I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3626 

To authorize the Secretary of Defense to carry out research, development, 

test, and evaluation activities, on a joint basis with the United Kingdom, 

to establish directed energy capabilities that address threats to the 

United States, deployed forces of the United States, or the United 

Kingdom, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 5, 2019 

Mr. TED LIEU of California (for himself, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. LANGEVIN, and 

Mr. LAMBORN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Defense to carry out research, 

development, test, and evaluation activities, on a joint 

basis with the United Kingdom, to establish directed 

energy capabilities that address threats to the United 

States, deployed forces of the United States, or the 

United Kingdom, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3626 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-United 

3 Kingdom Directed Energy Cooperation Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Directed energy platforms are electro7 magnetic systems capable of converting chemical or 

8 electrical energy to radiated energy and focusing it 

9 on a target, resulting in physical damage that de10 grades or neutralizes an adversarial capability. 

11 These systems include high-energy lasers that emit 

12 photons and high-power microwaves that release ra13 diofrequency waves. 

14 (2) Directed energy platforms hold enormous 

15 potential for non-lethal, defensive capabilities, in16 cluding protection against advanced missiles and 

17 swarms of unmanned aerial systems. 

18 (3) At a fraction of the per-use cost of kinetic 

19 defense platforms, directed energy capabilities could 

20 greatly enhance the deterrence posture of the United 

21 States and protect against emerging threats such as 

22 hypersonic and maneuverable missiles. 

23 (4) Collaboration between the United States 

24 and the United Kingdom on the development and 

25 application of directed energy weapon technologies 

26 can be traced back to 2010. The UK/US Directed 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3626 IH

1 Energy Symposium was created under bilateral ex2 change agreements between the United States and 

3 the United Kingdom, covering topics such as high4 energy lasers, modeling and simulation, and protec5 tion against high-power radio frequency weapons. 

6 (5) In response to technological advances and 

7 emerging threats, the United States has increased 

8 investments in next-generation directed energy capa9 bilities and is exploring the potential for boost-phase 

10 ballistic missile defense with the Low-Power Laser 

11 Demonstrator program. Existing programs within 

12 each service branch are developing technologies to 

13 protect members of the Armed Forces from rocket, 

14 artillery, mortar, and unmanned aerial systems. 

15 (6) In 2017, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of 

16 Defence awarded £30M to an international defense 

17 consortium to build a prototype for the Laser Di18 rected Energy Weapon (LDEW) Capability Demon19 strator. The air defense system will be capable of en20 gaging targets in land and maritime environments. 

21 (7) In 2017, the United Kingdom’s Minister for 

22 Defence Procurement Harriett Baldwin said, ‘‘The 

23 UK has long enjoyed a reputation as a world leader 

24 in innovation and it is truly ground-breaking 

25 projects like the Laser Directed Energy Weapon 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3626 IH

1 which will keep this country ahead of the curve. The 

2 Defense Innovation Initiative and £800M Defense 

3 Innovation Fund aim to encourage imagination, in4 genuity and entrepreneurship, in pursuit of main5 taining a military advantage in the future.’’. 

6 (8) In 2018, while offering remarks at the Di7 rected Energy Summit, Undersecretary of Defense 

8 for Research and Engineering Michael Griffin ex9 pressed support for the United States partnering 

10 with allies to develop directed energy technologies. 

11 (9) In 2019, the United States Missile Defense 

12 Review highlighted the promise that high-powered 

13 laser technology holds for boost-phase ballistic mis14 sile defense. 

15 SEC. 3. UNITED STATES-UNITED KINGDOM DIRECTED EN16 ERGY CAPABILITIES COOPERATION. 

17 (a) AUTHORITY.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, 

19 upon request of the United Kingdom’s Secretary of 

20 State for Defence and with the concurrence of the 

21 Secretary of State, is authorized to carry out re22 search, development, test, and evaluation activities, 

23 on a joint basis with the United Kingdom, to estab24 lish directed energy capabilities that address threats 

25 to the United States, deployed forces of the United 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3626 IH

1 States, or the United Kingdom. Any activities car2 ried out pursuant to such authority shall be con3 ducted in a manner that appropriately protects sen4 sitive information and the national security interests 

5 of the United States and the national security inter6 ests of the United Kingdom. 

7 (2) REPORT.—The activities described in para8 graph (1) may be carried out after the Secretary of 

9 Defense submits to the appropriate committees of 

10 Congress a report setting forth the following: 

11 (A) A memorandum of agreement between 

12 the United States and the United Kingdom re13 garding sharing of research and development 

14 costs for the capabilities described in paragraph 

15 (1), and any supporting documents. 

16 (B) A certification that the memorandum 

17 of agreement— 

18 (i) requires sharing of costs of 

19 projects, including in-kind support, be20 tween the United States and the United 

21 Kingdom; 

22 (ii) establishes a framework to nego23 tiate the rights to any intellectual property 

24 developed under the memorandum of 

25 agreement; and 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 3626 IH

1 (iii) requires the United States Gov2 ernment to receive semiannual reports on 

3 expenditure of funds, if any, by the Gov4 ernment of the United Kingdom, including 

5 a description of what the funds have been 

6 used for, when funds were expended, and 

7 an identification of entities that expended 

8 the funds. 

9 (b) SUPPORT IN CONNECTION WITH ACTIVITIES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense is 

11 authorized to provide maintenance and sustainment 

12 support to the United Kingdom for the directed en13 ergy capabilities research, development, test, and 

14 evaluation activities authorized in subsection (a)(1). 

15 Such authority includes authority to install equip16 ment necessary to carry out such research, develop17 ment, test, and evaluation. 

18 (2) REPORT.—The support described in para19 graph (1) may not be provided until 15 days after 

20 the Secretary of Defense submits to the appropriate 

21 committees of Congress a report setting forth a de22 tailed description of the support to be provided. 

23 (3) MATCHING CONTRIBUTION.—The support 

24 described in paragraph (1) may not be provided un25 less the Secretary of Defense certifies to the approVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:28 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3626.IH H3626

pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 3626 IH

1 priate committees of Congress that the Government 

2 of the United Kingdom will contribute to such sup3 port— 

4 (A) an amount equal to not less than the 

5 amount of support to be so provided; or 

6 (B) an amount that otherwise meets the 

7 best efforts of the United Kingdom, as mutually 

8 agreed to by the United States and the United 

9 Kingdom. 

10 (c) LEAD AGENCY.—The Secretary of Defense shall 

11 designate an appropriate research and development entity 

12 of a military department as the lead agency of the Depart13 ment of Defense in carrying out this section. 

14 (d) SEMIANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary of De15 fense shall submit to the appropriate committees of Con16 gress on a semiannual basis a report that contains a copy 

17 of the most recent semiannual report provided by the Gov18 ernment of the United Kingdom to the Department of De19 fense pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(B)(iii). 

20 (e) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE21 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit22 tees of Congress’’ means— 

23 (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

24 Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 

25 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 3626 IH

1 Committee on Appropriations, and the Select Com2 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate; and 

3 (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

4 Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on 

5 Homeland Security, the Committee on Appropria6 tions, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intel7 ligence of the House of Representatives. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS