110 STAT. 208 PUBLIC LAW 104-106—FEB. 10, 1996 Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology with respect to that program. (c) PLAN FOR FISCAL YEAR 1998, 1999, 2000, AND 2001 SUB- MARINES. —(1) The Secretary of Defense shall, not later than March 15, 1996, develop (and submit to the committees specified in subsection (b)(2)(A)) a detailed plan for development of a program that will lead to production of a more capable, less expensive submarine than the submarine previously designated as the New Attack Submarine. (2) As part of such plan, the Secretary shall provide for a program for the design, development, and procurement of four nuclear attack submarines to be procured during fiscal years 1998 through 2001, the purpose of which shall be to develop and demonstrate new technologies that will result in each successive submarine of those four being a more capable and more affordable submarine than the submarine that preceded it. The program shall be structured so that— (A) one of the four submarines is to be constructed with funds appropriated for each fiscal year from fiscal year 1998 through fiscal year 2001; (B) in order to ensure flexibility for innovation, the fiscal year 1998 and the fiscal year 2000 submarines are to be constructed by the Electric Boat Division and the fiscal year 1999 and the fiscal year 2001 submarines are to be constructed by Newport News Shipbuilding; (C) the design designated by the Navy for the submarine previously designated as the New Attack Submarine will be used as the base design by both contractors; (D) each contractor shall be called upon to propose improvements, including design improvements, for each successive submarine as new and better technology is demonstrated and matures so that— (i) each successive submarine is more capable and more affordable; and (ii) the design for a future class of nuclear attack submarines will incorporate the latest, best, and most affordable technology; and (E) the fifth and subsequent nuclear attack submarines to be built after the SSN-23 submarine shall be procured as required by subsection (b)(1). (3) The plan under paragraph (1) shall— (A) set forth a program to accomplish the design, development, and construction of the four submarines taking maximum advantage of a streamlined acquisition process, as provided under subsection (d); (B) culminate in selection of a design for a next submarine for serial production not earlier than fiscal year 2003, with such submarine to be procured as required by subsection (b)(1); (C) identify advanced technologies that are in various phases of research and development, as well as those that are commercially available off-the-shelf, that are candidates to be incorporated into the plan to design, develop, and procure the submarines; (D) designate the fifth submarine to be procured as the lead ship in the next generation submarine class, unless the Secretary of the Navy, in consultation with the special submarine review panel described in subsection (f), determines
�
