II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2573

To coordinate and facilitate the development by the Department of Defense

of directed energy technologies, systems, and weapons, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 17, 2000

Mr. DOMENICI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Armed Services

A BILL

To coordinate and facilitate the development by the Department of Defense of directed energy technologies, systems,

and weapons, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Directed Energy

5 Coordination and Consolidation Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. COORDINATION AND FACILITATION OF DEVELOP7 MENT OF DIRECTED ENERGY TECH8 NOLOGIES, SYSTEMS, AND WEAPONS.

9 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find10 ings:
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1 (1) Directed energy systems are available to ad2 dress many current challenges with respect to mili3 tary weapons, including offensive weapons and de4 fensive weapons.

5 (2) Directed energy weapons offer the potential

6 to maintain an asymmetrical technological edge over

7 adversaries of the United States for the foreseeable

8 future.

9 (3) It is in the national interest that funding

10 for directed energy science and technology programs

11 be increased in order to support priority acquisition

12 programs and to develop new technologies for future

13 applications.

14 (4) It is in the national interest that the level

15 of funding for directed energy science and tech16 nology programs correspond to the level of funding

17 for such large-scale demonstration programs in

18 order to ensure the growth of directed energy science

19 and technology programs and to ensure the success20 ful development of other weapons systems utilizing

21 directed energy systems.

22 (5) The industrial base for several critical di23 rected energy technologies is in fragile condition and

24 lacks appropriate incentives to make the large-scale

25 investments that are necessary to address current
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1 and anticipated Department of Defense require2 ments for such technologies.

3 (6) It is in the national interest that the De4 partment of Defense utilize and expand upon di5 rected energy research currently being conducted by

6 the Department of Energy, other Federal agencies,

7 the private sector, and academia.

8 (7) It is increasingly difficult for the Federal

9 Government to recruit and retain personnel with

10 skills critical to directed energy technology develop11 ment.

12 (8) The implementation of the recommenda13 tions contained in the High Energy Laser Master

14 Plan of the Department of Defense will address

15 these critical issues and is in the national interest.

16 (9) Implementation of the management struc17 ture outlined in the Master Plan will facilitate the

18 development of revolutionary capabilities in directed

19 energy weapons by achieving a coordinated and fo20 cused investment strategy under a new management

21 structure featuring a joint technology office with

22 senior-level oversight provided by a technology coun23 cil and a board of directors.

24 (b) COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT UNDER HIGH

25 ENERGY LASER MASTER PLAN.—(1) Subchapter II of
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1 Chapter 8 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by

2 adding at the end the following new section:

3 ‘‘§ 204. Joint Technology Office

4 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—(1) There is in the Depart5 ment of Defense a Joint Technology Office (in this section

6 referred to as the ‘Office’).

7 ‘‘(2) The Office shall be part of the National Directed

8 Energy Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico.

9 ‘‘(3) The Office shall be under the authority, direc10 tion, and control of the Deputy Under Secretary of De11 fense for Science and Technology.

12 ‘‘(b) STAFF.—(1) The head of the Office shall be a

13 civilian employee of the Department of Defense in the

14 Senior Executive Service who is designated by the Sec15 retary of Defense for that purpose. The head of the Office

16 shall be known as the ‘Director of the Joint Technology

17 Office’.

18 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of Defense shall provide the Of19 fice such civilian and military personnel and other re20 sources as are necessary to permit the Office to carry out

21 its duties under this section.

22 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The duties of the Office shall be to—

23 ‘‘(1) develop and oversee the management of a

24 Department of Defense-wide program of science and
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1 technology relating to directed energy technologies,

2 systems, and weapons;

3 ‘‘(2) serve as a point of coordination for initia4 tives for science and technology relating to directed

5 energy technologies, systems, and weapons from

6 throughout the Department of Defense;

7 ‘‘(3) develop and manage a program (to be

8 known as the ‘National Directed Energy Technology

9 Alliance’) to foster the exchange of information and

10 cooperative activities on directed energy technologies,

11 systems, and weapons between and among the De12 partment of Defense, other Federal agencies, institu13 tions of higher education, and the private sector;

14 and

15 ‘‘(4) carry out such other activities relating to

16 directed energy technologies, systems, and weapons

17 as the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for

18 Science and Technology considers appropriate.

19 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITHIN DEPARTMENT OF DE20 FENSE.—(1) The Director of the Office shall assign to ap21 propriate personnel of the Office the performance of liai22 son functions with the other Defense Agencies and with

23 the military departments.

24 ‘‘(2) The head of each military department and De25 fense Agency having an interest in the activities of the
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1 Office shall assign personnel of such department or De2 fense Agency to assist the Office in carrying out its duties.

3 In providing such assistance, such personnel shall be

4 known collectively as ‘Technology Area Working Groups’.

5 ‘‘(e) TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL.—(1) There is estab6 lished in the Department of Defense a council to be known

7 as the ‘Technology Council’ (in this section referred to as

8 the ‘Council’).

9 ‘‘(2) The Council shall be composed of 7 members

10 as follows:

11 ‘‘(A) The Deputy Under Secretary of Defense

12 for Science and Technology, who shall be chair13 person of the Council.

14 ‘‘(B) The senior science and technology execu15 tive of the Department of the Army.

16 ‘‘(C) The senior science and technology execu17 tive of the Department of the Navy.

18 ‘‘(D) The senior science and technology execu19 tive of the Department of the Air Force.

20 ‘‘(E) The senior science and technology execu21 tive of the Defense Advanced Research Projects

22 Agency.

23 ‘‘(F) The senior science and technology execu24 tive of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization.
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1 ‘‘(G) The senior science and technology execu2 tive of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

3 ‘‘(3) The duties of the Council shall be—

4 ‘‘(A) to review and recommend priorities among

5 programs, projects, and activities proposed and eval6 uated by the Office under this section;

7 ‘‘(B) to make recommendations to the Board

8 regarding funding for such programs, projects, and

9 activities; and

10 ‘‘(C) to otherwise review and oversee the activi11 ties of the Office under this section.

12 ‘‘(f) TECHNOLOGY BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—(1)

13 There is established in the Department of Defense a board

14 to be known as the ‘Technology Board of Directors’ (in

15 this section referred to as the ‘Board’).

16 ‘‘(2) The Board shall be composed of 8 members as

17 follows:

18 ‘‘(A) The Under Secretary of Defense for Ac19 quisition and Technology, who shall serve as chair20 person of the Board.

21 ‘‘(B) The Director of Defense Research and

22 Engineering, who shall serve as vice-chairperson of

23 the Board.

24 ‘‘(C) The senior acquisition executive of the

25 Department of the Army.
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1 ‘‘(D) The senior acquisition executive of the

2 Department of the Navy.

3 ‘‘(E) The senior acquisition executive of the

4 Department of the Air Force.

5 ‘‘(F) The Director of the Defense Advanced

6 Research Projects Agency.

7 ‘‘(G) The Director of the Ballistic Missile

8 Defense Organization.

9 ‘‘(H) The Director of the Defense Threat

10 Reduction Agency.

11 ‘‘(3) The duties of the Board shall be—

12 ‘‘(A) to review and make funding recommenda13 tions regarding the programs, projects, and activities

14 proposed and evaluated by the Office under this sec15 tion; and

16 ‘‘(B) to otherwise review and oversee the activi17 ties of the Office under this section.’’.

18 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of sub19 chapter II of chapter 8 of such title is amended by adding

20 at the end the following new section:

‘‘204. Joint Technology Office.’’.

21 (3) The Secretary of Defense shall locate the Joint

22 Technology Office under section 204 of title 10, United

23 States Code (as added by this subsection), at the National

24 Directed Energy Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, New

25 Mexico, not later than January 1, 2001.
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1 (c) TECHNOLOGY AREA WORKING GROUPS UNDER

2 HIGH ENERGY LASER MASTER PLAN.—(1) The Secretary

3 of Defense shall provide for the implementation of the por4 tion of the High Energy Laser Master Plan relating to

5 technology area working groups.

6 (2) In carrying out activities under this subsection,

7 the Secretary of Defense shall require the Secretary of the

8 military department concerned to provide within such de9 partment, with such department acting as lead agent,

10 technology area working groups as follows:

11 (A) Within the Department of the Army—

12 (i) a technology area working group on

13 solid state lasers; and

14 (ii) a technology area working group on

15 advanced technology.

16 (B) Within the Department of the Navy, a

17 technology area working group on free electron la18 sers.

19 (C) Within the Department of the Air Force—

20 (i) a technology area working group on

21 chemical lasers;

22 (ii) a technology area working group on

23 beam control;

24 (iii) a technology area working group on

25 lethality/vulnerability; and
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1 (iv) a technology area working group on

2 high power microwaves.

3 (d) ENHANCEMENT OF INDUSTRIAL BASE.—(1) The

4 Secretary of Defense shall develop and undertake initia5 tives, including investment initiatives, for purposes of en6 hancing the industrial base for directed energy tech7 nologies and systems.

8 (2) Initiatives under paragraph (1) shall be designed

9 to—

10 (A) stimulate the development by institutions of

11 higher education and the private sector of promising

12 directed energy technologies and systems; and

13 (B) stimulate the development of a workforce

14 skilled in such technologies and systems.

15 (3) Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated by

16 subsection (h), $20,000,000 shall be available for the initi17 ation of development of the Advanced Tactical Laser (L)

18 under the direction of the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Di19 rectorate.

20 (e) ENHANCEMENT OF TEST AND EVALUATION CA21 PABILITIES.—(1) The Secretary of Defense shall evaluate

22 and implement proposals for modernizing the High En23 ergy Laser Test Facility at White Sands Missile Range,

24 New Mexico, in order to enhance the test and evaluation
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1 capabilities of the Department of Defense with respect to

2 directed energy weapons.

3 (2) Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated or

4 otherwise made available to the Department of Defense

5 for each of fiscal years 2001 and 2002, not more than

6 $2,000,000 shall be made available in each such fiscal year

7 for purposes of the deployment and test at the High En8 ergy Laser Test Facility at White Sands Missile Range

9 of free electron laser technologies under development at

10 Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico.

11 (f) COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES.—(1)

12 The Secretary of Defense shall evaluate the feasibility and

13 advisability of entering into cooperative programs or ac14 tivities with other Federal agencies, institutions of higher

15 education, and the private sector, including the national

16 laboratories of the Department of Energy, for the purpose

17 of enhancing the programs, projects, and activities of the

18 Department of Defense relating to directed energy tech19 nologies, systems, and weapons.

20 (2) The Secretary shall enter into any cooperative

21 program or activity determined under the evaluation under

22 paragraph (1) to be feasible and advisable for the purpose

23 set forth in that paragraph.

24 (3) Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated by

25 subsection (h), $50,000,000 shall be available for coopera-
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1 tive programs and activities entered into under paragraph

2 (2).

3 (g) PARTICIPATION OF JOINT TECHNOLOGY COUN4 CIL IN ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary of Defense shall, to

5 the maximum extent practicable, carry out activities under

6 subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f), through the Joint Tech7 nology Council established pursuant to section 204 of title

8 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (b) of this

9 section).

10 (h) FUNDING FOR FISCAL YEAR 2001.—(1)(A)

11 There is hereby authorized to be appropriated for the De12 partment of Defense for fiscal year 2001, $150,000,000

13 for science and technology activities relating to directed

14 energy technologies, systems, and weapons.

15 (B) Amounts authorized to be appropriated for fiscal

16 year 2001 by subparagraph (A) are in addition to any

17 other amounts authorized to be appropriated for such fis18 cal year for the activities referred to in that subparagraph.

19 (2) The Director of the Joint Technology Office es20 tablished pursuant to section 204 of title 10, United

21 States Code, shall allocate amounts appropriated pursuant

22 to the authorization of appropriations in paragraph (1)

23 among appropriate program elements of the Department

24 of Defense in accordance with such procedures as the Di25 rector shall establish.
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1 (3) In establishing procedures for purposes of the al2 location of funds under paragraph (2), the Director shall

3 provide for the competitive selection of programs, projects,

4 and activities to be the recipients of such funds.

5 (i) DIRECTED ENERGY DEFINED.—In this section,

6 the term ‘‘directed energy’’, with respect to technologies,

7 systems, or weapons means technologies, systems, or

8 weapons that provide for the directed transmission of en9 ergies across the energy and frequency spectrum, includ10 ing high energy lasers and high power microwaves.

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