§5536 — Title 10 Armed Forces | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary of Defense must not approve final production or put a covered system into use unless realistic, enough testing shows a high probability the system will work in real operations and can do its intended mission, and the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation has done the required review. The Director must give the Secretary a written assessment based on test data about the testing’s sufficiency and whether the system will be effective, suitable, and survivable, and must send a summary of that assessment to the congressional defense committees. This rule does not change how the Missile Defense Agency joins JCIDS or the DoD 5000 acquisition process, nor limit the Secretary’s authority to deploy when the Secretary decides it is appropriate. Covered system means a new or substantially upgraded interceptor or weapon system for the ballistic missile defense system.

Title 10, §5536

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of Defense may not make a final production decision for, or operationally deploy, a covered system unless—

(1)the Secretary ensures that—

(A)sufficient and operationally realistic testing of the covered system is conducted to assess the performance of the covered system in order to inform a final production decision or an operational deployment decision; and

(B)the results of such testing have demonstrated a high probability that the covered system—

(i)will work in an operationally effective manner; and

(ii)has the ability to accomplish the intended mission of the covered system; and

(2)the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation has carried out subsection (b) with respect to such covered system.

(b)The Director of Operational Test and Evaluation shall—

(1)provide to the Secretary the assessment of the Director, based on the available test data, of the sufficiency, adequacy, and results of the testing of each covered system, including an assessment of whether the covered system will be sufficiently effective, suitable, and survivable when needed; and

(2)submit to the congressional defense committees a written summary of such assessment.

(c)Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter, modify, or otherwise affect a determination of the Secretary with respect to the participation of the Missile Defense Agency in the Joint Capabilities Integration Development System or the acquisition reporting process under the Department of Defense Directive 5000 series, or to diminish the authority of the Secretary of Defense to deploy a missile defense system at the date on which the Secretary determines appropriate.

(d)In this section, the term “covered system” means a new or substantially upgraded interceptor or weapon system of the ballistic missile defense system.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in Pub. L. 113–291, div. A, title XVI, § 1662, Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3657, as amended by Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title XVI, § 1677(b), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1774, which was set out in a note under section 4205 of this title, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 118–159, div. A, title XVI, § 1649(b)(9), Dec. 23, 2024, 138 Stat. 2199.

§5536 Testing and Assessment of Missile Defense Systems Prior to Production and Deployment

Summary

Title 10, §5536

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

Citations & Metadata