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Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73

§4232 Prohibition on use of lowest price technically acceptable source selection process

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— - General Military Law › Part PART V— - ACQUISITION › Subpart Subpart F— - Major Systems, Major Defense Acquisition Programs, and Weapon Systems Development › Chapter CHAPTER 322— - MAJOR SYSTEMS AND MAJOR DEFENSE ACQUISITION PROGRAMS GENERALLY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - CONTRACTING › § 4232

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

DoD must not use LPTA (lowest-price, technically acceptable) to pick a winner for the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) prime contract on a major defense acquisition program. LPTA — defined in FAR part 15. EMD prime contract — the program’s prime contract to do the engineering and manufacturing development.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §4232

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Department of Defense shall not use a lowest price technically acceptable source selection process for the engineering and manufacturing development contract of a major defense acquisition program.
(b)In this section:
(1)The term “lowest price technically acceptable source selection process” has the meaning given that term in part 15 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
(2)The term “engineering and manufacturing development contract” means a prime contract for the engineering and manufacturing development of a major defense acquisition program.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2021—Pub. L. 116–283 renumbered section 2442 of this title as this section and, in subsec. (b), redesignated par. (3) as (2) and struck out former par. (2) which defined “major defense acquisition program”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2021 AmendmentAmendment by 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.

Effective Date

Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title VIII, § 832(b), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1468, provided that: “The requirements of section 2442 of title 10, United States Code [now 10 U.S.C. 4232], as added by subsection (a), shall apply to major defense acquisition programs for which budgetary authority is requested for fiscal year 2019 or a subsequent fiscal year.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 4232

Title 10 — Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73