221 of this title. (C) For a covered system which has been declared to meet initial operational capability, and that for two consecutive calendar years has failed to meet established materiel readiness objectives for materiel availability or operational availability (as such terms are defined, respectively, in section 118 of this title), such report shall include— (i) an identification of factors contributing to such failure; and (ii) a corrective action plan described in subsection (c), including any updates to a previously submitted corrective action plan. (D) A summary of actions taken by the Secretary to ensure that each covered system of the military department under the jurisdiction of the Secretary meets the applicable operational readiness requirements and materiel readiness objectives in the most cost-effective manner practicable. (2) The report required by this subsection shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. (3) For each report, the Secretary concerned shall make a summary of the report publicly available on an appropriate website of the Department of Defense not later than 60 days after the date on which it is submitted to the congressional defense committees unless the Secretary concerned, in coordination with the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, determines that it is not feasible to make a summary publicly available due to classification or other security concerns. Upon making such a determination, the Secretary concerned shall submit to the congressional defense committees a written notification of the determination, including a detailed explanation of the security concerns and the reasons why those concerns cannot feasibly be addressed by redaction or other means. .