National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010/Division A/Title II/Subtitle E

SUBTITLE E — OTHER MATTERS

Sec. 251. Enhancement of duties of Director of Department of Defense Test Resource Management Center with respect to the Major Range and Test Facility Base..

(a) Authority To Review Proposals for Significant Changes.—Section 196 (c) of title 10, United States Code, is amended—

(1) in paragraph (1), by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively;

(2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (4) as subparagraphs (A) through (D), respectively;

(3) by inserting "(1)" before "The Director";

(4) by redesignating subparagraphs (B), (C), and (D), as so redesignated, as subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E), respectively; and

(5) by inserting after subparagraph (A), as so redesignated the following new subparagraph (B):

"(B) To review proposed significant changes to the test and evaluation facilities and resources of the Major Range and Test Facility Base before they are implemented by the Secretaries of the military departments or the heads of the Defense Agencies with test and evaluation responsibilities and advise the Secretary of Defense and the Under Secretary of Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics of the impact of such changes on the adequacy of such test and evaluation facilities and resources to meet the test and evaluation requirements of the Department.".

(b) Access to Records and Data.—Such section is further amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

"(2) The Director shall have access to such records and data of the Department of Defense (including the appropriate records and data of each military department and Defense Agency) that are necessary in order to carry out the duties of the Director under this section.".

Sec. 252. Establishment of program to enhance participation of historically black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions in defense research programs.

(a) Program Established.—Chapter 139 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting other section 2361 the following new section:

§ 2362. Research and educational programs and activities: historically black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions of higher education

"(a) Program Established.—The Secretary of Defense, acting through the Director of Defense Research and Engineering and the Secretary of each military department, shall carry out a program to provide assistance to covered educational institutions to assist the Department in defense-related research, development, testing, and evaluation activities.

"(b) Program Objective.—The objective of the program established under subsection (a) is to enhance defense-related research and education at covered educational institutions. Such objective shall be accomplished through initiatives designed to—

"(1) enhance the research and educational capabilities of such institutions in areas of importance to national defense, as determined by the Secretary;

"(2) encourage the participation of such institutions in the research, development, testing, and evaluation programs and activities of the Department of Defense;

"(3) increase the number of graduates from such institutions engaged in disciplines important to the national security functions of the Department of Defense, as determined by the Secretary; and

"(4) encourage research and educational collaborations between such institutions and other institutions of higher education, Government defense organizations, and the defense industry.

"(c) Assistance Provided.—Under the program established by subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense may provide covered educational institutions with funding or technical assistance, including any of the following:

"(1) Support for research, development, testing, evaluation, or educational enhancements in areas important to national defense through the competitive awarding of grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, scholarships, fellowships, or the acquisition of research equipment or instrumentation.

"(2) Support to assist in the attraction and retention of faculty in scientific disciplines important to the national security functions of the Department of Defense.

"(3) Establishing partnerships between such institutions and defense laboratories, Government defense organizations, the defense industry, and other institutions off higher education in research, development, testing, and evaluation in areas important to the national security functions of the Department of Defense.

"(4) Other such non-monetary assistance as the Secretary finds appropriate to enhance defense-related research, development, testing, and evaluation activities at such institutions.

"(d) Priority for Funding.—The Secretary of Defense may establish procedures under which the Secretary may give priority in providing funding under this section to institutions that have not otherwise received a significant amount of funding from the Department of Defense for research, development, testing, and evaluation programs supporting the national security functions of the Department.

"(e) Definition of Covered Educational Institution.—In this section the term 'covered educational institution' means—

"(1) an institution of higher education eligible for assistance under title III or IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.); or

"(2) an accredited postsecondary minority institution.".

(b) Clerical Amendment.—The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 2361 the following new item:

"2362. Research and educational programs and activities: historically black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions of higher education.".

Sec. 253. Extension of authority to award prizes for advanced technology achievements.

Subsection (a) of section 2374a of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking "September 30, 2010" and inserting "September 10, 2013".

Sec. 254. Authority for National Aeronautics and Space Administration federally funded research and development centers to participate in merit-based technology research and development programs.

Section 217 (f)(1) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 (Public Law 103-337; 108 Stat. 2695), as amended by section 3136 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (Public Law 105-261), is amended—

(1) in subparagraph (A) by inserting ", of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration," after "the Department of Defense"; and

(2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph (C):

"(C) A federally funded research development center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration that functions primarily as a research laboratory may respond to broad agency announcements under programs authorized by the Federal Government for the purpose of promoting the research, development, demonstration, or transfer of technology in a manner consistent with the terms and conditions of such program.".

Sec. 255. Next generation bomber aircraft.

(a) Findings.—Congress makes the following findings:

(1) Long-range strike is a critical mission in which the United States needs to retain a credible and dominant capability.

(2) Long range, penetrating strike systems provide—

(A) a hedge against being unable to obtain access to forward bases for political reasons;

(B) a capacity to respond quickly to contingencies;

(C) the ability to base outside the reach of emerging adversary anti-access and area-denial capabilities; and

(D) the ability to impose disproportionate defensive costs on prospective adversaries of the United States.

(3) The 2006 quadrennial defense review found that there was a requirement for a next generation bomber aircraft and directed the United States Air Force to "develop a new land-based, penetrating long range strike capability to be fielded by 2018".

(4) On April 6, 2009, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that the United States "will not pursue a development program for a follow-on Air Force bomber until we have a better understanding of the need, the requirement and the technology".

(5) On May 7, 2009, President Barack Obama announced the termination of the next generation bomber aircraft program in the document of the Office of Management and Budget entitled "Terminations, Reductions, and Savings", stating that "there is no urgent need to begin an expensive development program for a new bomber" and that "the future bomber fleet may not be affordable over the next six years".

(6) The United States will need a new long-range strike capability because the conflicts of the future will likely feature heavily defended airspace, due in large part to the proliferation of relatively inexpensive, but sophisticated and deadly, air defense systems.

(7) General Michael Maples, the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, noted during a March 10, 2009, hearing of the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate on worldwide threats that "Russia, quite frankly, is the developer of most of those [advanced air defense] systems and is exporting those systems both to China and to other countries in the world".

(8) The Final Report of the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States, submitted to Congress on May 6, 2009, states that "[t]he bomber force is valuable particularly for extending deterrence in time of crisis, as their deployment is visible and signals U.S. commitment. Bombers also impose a significant cost burden on potential adversaries in terms of the need to invest in advanced air defenses".

(9) The commanders of the United States Pacific Command, the United States Strategic Command, and the United States Joint Forces Command have each testified before the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate in support of the capability that the next generation bomber aircraft would provide.

(10) On June 17, 2009, General James Cartwright, Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and chair of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, stated during a hearing before the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate that "the nation needs a new bomber".

(11) Nearly half of the United States bomber aircraft inventory (47 percent) pre-dates the Cuban Missile Crisis.

(12) The only air-breathing strike platforms the United States possesses today with reach and survivability to have a chance of successfully executing missions more than 1,000 nautical miles into enemy territory from the last air-to-air refueling are 16 combat ready B-2 bomber aircraft.

(13) The B-2 bomber aircraft was designed in the 1980s and achieved initial operational capability over a decade ago.

(14) The crash of an operational B-2 bomber aircraft during takeoff at Guam in early 2008 indicates that attrition can and does occur even in peacetime.

(15) The primary mission requirement of the next generation bomber aircraft is the ability to strike targets anywhere on the globe with whatever weapons the contingency requires.

(16) The requisite aerodynamic, structural, and low-observable technologies to develop the next generation bomber aircraft already exist in fifth-generation fighter aircraft.

(b) Policy on Continued Development of Next Generation Bomber Aircraft in Fiscal Year 2010.—It is the policy of the United States to support a development program for next generation bomber aircraft technologies.