§8029 Naval Air Warfare Rapid Capabilities Office

Summary

Creates a Naval Air Warfare Rapid Capabilities Office inside the Department of the Navy. The office’s leader must be picked by the Commander of the Naval Air Systems Command. The office must find and quickly build new naval aviation weapons and airborne electronic warfare systems, find new ways to use existing systems, and try other ideas to make those systems better. It must help with fast experiments, development, testing, and putting both unclassified and classified systems into use. For buying goods and services, Navy contracting officials may use the adaptive acquisition framework or other faster contracting paths, and the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System process does not apply. The Navy must set aside separate budget lines for these rapid naval air warfare efforts. An executive oversight board made up of the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, and the Commander of the Naval Air Systems Command will set priorities and approve projects. Each year the office head must report to that board, and then the Assistant Secretary must brief the Armed Services Committees of Congress. The report and briefing must cover funding for office projects, the capability gaps the office addressed, progress in experimenting, developing, testing, and fielding capabilities, and any barriers the office faced, including legal or regulatory ones.