15 U.S.C. § 4653: Department of Defense

Summary

The Secretary of Defense must, if money is available, set up a public-private partnership with help from the Secretaries of Commerce, Energy, Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence. The goal is to encourage one or more business consortia to make and research microelectronics that meet measurable security standards—like chips, memory, and the packaging and testing that go with them—for the military, intelligence community, and other national security uses. Incentives can include grants under section 4652 and support for building, expanding, or modernizing U.S. factories or research sites. Companies chosen may design, make, assemble, package, or test critical microelectronics; they can be fabless firms moving onshore or other firms that co-invest. Participants must manage supply-chain security and meet the security standards set under section 224(b) of the FY2020 NDAA. The Secretary and the Director of National Intelligence pick participants and may consider past work on relevant DoD, DOE, or intelligence research programs (for example, IARPA, DARPA, ARPA‑E, or DoD trusted microelectronics efforts), ongoing work for the Department, security approvals by DCSA or ODNI, and periodic checks for foreign ownership or influence. The Defense Department can use many types of agreements to attract commercial or nontraditional contractors and will carry out this work mainly through its Research and Engineering and Acquisition and Sustainment offices. The Department may also support radio‑frequency, mixed‑signal, and radiation‑tolerant/hardened microelectronics, must make a plan to keep trusted microelectronics for current and legacy systems, and must hire the National Academies to study public‑private partnership options with a report due by October 1, 2022. The Secretary had to report plans to Congress within 90 days after January 1, 2021, and the Comptroller General must report one year after that report and then at least every two years for 10 years. If money is available, the Secretary must also create a national microelectronics R&D network to move lab ideas into fabrication and boost U.S. leadership. The network must fund cost‑effective exploration, prototyping in U.S. facilities to protect intellectual property, and faster tech transfer to domestic makers. The Secretary will pick two or more entities by competition and should try to ensure geographic diversity.

Title 15, §4653

Commerce and Trade, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Department of Defense efforts

(1)In general

Subject to the availability of appropriations for such purposes, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence, shall establish a public-private partnership through which the Secretary shall work to incentivize the formation of one or more consortia of companies (or other such partnerships of private-sector entities, as appropriate) to ensure the development and production of measurably secure microelectronics, including integrated circuits, logic devices, memory, and the packaging and testing practices that support these microelectronic components by the Department of Defense, the intelligence community, critical infrastructure sectors, and other national security applications. Such incentives may include the use of grants under section 4652 of this title, and providing incentives for the creation, expansion, or modernization of one or more commercially competitive and sustainable microelectronics manufacturing or advanced research and development facilities in the United States.

(2)Risk mitigation requirements

A participant in a consortium formed with incentives under paragraph (1)—

(A)shall have the potential to enable design, perform fabrication, assembly, package, or test functions for microelectronics deemed critical to national security as defined by the National Security Advisor and the Secretary of Defense;

(B)may be a fabless company migrating its designs to the facility envisioned in paragraph (1) or migrating to an existing facility onshore;

(C)may be companies, including fabless companies and companies that procure large quantities of microelectronics, willing to co-invest to achieve the objectives set forth in paragraph (1);

(D)shall include management processes to identify and mitigate supply chain security risks; and

(E)shall be capable of providing microelectronic components that are consistent with applicable measurably secure supply chain and operational security standards established under section 224(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92).

(3)National security considerations

The Secretary of Defense and the Director of National Intelligence shall select participants for each consortium and or partnership formed with incentives under paragraph (1). In selecting such participants, the Secretary and the Director may jointly consider whether the companies—

(A)have participated in previous programs and projects of the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, or the intelligence community, including—

(i)the Trusted Integrated Circuit program of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity;

(ii)trusted and assured microelectronics projects, as administered by the Department of Defense;

(iii)the Electronics Resurgence Initiative program of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; or

(iv)relevant semiconductor research programs of the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy;

(B)have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to performing contracts for the Department of Defense and the intelligence community;

(C)are approved by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency or the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as presenting an acceptable security risk, taking into account supply chain assurance vulnerabilities, counterintelligence risks, and any risks presented by companies whose beneficial owners are located outside the United States; and

(D)are evaluated periodically for foreign ownership, control, or influence by a foreign entity of concern.

(4)Nontraditional defense contractors and commercial entities

Arrangements entered into to carry out paragraph (1) shall be in such form as the Secretary of Defense determines appropriate to encourage industry participation of nontraditional defense contractors or commercial entities and may include a contract, a grant, a cooperative agreement, a commercial agreement, the use of other transaction authority under section 2371 of title 10 or another such arrangement.

(5)Implementation

Subject to the availability of appropriations for such purposes, the Secretary of Defense—

(A)shall carry out paragraph (1) jointly through the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment; and

(B)may carry out paragraph (1) in collaboration with any such other component of the Department of Defense as the Secretary of Defense considers appropriate.

(6)Other initiatives

(A)Required initiatives

Subject to the availability of appropriations for such purposes, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, as appropriate, may dedicate initiatives within the Department of Defense to carry out activities to advance radio frequency, mixed signal, radiation tolerant, and radiation hardened microelectronics that support national security and dual-use applications.

(B)Support plan required

The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the heads of appropriate departments and agencies of the Federal Government, shall develop a plan, including assessment of resource requirements and designation of responsible officials, for the maintenance of capabilities to produce trusted and assured microelectronics to support current and legacy defense systems, other government systems essential for national security, and critical infrastructure of the United States, especially for items with otherwise limited commercial demand.

(C)Assessment of public private partnerships and activities

In conjunction with the activities carried out under this section, the Secretary of Defense shall enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine to undertake a study to make recommendations and provide policy options for optimal public-private partnerships and partnership activities, including an analysis of establishing a semiconductor manufacturing corporation to leverage private sector technical, managerial, and investment expertise, and private capital, as well as an assessment of and response to the industrial policies of other nations to support industries in similar critical technology sectors, and deliver such study to the congressional defense committees not later than October 1, 2022.

(7)Reports

(A)Report by Secretary of Defense

Not later than 90 days after January 1, 2021, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report on the plans of the Secretary to carry out paragraphs (1) and (6).

(B)Biennial reports by Comptroller General of the United States

Not later than one year after the date on which the Secretary submits the report required by subparagraph (A) and not less frequently than once every two years thereafter for a period of 10 years, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report on the activities carried out under this subsection.

(b)National network for microelectronics research and development

(1)In general

Subject to the availability of appropriations for such purposes, the Secretary of Defense shall establish a national network for microelectronics research and development—

(A)to enable the laboratory to fabrication transition of microelectronics innovations in the United States; and

(B)to expand the global leadership in microelectronics of the United States.

(2)Activities

The national network for microelectronics research and development shall—

(A)enable cost effective exploration of new materials, devices, and architectures, and prototyping in domestic facilities to safeguard domestic intellectual property;

(B)accelerate the transition of new technologies to domestic microelectronics manufacturers; and

(C)conduct other relevant activities deemed necessary by the Secretary of Defense for accomplishing the purposes of the national network for microelectronics research and development.

(3)Selection of entities

(A)In general

In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall, through a competitive process, select two or more entities to carry out the activities described in paragraph (2) as part of the network established under paragraph (1).

(B)Geographic diversity

The Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, ensure that the entities selected under subparagraph (A) collectively represent the geographic diversity of the United States.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 224 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, referred to in subsec. (a)(2)(E), is section 224 of Pub. L. 116–92, which is set out as a note preceding section 4501 of Title 10, Armed Forces. Section 2371 of title 10, referred to in subsec. (a)(4), was renumbered section 4021 of Title 10, Armed Forces, by Pub. L. 116–283, § 1841(b)(1), as amended by Pub. L. 117–81, § 1701(u)(2)(B), Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 2151.

Amendments

2021—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 117–81, § 217(1), substituted “shall” for “may” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 117–81, § 217(2), added par. (3).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

“Congressional Defense Committees” Defined For definition of “congressional defense committees” as the Committees on Armed Services and Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives, see section 101 of Title 10, Armed Forces, as made applicable by section 3 of Pub. L. 116–283, which is listed in a table under section 101 of Title 10.

§4653 Department of Defense