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119-s-4682119th Congress

Ultimate Human Responsibility in Defense Systems Act of 2026

Sponsored By: Senator Kelly, Mark [D-AZ]

Introduced

Summary

Ultimate human responsibility in defense systems. This bill requires the Department of Defense to design, test, and operate autonomous weapons and AI so a human can understand decisions, supervise missions, intervene, and stop force when needed.

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  • Families and civilians: Creates a Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Office to prevent, mitigate, and respond to civilian harm and to provide regular reports to Congress.
  • Service members and operators: Requires formal training pipelines, certification in human‑machine teaming, ongoing proficiency assessments and retraining after software updates, and protections for operators who report safety or reliability concerns.
  • Department of Defense and oversight: Forces design rules like human supervision, fail‑safes, manual control options, and record keeping of decision logic and operator actions. It also requires independent red‑team testing and certification before fielding, published AI testing standards within 18 months, and an incident repository to track malfunctions and near misses.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

4 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.

New Training for Autonomous Weapons

If enacted, the Secretary of Defense would require formal training pipelines and certifications for operators, commanders, and supervisors of autonomous weapon systems. The bill would require human‑machine teaming certification, Combat Training Center integration, and mandatory training for denied and contested environments such as loss of GPS or degraded communications. It would require continuous retraining tied to software updates and a protected reporting mechanism for operator concerns.

Office to Reduce Civilian Harm

If enacted, the Secretary of Defense would create a Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Office inside the Office of the Secretary of Defense. A senior official would lead the office. The office would make and coordinate policies to prevent and respond to civilian harm in military operations. It would support training and doctrine, help with investigations and assessments, and send regular reports to Congress.

Testing and Certification for Autonomous Weapons

If enacted, the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation would have to review and certify any DoD autonomous weapon system that can select and engage targets on its own before fielding. The bill would require independent red-team adversarial testing in contested and degraded conditions and retesting after major software updates or operational changes. The Director would publish testing standards for AI components on a public website within 18 months. The bill also preserves development of interceptor systems when human supervision remains part of the design.

Incident Reporting and Congress Briefings

If enacted, the Secretary of Defense would create an Autonomous Weapon System Incident Repository to collect and analyze incidents, near misses, malfunctions, and unintended behavior. The repository would be modeled on aviation safety reporting and would protect sensitive information under classification rules. The Secretary would give classified briefings to congressional defense committees at least every six months and must send an initial public report within one year and semiannual reports for six years summarizing systems, compliance steps, and recommendations.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Kelly, Mark [D-AZ]

AZ • D

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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