(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office— 
(A) subject to paragraph (2), may enter 
into contracts with private sector, non-Govern-
ment entities, as appropriate, for the purposes 
of leveraging innovative commercial technologies 
to aid and facilitate the execution of the duties 
of the Office; and 
(B) shall ensure that all programs admin-
istered by the Office are carried out in accord-
ance with section 3453 of title 10, United 
States Code. 
(2) LIMITATION.—The Office may coordinate 
with other offices of the Department of Defense with 
contracting authority as required to carry out the 
duties described in subsection (d). 
(h) COORDINATION.—The Director of the Office shall 
ensure that the activities of the Office are conducted in 
accordance with Department of Defense policies and in co-
ordination with the research and development programs 
of the Department. 
(i) BRIEFING.—Not later than 90 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 
shall provide to the Committees on Armed Services of the 
Senate and House of Representatives a briefing on the 
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status of the establishment of the Office under this sec-
tion. 
(j) TERMINATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the Office shall terminate on the date 
that is seven years after the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
(2) EXTENSION.—The Secretary may extend 
the termination date under paragraph (1) for one or 
more additional periods of seven years if— 
(A) if the Secretary determines that such 
an extension is in the best interest of the De-
partment of Defense; and 
(B) submits to the Committees on Armed 
Services of the Senate and House of Represent-
atives notice of the Secretary’s intent to make 
such an extension. 
(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘all-domain’’, when used with re-
spect to an autonomous system, means interoper-
ability across one or more of the ground, aerial, 
maritime, and space domains. 
(2) The term ‘‘autonomous system’’ means a 
system with the ability to conduct integrated sens-
ing, perception, communication, decision-making, 
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and action within specific boundaries and independ-
ently from a human operator’s instruction. 
(3) The term ‘‘Chief Digital and Artificial Intel-
ligence Officer’’ has the meaning given that term in 
section 846(b) of the James M. Inhofe National De-
fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (Pub-
lic Law 117–263). 
(4) The term ‘‘operational test and evaluation’’ 
has the meaning given that term in section 4171(h) 
of title 10, United States Code. 
(l) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Department of 
Defense $55,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 to carry out this 
section. 
SEC. 2. FRAMEWORK FOR CLASSIFICATION OF AUTONO-
MOUS CAPABILITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date on which Joint Autonomy Office is established pursu-
ant to section 1, the Director of the Office, in consultation 
with the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, the Under 
Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, the 
commanders of the combatant commands, and the Secre-
taries of the military departments, shall establish a De-
partment-wide classification framework for autonomous 
capabilities. 
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(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the framework re-
quired under subsection (a) shall be to facilitate the devel-
opment of a common understanding within the Depart-
ment of Defense of autonomous capabilities and related 
operational requirements to better plan for, resource, and 
integrate appropriate autonomy-enabling hardware and 
software into current and future systems across the De-
partment. 
(c) AUTONOMY CLASSIFICATION FRAMEWORK.—At a 
minimum, the framework required under subsection (a) 
shall— 
(1) include multiple levels of increasingly com-
plex autonomous maneuver capability with a focus 
on classifying necessary levels of human supervision 
or control during operational use; 
(2) apply to current and future autonomous 
systems operating across land, air, maritime, and 
space domains; 
(3) include estimates of costs necessary to 
achieve specific levels of autonomous capability; and 
(4) include— 
(A) operational requirements including 
necessary levels of survivability in GPS- or com-
munications-denied environments; 
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(B) specific operational or engagement sce-
narios; and 
(C) necessary levels of teaming with other 
autonomous systems. 
(d) PROGRESS REPORT.—Not later than 30 days 
after the establishment of the framework under subsection 
(a), the Director of the Joint Autonomy Office shall sub-
mit to the congressional defense committees a report that 
includes a description of the framework and the specific 
methodologies, criteria, and operational requirements used 
to develop the classifications under the framework. 
(e) REGULAR REASSESSMENT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not less frequently than 
once every two years, Director of the Joint Auton-
omy Office shall reassess and update the classifica-
tion framework required under subsection (a) to en-
sure the framework incorporates recent develop-
ments in technology, standards, and operational re-
quirements relating to autonomous capabilities. 
(2) BRIEFING.—Not later than 30 days of the 
completion of each reassessment under paragraph 
(1), the Director of the Joint Autonomy Office shall 
provide to the congressional defense committees a 
briefing on the results of the reassessment and any 
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