§2350e — Title 10 Armed Forces | U.S. Code

§2350e NATO Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) program: authority of Secretary of Defense

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— - General Military Law › Part PART IV— - SERVICE, SUPPLY, AND PROPERTY › Chapter CHAPTER 138— - COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH NATO ALLIES AND OTHER COUNTRIES › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - OTHER COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS › § 2350e

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Gives the Secretary of Defense the power to skip charging for certain technical and admin work done by people who are not part of the U.S. Air Force AWACS program office, such as auditing, quality assurance, codification, inspections, contract administration, acceptance testing, certification, and planning and management. The Secretary can also drop administrative surcharges and agree to take on some contingent program costs: losses from a U.S. contracting officer’s gross negligence, identifiable U.S. taxes and customs on the program, and the U.S. share of unfunded termination liability. Contracting authority applies only to money Congress provides in appropriation Acts. "AWACS memorandum of understanding" refers to three NATO E–3A agreements (Dec. 6, 1978; Sept. 26, 1984; Addendum Dec. 7, 1990) and any follow-on support agreements.

Title 10, §2350e

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of Defense, in carrying out an AWACS memorandum of understanding, may do the following:

(1)Waive reimbursement for the cost of the following functions performed by personnel other than personnel employed in the United States Air Force Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) program office:

(A)Auditing.

(B)Quality assurance.

(C)Codification.

(D)Inspection.

(E)Contract administration.

(F)Acceptance testing.

(G)Certification services.

(H)Planning, programming, and management services.

(2)Waive any surcharge for administrative services otherwise chargeable.

(3)In connection with that Program, assume contingent liability for—

(A)program losses resulting from the gross negligence of any contracting officer of the United States;

(B)identifiable taxes, customs duties, and other charges levied within the United States on the program; and

(C)the United States share of the unfunded termination liability.

(b)Authority under this section to enter into contracts shall be effective for any fiscal year only to such extent or in such amounts as are provided in appropriation Acts.

(c)In this section, the term “AWACS memorandum of understanding” means—

(1)the Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding Between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Defence on the NATO E–3A Cooperative Programme, signed by the Secretary of Defense on December 6, 1978;

(2)the Memorandum of Understanding for Operations and Support of the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force, signed by the United States Ambassador to NATO on September 26, 1984;

(3)the Addendum to the Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding Between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Defence on the NATO E–3A Cooperative Programme (dated December 6, 1978) relating to the modernization of the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control (NAEW&C) System, dated December 7, 1990; and

(4)any other follow-on support agreement for the NATO E–3A Cooperative Programme.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in Pub. L. 97–86, title I, § 103, Dec. 1, 1981, 95 Stat. 1100, as amended, which was set out as a note under section 2407 of this title, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 101–189, § 932(b).

Amendments

1993—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 103–160 struck out subsec. (d) which read as follows: “Expiration.—The authority provided by this section expires on September 30, 1993.” 1991—Subsec. (c)(3), (4). Pub. L. 102–190, § 1051(1), added par. (3) and redesignated former par. (3) as (4). Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 102–190, § 1051(2), substituted “1993” for “1991”.