§118 — Title 10 Armed Forces | U.S. Code

Summary

Heads of the ten Defense Department components listed in section 111(b) must create and keep materiel readiness metrics. These metrics let leaders measure how ready forces are to carry out the strategic framework in section 113(g)(1)(B)(vii) and the guidance under section 113(g)(1)(B). The metrics must include a method to compute materiel availability, operational availability, operational capability, and materiel reliability for each major weapon system by mission, design series, variant, or class. Within one year after this subsection was enacted, each head must set materiel readiness objectives for every major weapon system. They must review and update those objectives each year and include any changes in the materials sent to Congress with the President’s budget. Within five days after the Secretary sends the budget materials, the Secretary must give Congress a sustainment report for the future-years defense program that assesses availability, operational availability, and reliability for each major system and explains any factors (like infrastructure, workforce, or supply chain problems) that could stop the Department from meeting the objectives. Also within five days, the Director of Cost Assessment and Performance Evaluation must give Congress a full estimate of funds needed to meet the readiness objectives through the most recent future-years defense program, showing amounts obligated by subactivity group two years before the budget year, amounts expected to be obligated by the end of the year before the budget year, and amounts budgeted across the future-years defense program. Definitions: major weapon system — meaning in section 101(a); materiel availability — percent of the total inventory that can perform its mission; materiel readiness objective — the minimum availability needed to meet the strategic framework and guidance; materiel reliability — the chance a system will work without failing over a set time; operational availability — percent of time a system is operationally capable; operationally capable — able to perform its assigned mission with no subsystem discrepancies.

Title 10, §118

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Each head of an element of the Department specified in paragraphs (1) through (10) of section 111(b) of this title shall establish and maintain materiel readiness metrics to enable assessment of the readiness of members of the armed forces to carry out—

(1)the strategic framework required by section 113(g)(1)(B)(vii) 11 See References in Text note below. of this title; and

(2)guidance issued by the Secretary of Defense pursuant to section 113(g)(1)(B) of this title.

(b)At a minimum, the materiel readiness metrics required by subsection (a) shall establish procedures and a computation methodology to determine the materiel availability, operational availability, operational capability, and materiel reliability of each major weapon system by designated mission, design series, variant, or class.

(c)(1)Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this subsection, each head of an element described in subsection (a) shall establish materiel readiness objectives for each major weapon system.

(2)Annually, each head of an element described in subsection (a) shall review and revise such materiel readiness objectives and include any such revisions in the materials submitted to Congress in support of the budget of the President under section 1105 of title 31.

(d)Not later than five days after the date on which the Secretary of Defense submits to Congress the materials in support of the budget of the President for a fiscal year, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees an annual report on major weapons systems sustainment for the period covered by the future years defense program specified by section 221 of this title. Such report shall include—

(1)an assessment of the materiel availability, operational availability, and materiel reliability for each major weapon system; and

(2)a detailed explanation of any factors that could preclude the Department of Defense or any of the military departments from meeting applicable materiel readiness objectives, such as infrastructure, workforce, or supply chain considerations.

(e)Not later than five days after the date on which the Secretary of Defense submits to Congress the materials in support of the budget of the President for a fiscal year, the Director of Cost Assessment and Performance Evaluation shall submit to the congressional defense committees a comprehensive estimate of the funds necessary to meet the materiel readiness objectives required by subsection (c) through the period covered by the most recent future-years defense program. At a minimum, the Director shall provide, for each major weapon system, by designated mission, design series, variant, or class, a comprehensive estimate of the funds necessary to meet such objectives that—

(1)have been obligated by subactivity group within the operation and maintenance accounts for the second fiscal year preceding the budget year;

(2)the Director estimates will have been obligated by subactivity group within the operation and maintenance accounts by the end of the fiscal year preceding the budget year; and

(3)have been budgeted and programmed across the future years defense program within the operation and maintenance accounts by subactivity group.

(f)In this section:

(1)The term “major weapon system” has the meaning given in section 101(a) of this title.

(2)The term “materiel availability” means a measure of the percentage of the total inventory of a major weapon system that is operationally capable of performing an assigned mission.

(3)The term “materiel readiness objective” means the minimum required availability of each covered system that is necessary to fulfill the requirements of the strategic framework and guidance referred to in subsection (a).

(4)The term “materiel reliability” means the probability that a major weapon system will perform without failure over a specified interval.

(5)The term “operational availability” means a measure of the percentage of time a major weapon system is operationally capable.

(6)The term “operationally capable” means a materiel condition indicating that a major weapon system is capable of performing its assigned mission and has no discrepancies with a subsystem of a major weapon system.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 113(g)(1)(B)(vii) of this title, referred to in subsec. (a)(1), was repealed and section 113(g)(1)(B)(viii) was redesignated as section 113(g)(1)(B)(vii) by Pub. L. 119–60, div. A, title IX, § 901(a)(2), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1007. section 113(g)(1)(B)(vii), as so redesignated, relates to a strategic framework prescribed by the Secretary of Defense that guides how the Department of Defense will prioritize and integrate certain activities. The date of the enactment of this subsection, referred to in subsec. (c), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 116–283, which was approved Jan. 1, 2021.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 118, added Pub. L. 106–65, div. A, title IX, § 901(a)(1), Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 715; amended Pub. L. 107–107, div. A, title IX, § 921(a), Dec. 28, 2001, 115 Stat. 1198; Pub. L. 107–314, div. A, title IX, §§ 922, 923, Dec. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 2623; Pub. L. 109–364, div. A, title X, § 1031(c)–(f), Oct. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 2385, 2386; Pub. L. 110–181, div. A, title IX, §§ 941(b), 951(a), Jan. 28, 2008, 122 Stat. 287, 290; Pub. L. 111–84, div. A, title X, §§ 1002, 1073(a)(2), div. B, title XXVIII, § 2822(b), Oct. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 2439, 2472, 2666; Pub. L. 111–383, div. A, title X, § 1071, Jan. 7, 2011, 124 Stat. 4364; Pub. L. 112–81, div. A, title VIII, § 820(a), title IX, § 942, Dec. 31, 2011, 125 Stat. 1501, 1548; Pub. L. 113–291, div. A, title X, §§ 1071(c)(2), (f)(1), 1072(a)(1), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3508, 3510, 3512, related to quadrennial defense strategy review by Secretary of Defense, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title IX, § 941(b)(1), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2367. Another prior section 118, added Pub. L. 97–295, § 1(2)(A), Oct. 12, 1982, 96 Stat. 1288, § 133b; renumbered § 118, Pub. L. 99–433, title I, § 101(a)(2), Oct. 1, 1986, 100 Stat. 994, required reports to Congress on sales or transfers of defense articles, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 101–510, div. A, title XIII, § 1301(2), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1668.

Amendments

2025—Pub. L. 119–60, § 1803(d)(1), inserted “materiel readiness” before “objectives” in section catchline. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1803(d)(2), substituted “shall establish procedures and a computation methodology to determine” for “shall address”. Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1803(d)(3)(A), substituted “materiel readiness objectives for each major weapon system.” for “the metrics required by subsection (b) necessary to support the strategic framework and guidance referred to in paragraph (1) and (2) of subsection (a).” Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1803(d)(3)(B), substituted “such materiel readiness objectives” for “the metrics required by subsection (b)”. Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1803(d)(4), substituted “materiel readiness objectives” for “readiness goals or objectives”. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1803(d)(5), inserted comma after “designated mission” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (f)(1). Pub. L. 119–60, § 811(c)(2)(A), substituted “section 101(a)” for “section 3455(f)”. Subsec. (f)(3) to (6). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1803(d)(6), added par. (3) and redesignated former pars. (3) to (5) as (4) to (6), respectively. 2022—Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 117–263, § 351(a)(1), substituted “objectives, such as infrastructure, workforce, or supply chain considerations” for “objectives”. Subsecs. (e), (f). Pub. L. 117–263, § 351(a)(2), (3), added subsec. (e) and redesignated former subsec. (e) as (f). 2021—Pub. L. 116–283, § 347(a)(1), amended section catchline generally. Prior to amendment, catchline read as follows: “Annual report on major weapons systems sustainment”. Subsecs. (a) to (c). Pub. L. 116–283, § 347(a)(3), added subsecs. (a) to (c). Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 116–283, § 347(a)(2), designated existing provisions as subsec. (d) and inserted heading. Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 116–283, § 347(a)(4)(A), substituted “operational availability, and materiel reliability for each major weapon system” for “materiel reliability, and mean down time metrics for each major weapons system” and inserted “and” at end. Subsec. (d)(3). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1081(a)(6), which directed inserting “and” after “ ‘materiel and operational capability’,”, could not be executed because of the prior amendment by section 347(a)(4)(C) of Pub. L. 116–283. See below. Pub. L. 116–283, § 347(a)(4)(C), struck out par. (3). Text read as follows: “an assessment of the validity and effectiveness of the definitions used to determine defense readiness, including the terms ‘major weapons system’, ‘covered asset’, ‘total and required inventory’, ‘materiel and operational availability’, ‘materiel and operational capability’, ‘materiel and operational reliability’ ”. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 116–283, § 347(a)(5), added subsec. (e). Subsec. (e)(1). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1883(b)(2), substituted “section 3455” for “section 2379”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2021 AmendmentAmendment by 1883(b)(2) of Pub. L. 116–283 effective Jan. 1, 2022, with additional provisions for delayed implementation and applicability of existing law, see section 1801(d) of Pub. L. 116–283, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title. Phased Implementation Pub. L. 117–263, div. A, title III, § 351(b), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 2533, provided that: “The Director of Cost Assessment and Performance Evaluation may meet the requirements of subsection (e) of section 118 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), through a phased submission of the funding estimates required under such subsection. In conducting a phased implementation, the Director shall ensure that— “(1) for the budget request for fiscal year 2024, funding estimates are provided for a representative sample by military department of at least one-third of the major weapon systems; “(2) for the budget request for fiscal year 2025, funding estimates are provided for an additional one-third of the major weapon systems; and “(3) full implementation for all major weapons systems is completed not later than five days after the date on which the Secretary of Defense submits to Congress the materials in support of the budget of the President for fiscal year 2026.”

§118 Materiel readiness metrics and materiel readiness objectives for major weapon systems