SEC. 844. REVIEW AND REPORT ON
SUSTAINMENT PLANNING IN THE ACQUISITION PROCESS.
(a) Requirement For Review.—The Secretary of Defense shall
conduct a review of the extent to which sustainment matters are
considered in decisions related to the requirements, research
and development, acquisition, cost estimating, and programming
and budgeting processes for major defense acquisition programs.
The review shall include the following:
(1) A determination of whether
information related to the operation and sustainment of major
defense acquisition programs, including cost data and
intellectual property requirements, is available to inform
decisions made during those processes.
(2) If such information exists, an evaluation of the
completeness, timeliness, quality, and suitability of the
information for aiding in decisions made during those
processes.
(3) A determination of whether information related to the
operation and sustainment of existing major weapon systems is
used to forecast the operation and sustainment needs of major
weapon systems proposed for or under development.
(4) A description of the potential benefits from improved
completeness, timeliness, quality, and suitability of data on
operation and support costs and increased consideration of
such data.
(5) Recommendations for improving access to, analyses of, and
consideration of operation and support cost data.
(6) An assessment of product support strategies for major
weapon systems required by section 2337 of title 10, United
States Code, or other similar life-cycle sustainment
strategies, including an evaluation of—
(A) the stage at which such
strategies are developed during the life of a major weapon
system;
(B) the content and completeness of such strategies,
including whether such strategies address—
(i) all aspects of total
life-cycle management of a major weapon system, including
product support, logistics, product support engineering,
supply chain integration, maintenance, and software
sustainment; and
(ii) the capabilities, capacity, and resource constraints
of the organic industrial base and the materiel commands
of the military department concerned;
(C) the extent to which such
strategies or their elements are or should be incorporated
into the acquisition strategy required by section 2431a of
title 10, United States Code;
(D) the extent to which such strategies influence the
planning for major defense acquisition programs; and
(E) the extent to which such strategies influence decisions
related to the life-cycle management and product support of
major weapon systems.
(7) An assessment of how effectively
the military departments consider sustainment matters at key
decision points for acquisition and life-cycle management in
accordance with the requirements of sections 2431a, 2366a,
2366b, and 2337 of title 10, United States Code, and section
832 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2012 (Public Law 112–81; 10 U.S.C. 2430 note).
(8) Recommendations for improving the consideration of
sustainment during the requirements, acquisition, cost
estimating, programming and budgeting processes.
(9) An assessment of whether research and development efforts
and adoption of commercial technologies is prioritized to
reduce sustainment costs.
(10) An assessment of whether alternate financing methods,
including share-in-savings approaches, public-private
partnerships, and energy savings performance contracts, could
be used to encourage the development and adoption of
technologies and practices that will reduce sustainment costs.
(11) An assessment of private sector best practices in
assessing and reducing sustainment costs for complex systems.
(b) Agreement With Independent
Entity.—Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Secretary shall enter into an agreement with an
independent entity with appropriate expertise to conduct the
review required by subsection (a). The Secretary shall ensure
that the independent entity has access to all data, information,
and personnel required, and is funded, to satisfactorily
complete the review required by subsection (a). The agreement
also shall require the entity to provide to the Secretary a
report on the findings of the entity.
(c) Briefing.—Not later than April 1, 2017, the Secretary shall
provide a briefing to the Committees on Armed Services of the
Senate and House of Representatives on the preliminary findings
of the independent entity.
(d) Submission To Congress.—Not later than August 1, 2017, the
Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees a
copy of the report of the independent entity, along with
comments on the report, proposed revisions or clarifications to
laws related to lifecycle management or sustainment planning for
major weapon systems, and a description of any actions the
Secretary may take to revise or clarify regulations and
practices related to life-cycle management or sustainment
planning for major weapon systems. |
Review and report on sustainment planning in the acquisition
process (sec. 844)
The House amendment contained a provision (sec. 814) that
would require the Secretary of Defense to enter into a contract
with an independent entity with appropriate expertise to conduct
an assessment of the extent to which sustainment matters are considered in
decisions related to requirements, acquisition, cost estimating,
and programming and budgeting for major defense acquisition
programs.
The Senate bill contained no similar
provision.
The Senate recedes with an amendment that would extend and
include additional elements in the review, such as an evaluation
of how well life-cycle sustainment strategies required under
section 2337 of title 10, United States Code, are incorporated
into the acquisition strategy required by section 2431a of title
10, United States Code, and other acquisition planning. |
