10 U.S.C. § 4212: Risk management and…

§4212 Risk Management and Mitigation in Major Defense Acquisition Programs and Major Systems

Title 10 › Subtitle A — General Military Law › PART V — ACQUISITION › Subpart F — Major Systems, Major Defense Acquisition Programs, and Weapon Systems Development › CHAPTER 322 — MAJOR SYSTEMS AND MAJOR DEFENSE ACQUISITION PROGRAMS GENERALLY › SUBCHAPTER I — MANAGEMENT › § 4212

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Defense must make sure the acquisition plan approved by the milestone decision authority, and any later updates, has a clear way to manage and reduce technical, cost, and schedule risks before three key steps: before engineering and manufacturing development, before initial production, and before full-rate production. The plan must also point out the main risks for each of those times so leaders can make better choices and limit or control overlapping program steps (called concurrency). The plan must consider risk-reduction methods like prototyping (system, subsystem, or component level, and competitive prototypes when useful; if no prototyping is used, explain why), modeling and simulation and any new tools needed, technology demonstrations with decision points, multiple and alternative designs (including lower-performance options), phasing work to address high risks early, attention to manufacturability and industrial base availability, outside expert risk reviews, and schedule and funding margins. To the maximum extent practicable and consistent with using funds wisely, the milestone decision authority for each major defense acquisition program must provide for competitive system- or subsystem-level prototypes before Milestone B approval, or if that is not practical, at least a single prototype. Concurrency means overlap of program phases or activities.

Title 10, §4212

Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Requirement.—

The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the initial acquisition strategy (required under section 4211 of this title) approved by the milestone decision authority and any subsequent revisions include the following:

(1)A comprehensive approach for managing and mitigating risk (including technical, cost, and schedule risk) during each of the following periods or when determined appropriate by the milestone decision authority:

(A)The period preceding engineering manufacturing development, or its equivalent.

(B)The period preceding initial production.

(C)The period preceding full-rate production.

(2)An identification of the major sources of risk in each of the periods listed in paragraph (1) to improve programmatic decisionmaking and appropriately minimize and manage program concurrency.

(b)Approach to Manage and Mitigate Risks.—

The comprehensive approach to manage and mitigate risk included in the acquisition strategy for purposes of subsection (a)(1) shall, at a minimum, include consideration of risk mitigation techniques such as the following:

(1)Prototyping (including prototyping at the system, subsystem, or component level and competitive prototyping, where appropriate) and, if prototyping at either the system, subsystem, or component level is not used, an explanation of why it is not appropriate.

(2)Modeling and simulation, the areas that modeling and simulation will assess, and identification of the need for development of any new modeling and simulation tools in order to support the comprehensive strategy.

(3)Technology demonstrations and decision points for disciplined transition of planned technologies into programs or the selection of alternative technologies.

(4)Multiple design approaches.

(5)Alternative designs, including any designs that meet requirements but do so with reduced performance.

(6)Phasing of program activities or related technology development efforts in order to address high-risk areas as early as feasible.

(7)Manufacturability and industrial base availability.

(8)Independent risk element assessments by outside subject matter experts.

(9)Schedule and funding margins for identified risks.

(c)Preference for Prototyping.—

To the maximum extent practicable and consistent with the economical use of available financial resources, the milestone decision authority for each major defense acquisition program shall ensure that the acquisition strategy for the program provides for— (1)

(2)if the production of competitive prototypes is not practicable, the production of single prototypes at the system or subsystem level.

(d)Concurrency Defined.—

In this section, the term “concurrency” means, with respect to an acquisition strategy, the combination or overlap of program phases or activities.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2021—Pub. L. 116–283, § 1847(b)(3), renumbered section 2431b of this title as this section. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1847(b)(3)(A), substituted “section 4211” for “section 2431a”. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1847(b)(3)(B), substituted “Concurrency Defined” for “Definitions” in subsec. heading, struck out par. (1) designation and heading, substituted “In this section, the term” for “The term”, and struck out par. (2) which defined “major defense acquisition program” and “major system”. 2016—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 114–328 amended subsec. (d) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (d) defined terms “major defense acquisition program” and “major system”.

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.