I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1777 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a fund for the conduct 

of collaborative defense projects between the United States and Israel 

in emerging technologies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 24, 2023 

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. GOLDEN of Maine, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. CROW, Mr. TURNER, and Mr. RYAN) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a fund for 

the conduct of collaborative defense projects between the 

United States and Israel in emerging technologies, 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 ‘‘United States-Israel 

5 Future of Warfare Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FUND FOR CONDUCT OF COLLABORATIVE DEFENSE 

2 PROJECTS BETWEEN UNITED STATES AND 

3 ISRAEL IN EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) The strategic partnership between the 

6 United States and Israel is mutually beneficial, rein7 forcing shared moral values and security interests 

8 while promoting peace and regional stability. 

9 (2) A strong strategic relationship between the 

10 United States and Israel, and enhanced bilateral co11 operation between such countries in defense, home12 land security, cybersecurity, space, and other key 

13 areas, ensure both countries can confront current 

14 and future emerging defense challenges. 

15 (3) Israel is a global leader and innovator in 

16 the development of defense technology and is one of 

17 the closest foreign defense partners of the United 

18 States. 

19 (4) On September 14, 2016, the United States 

20 and Israel signed a 10-year memorandum of under21 standing reaffirming the importance of continuing 

22 annual United States military assistance to Israel 

23 (and other defense programs in areas such as missile 

24 defense, counter tunneling, and counter-unmanned 

25 aircraft systems) in a way that enhances the security 


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1 of Israel and strengthens the bilateral relationship 

2 between the two countries. 

3 (5) On July 12, 2022, President Joe Biden and 

4 former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid committed 

5 to elevating the strategic partnership between the 

6 United States and Israel to new heights by launch7 ing the Strategic High-Level Dialogue on Tech8 nology, tasked with establishing a technological part9 nership between the United States and Israel with 

10 respect to critical and emerging technologies and so11 lutions to global challenges. 

12 (6) On July 14, 2022, President Joe Biden and 

13 former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed a 

14 joint declaration titled the ‘‘Jerusalem U.S.-Israel 

15 Strategic Partnership Joint Declaration’’ reaffirming 

16 the steadfast commitment of the United States to 

17 strengthen the self-defense capability of Israel and 

18 to ‘‘move forward the U.S.-Israel defense partner19 ship through cooperation in cutting-edge defense 

20 technologies such as high energy laser weapons sys21 tems to defend the skies of Israel and in the future 

22 those of other U.S. and Israel security partners’’. 

23 (7) Since 2016, Congress has appropriated 

24 $320,000,000 for counter-tunneling cooperation be25 tween the United States (specifically the Irregular 


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•HR 1777 IH

1 Warfare Technical Support Directorate of the De2 partment of Defense) and Israel, resulting in the de3 velopment of counter-tunnel technology that en4 hances the capability of the United States and Israel 

5 to deal with tunnel threats at the borders of such 

6 countries and elsewhere. 

7 (8) Since 2020, Congress has appropriated 

8 $88,000,000 for counter-unmanned aircraft systems 

9 cooperation between the United States (specifically 

10 the Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate 

11 of the Department of Defense) and Israel, resulting 

12 in the co-development of counter-unmanned aircraft 

13 systems for use by the United States Armed Forces, 

14 the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United 

15 States Secret Service. 

16 (9) In January 2023, the Irregular Warfare 

17 Technical Support Directorate of the Department of 

18 Defense awarded Israel Aerospace Industries a 

19 multi-million dollar contract to rapidly develop and 

20 deliver a loitering munition known as ‘‘ROC–X’’ to 

21 provide ground-based tactical forces with more pre22 cise capabilities and improve the safety and security 

23 of United States warfighters. 

24 (10) Over the last few years, the Irregular War25 fare Technical Support Directorate of the DepartVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1777.IH H1777

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•HR 1777 IH

1 ment of Defense and the Directorate of Defense Re2 search and Engineering of the Ministry of Defense 

3 of Israel hosted a competition known as the ‘‘MO4 SAIC Challenge’’, seeking cutting-edge hardware 

5 and software solutions to address some of the chal6 lenging and longstanding technological gaps con7 cerning remote autonomous indoor maneuverability. 

8 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

9 United States to support and encourage further defense 

10 collaboration with Israel in areas of emerging technologies 

11 capable of enabling the warfare capabilities of both the 

12 United States and Israel to meet emerging defense chal13 lenges, including with respect to the areas of artificial in14 telligence, cybersecurity, directed energy, and automation. 

15 (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 

17 shall establish a fund, to be known as the ‘‘United 

18 States-Israel Future of Warfare Research and De19 velopment Fund’’ (in this section referred to as the 

20 ‘‘Fund’’). 

21 (2) USE OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts in the Fund 

22 shall be available for the conduct of collaborative de23 fense projects between the United States and Israel 

24 in areas of emerging technologies (including artifi25 cial intelligence, automation, cybersecurity, and diVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1777.IH H1777

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1 rected energy) for the purpose of enabling the 

2 Armed Forces of the United States and of Israel, re3 spectively, to meet emerging defense challenges. 

4 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Fund 

6 $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 

7 2028. 

Æ 


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