§4424 Mechanisms to speed deployment of successful weapon system component or technology prototypes

Summary

A military department’s top weapons buyer can pick a prototype project for follow-on production without a new competition if four things are true: the next step meets a high-priority warfighter need or cuts weapon costs; the original prototype work was awarded by competition; the people who did the prototype finished their tasks successfully; and the prototype was shown to work in a real-world-type setting. If Congress allows it ahead of time in the appropriations laws, the service secretary can move leftover procurement money to pay for a small initial production run until full funding is approved. That transfer can last no more than 2 years, be no more than $50,000,000, and can be used only once for the same system. This power is in addition to other transfer authorities. Within 30 days of selecting a project, the acquisition head must notify the congressional defense committees and give a short description.