(a) Strategy
Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of the Navy and the Director of the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, shall develop and implement a strategy for the acquisition, sustainment, and operational employment of, and the development of the industrial base for, small uncrewed surface vessels.
(b) Elements
The strategy required under subsection (a) shall include the following elements:
A statement of the operational concept for the employment of small uncrewed surface vessels by the naval forces of the United States, including a description of the following:
The missions for which such vessels are intended to be employed.
The role of such vessels in distributed maritime operations and the integration of such vessels with crewed naval vessels.
The integration of such vessels with command and control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and logistics structures of the naval forces.
A plan for the acquisition of small uncrewed surface vessels that includes the following:
An identification of the role of the portfolio acquisition executive for robotic and autonomous systems of the Department of the Navy in acquiring such vessels.
Rules for the use of competitive procurement methods that maximize participation by domestic shipyards, including small shipyards and nontraditional defense contractors.
Measures to address the protection of designer technical data and intellectual property in a manner consistent with sustained competition for the manufacture and sustainment of such vessels.
Objectives relating to performance, cost, and schedule, for each class of small uncrewed surface vessel.
A plan for the development of the industrial base for small uncrewed surface vessels, including the following:
An identification of the production capacity, supplier base, and workforce required to meet the acquisition plan under paragraph (2) through fiscal year 2032.
Measures to expand domestic manufacturing capacity for such vessels and to ensure critical elements of the supply chain are available for the construction of such vessels.
An identification of, and measures to address, risks of single-source dependency, foreign content, and supply chain disruption.
Mechanisms for engagement with the maritime industrial base, including small shipyards, to align industrial investment with the demand of the Department of Defense.
A plan for the sustainment of small uncrewed surface vessels, including the following:
An identification of the sustainment capacity of the Department of Defense and contractors of the Department required to support the operational employment of such vessels.
Measures to address the licensing, ownership, and accessibility of technical data necessary to enable the competitive sustainment of such vessels.
Measures to mitigate the risk of a lack of competition for the sustainment of such vessels resulting from proprietary information or restricted technical data relating to such vessels or components or systems thereof.
(c) Submission to Congress
Not later than 30 days after the date on which the Secretary of Defense completes the strategy required under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees such strategy.
(d) Annual reports
(1) In general
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until September 30, 2030, the Secretary of the Navy, in coordination with the portfolio acquisition executive for robotic and autonomous systems of the Department of the Navy, shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the development of the industrial base for, and the acquisition of, small uncrewed surface vessels.
(2) Elements
Each report submitted under paragraph (1) shall include the following:
An inventory, as of the date of the report, of each small uncrewed surface vessel acquired by the Department of the Navy, disaggregated by program, class, fiscal year of procurement, quantity procured, and unit cost.
The acquisition plan for small uncrewed surface vessels for each fiscal year of the most recent future-years defense program submitted to Congress under section 221 of title 10, United States Code, including the planned quantities and classes of such vessels to be acquired, and the costs of such acquisition.
An assessment of the capacity of the domestic industrial base to meet such plan, including—
an identification of shipyards and prime manufacturers engaged in the production of such vessels;
an identification of critical component and system suppliers, including suppliers of propulsion, autonomy, communications, and command and control systems for such vessels; and
an identification of any bottleneck, capacity shortfall, or other constraint that may impede the execution of such plan.
A comparison of the current and projected rates of the production of small uncrewed surface vessels, versus the quantities of such vessels identified as necessary to be maintained pursuant to the strategy required under subsection (a).
An assessment of the availability of the workforce, including any skilled trades within such workforce, required to meet the planned production of such vessels, including an identification of any workforce shortfall and any measures being taken to address any such shortfall.
An assessment of the risks to competition for the sustainment of such vessels arising from such vessels, or components or systems thereof, containing proprietary information or restricted technical data, and a description of any measures being taken to mitigate such risks.
An assessment of foreign content in small uncrewed surface vessels acquired or planned for acquisition, including an identification of supply chain vulnerabilities and dependencies on suppliers from countries of concern.
Any recommendations for legislative, regulatory, or budgetary action necessary to address challenges identified in the report relating to the development of the industrial base for, and the acquisition of, small uncrewed surface vessels.
(e) Form
The strategy required under subsection (a) and each report required under subsection (d) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.
(f) Definitions
In this section:
The term country of concern means a covered nation as defined in section 4872(d) of title 10, United States Code.
The term nontraditional defense contractor has the meaning given such term in 3014 of title 10, United States Code.
The term small shipyard has the meaning given such term in section 54101 of title 46, United States Code.
The term small uncrewed surface vessel —
means—
an uncrewed surface vessel with a full load displacement of not more than 50 metric tons and a length of not more than 50 feet; or
any other uncrewed surface vessel designated by the Secretary of the Navy as a small uncrewed surface vessel for purposes of this section; and
does not include any vessel of the program of the Department of the Navy referred to as the Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel Program .