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(7) The Government Accountability Office has 
stated: ‘‘The KC–46 program’s total acquisition cost 
estimate remained stable over the past year at 
$44,400,000,000, which is about $7,300,000,000 
less than the original estimate.’’ 
(8) The Commander of Air Mobility Command 
has stated that the KC–46 ‘‘will bring tremendous 
capability to our joint warfighter’’. 
(9) The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force 
for Acquisition has stated: ‘‘Stability of require-
ments and funding are the keys to KC–46 program 
success and will enable the Air Force to deliver this 
new tanker ready for employment on day one.’’ 
(10) The Military Deputy to the Assistant Sec-
retary of the Air Force for Acquisition has identified 
the KC–46 as the Air Force’s second highest combat 
aviation acquisition priority ‘‘for the role that it 
plays in being able to power project’’. 
(11) With the support of Congress, the Air 
Force has executed three low rate initial production 
contracts for a total of 34 aircraft. In fiscal year 
2018, Congress provided funding for a fourth pro-
duction lot totaling 18 aircraft. 
(12) A steady production rate of 1.3 aircraft 
per month has been maintained through independent 
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investment by industry in order to expedite deliveries 
to the Air Force upon completion of developmental 
testing and certification. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) the Air Force and industry should dedicate 
the resources and manpower necessary to ensure the 
first KC–46 is delivered in fiscal year 2018; 
(2) the Air Force should maximize efficiency in 
the test and certification process to ensure that— 
(A) test points are not redundant; 
(B) test plans are approved expeditiously; 
(C) receiver aircraft are available to sup-
port test flights; and 
(D) Air Force inputs necessary for Federal 
Aviation Administration and military airworthi-
ness certifications are expedited; and 
(3) the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for 
Acquisition and the Director of the Defense Con-
tract Management Agency should develop and imple-
ment a plan enabling the Air Force to accept and 
field KC–46 aircraft at a rate higher than three air-
craft per month after the delivery of the first air-
craft. 
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SEC. 148. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON CONVERSION OF F–22 
AIRCRAFT. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Accelerating the modernization upgrade of 
F–22A Block 20 training and test aircraft would 
significantly increase the total available inventory of 
combat-capable F–22A Block 35 fighter aircraft. 
(2) Converting 34 F–22A Block 20 aircraft to 
a Block 35 configuration would drastically improve 
the readiness and health of the entire F–22A fleet 
and increase flexibility to manage availability of the 
combat-coded Block 35 fleet, which is accumulating 
more operational flight hours than initially antici-
pated. 
(3) Making the conversions described in para-
graph (2) would be a cost-effective way to increase 
the F–22’s combat-capable force by 27 percent. 
(4) If the conversion effort is not included in 
future base budgets, it would be advisable for the 
Department of Defense to support the effort as an 
unfunded priority. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the Secretary of the Air Force should accelerate 
modernization of the F–22 Block 20 training and test air-
craft as quickly as possible. 
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Subtitle E—Defense-wide, Joint, 
and Multiservice Matters 
SEC. 151. BUY-TO-BUDGET ACQUISITION OF F–35 AIRCRAFT. 
Subject to section 2308 of title 10, United States 
Code, using funds authorized to be appropriated by this 
Act for the procurement of F–35 aircraft, the Secretary 
of Defense may procure a quantity of F–35 aircraft in 
excess of the quantity authorized by this Act if such addi-
tional procurement does not require additional funds to 
be authorized to be appropriated because of production ef-
ficiencies or other cost reductions. 
SEC. 152. CERTIFICATION ON INCLUSION OF TECHNOLOGY 
TO MINIMIZE PHYSIOLOGICAL EPISODES IN 
CERTAIN AIRCRAFT. 
(a) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Not later than 15 
days before entering into a contract for the procurement 
of a covered aircraft, the Secretary concerned shall submit 
to the congressional defense committees a written state-
ment certifying that the aircraft to be procured under the 
contract will include the most recent technological ad-
vancements necessary to minimize the impact of physio-
logical episodes on aircraft crewmembers. 
(b) WAIVER.—The Secretary concerned may waive 
the requirement of subsection (a) if the Secretary— 
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(1) determines the waiver is required in the in-
terest of national security; and 
(2) not later than 15 days before entering into 
a contract for the procurement of a covered aircraft, 
notifies the congressional defense committees of the 
rationale for the waiver. 
(c) TERMINATION.—The requirement to submit a 
certification under subsection (a) shall terminate on Sep-
tember 30, 2021. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘covered aircraft’’ means a fight-
er aircraft, an attack aircraft, or a fixed wing train-
er aircraft. 
(2) The term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ means— 
(A) the Secretary of the Navy, with respect 
to covered aircraft of Navy; and 
(B) the Secretary of the Air Force, with 
respect to covered aircraft of the Air Force. 
SEC. 153. ARMORED COMMERCIAL PASSENGER-CARRYING 
VEHICLES. 
(a) IMPLEMENTATION
OF
GAO RECOMMENDA-
TIONS.—In accordance with the recommendations of the 
Government Accountability Office in the report titled ‘‘Ar-
mored Commercial Vehicles: DOD Has Procurement 
Guidance, but Army Could Take Actions to Enhance In-
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(1) whether criteria for the procurement of such 
vehicles have been established and distributed to the 
relevant components of the Department; and 
(2) whether a process is in place for ensuring 
that the relevant components of the Department in-
corporate those criteria into contracts for such vehi-
cles. 
TITLE II—RESEARCH, DEVELOP-
MENT, TEST, AND EVALUA-
TION 
Subtitle A—Authorization Of 
Appropriations 
SEC. 201. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
Funds are hereby authorized to be appropriated for 
fiscal year 2019 for the use of the Department of Defense 
for research, development, test, and evaluation, as speci-
fied in the funding table in section 7201. 
Subtitle 
B—Program 
Require-
ments, Restrictions, and Limita-
tions 
SEC. 211. MODIFICATION OF AUTHORITY TO CARRY OUT 
CERTAIN PROTOTYPE PROJECTS. 
Section 2371b(f) of title 10, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graphs: 
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‘‘(4) Contracts or transactions entered into pursuant 
to this subsection that are expected to cost the Depart-
ment of Defense in excess of $100,000,000 but not in ex-
cess of $500,000,000 (including all options) may be 
awarded only upon written determination by the senior 
procurement executive for the agency as designated for the 
purpose of section 1702(c) of title 41, or, by the senior 
procurement executive for the Defense Advanced Research 
Projects Agency that award of the contract or transaction 
is essential to meet critical national security interests. 
‘‘(5) Contracts and transactions entered into pursu-
ant to this subsection that are expected to cost the Depart-
ment of Defense in excess of $500,000,000 (including all 
options) may be awarded only if— 
‘‘(A) the Under Secretary of Defense for Acqui-
sition and Sustainment determines in writing that 
award of the contract or transaction is essential to 
meet critical national security objectives; and 
‘‘(B) the congressional defense committees are 
notified in writing not later than 30 days before 
award of the contract or transaction.’’. 
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SEC. 212. EXTENSION OF DIRECTED ENERGY PROTOTYPE 
AUTHORITY. 
Section 219(c)(4) of the National Defense Authoriza-
tion Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114–328; 10 
U.S.C. 2431 note) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘Except as 
provided in subparagraph (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘Ex-
cept as provided in subparagraph (C)’’; 
(2) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub-
paragraph (C); 
(3) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(B) Except as provided in subparagraph (C) 
and subject to the availability of appropriations for 
such purpose, of the funds authorized to be appro-
priated by the National Defense Authorization Act 
for Fiscal Year 2019 or otherwise made available for 
fiscal year 2019 for research, development, test, and 
evaluation, defense-wide, up to $100,000,000 may be 
available to the Under Secretary to allocate to the 
military departments, the defense agencies, and the 
combatant commands to carry out the program es-
tablished under paragraph (1).’’; and 
(4) in subparagraph (C), as so redesignated, by 
striking ‘‘made available under subparagraph (A)’’ 
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and inserting ‘‘made available under subparagraph 
(A) or subparagraph (B)’’. 
SEC. 213. PROHIBITION ON AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR 
THE WEATHER COMMON COMPONENT PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) PROHIBITION.—None of the funds authorized to 
be appropriated by this Act or otherwise made available 
for fiscal year 2019 for research, development, test, and 
evaluation, Air Force, for weather service (PE 0305111F, 
Project 672738) for product development, test and evalua-
tion, and management services associated with the Weath-
er Common Component program may be obligated or ex-
pended. 
(b) REPORT REQUIRED.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Air 
force shall submit to the congressional defense com-
mittees a report on technologies and capabilities 
that— 
(A) provide real-time or near real-time me-
teorological situational awareness data through 
the use of sensors installed on manned and un-
manned aircraft; and 
(B) were developed primarily using funds 
of the Department of Defense. 
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(2) ELEMENTS.—The report under paragraph 
(1) shall include— 
(A) a description of all technologies and 
capabilities described in paragraph (1) that 
exist as of the date on which the report is sub-
mitted; 
(B) a description of any testing activities 
that have been completed for such technologies 
and capabilities, and the results of those testing 
activities; 
(C) the total amount of funds used by the 
Department of Defense for the development of 
such technologies and capabilities; 
(D) a list of capability gaps or shortfalls in 
any major commands of the Air Force relating 
to the gathering, processing, exploitation, and 
dissemination of real-time or near real-time me-
teorological situational awareness data for un-
manned systems; 
(E) an explanation of how such gaps or 
shortfalls may be remedied to supplement the 
weather forecasting capabilities of the Air Force 
and to enhance the efficiency or effectiveness of 
combat air power; and 
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(F) a plan for fielding existing technologies 
and capabilities to mitigate such gaps or short-
falls. 
SEC. 214. LIMITATION PENDING CERTIFICATION ON THE 
JOINT 
SURVEILLANCE 
TARGET 
ATTACK 
RADAR 
SYSTEM 
RECAPITALIZATION 
PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) LIMITATION.—Until a period of 15 days has 
elapsed following the date on which the Secretary of the 
Air Force submits to the congressional defense committees 
the certification described in subsection (b)— 
(1) of the total amount of funds authorized to 
be appropriated by this Act or otherwise made avail-
able for the Air Force for fiscal year 2019 for the 
covered programs not more than 50 percent may be 
obligated or expended for the programs; and 
(2) the Secretary of the Air Force may not di-
vest more than one legacy E–8 Joint Surveillance 
Target Attack Radar System aircraft. 
(b) CERTIFICATION.—The certification described in 
this subsection is a written statement of the Secretary of 
the Air Force certifying that— 
(1) the Secretary has awarded one or more con-
tracts under the Joint Surveillance Target Attack 
Radar System recapitalization program for— 
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(A) engineering, manufacturing, and devel-
opment; 
(B) low-rate initial production; 
(C) production; and 
(D) initial contractor support; and 
(2) the program is proceeding in accordance 
with the plans for the program set forth in the 
budget request of the President submitted to Con-
gress under section 1105 of title 31, United States 
Code, for fiscal year 2018. 
(c) GAO REPORT AND BRIEFING.— 
(1) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than March 
1, 2020, the Comptroller General of the United 
States shall submit to the congressional defense 
committees a report on Increment 1, Increment 2, 
and Increment 3 of the 21st Century Advanced Bat-
tle-Management System of Systems capability of the 
Air Force. The report shall include a review of— 
(A) the technologies that compose the ca-
pability and the level of maturation of such 
technologies; 
(B) the resources budgeted for the capa-
bility; 
(C) the fielding plan for the capability; 
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(D) any risk assessments associated with 
the capability; and 
(E) the overall acquisition strategy for the 
capability. 
(2) INTERIM BRIEFING.—Not later than March 
1, 2019, the Comptroller General of the United 
States shall provide to the Committee on Armed 
Services of the House of Representatives a briefing 
on the topics to be covered by the report under para-
graph (1), including any preliminary data and any 
issues or concerns of the Comptroller General relat-
ing to the report. 
(d) AIR FORCE REPORT.—Not later than February 
5, 2019, the Secretary of the Air Force shall submit to 
the congressional defense committees a report on the leg-
acy fleet of E–8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar 
System aircraft that includes— 
(1) the modernization and sustainment strat-
egy, and associated costs, for the airframe and mis-
sion systems that will be used to maintain the legacy 
fleet of such aircraft until the Joint Surveillance 
Target Attack Radar System recapitalization pro-
gram achieves initial operational capability; and 
(2) a plan that describes how the Secretary 
will— 
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(A) continue to provide combatant com-
manders with the current level of E–8C force 
support; 
(B) accelerate the Joint Surveillance Tar-
get Attack Radar System recapitalization pro-
gram to significantly decrease the time needed 
to achieve initial operational capability without 
adversely affecting currently programmed E–8C 
manpower levels; and 
(C) maintain acceptable levels of risk while 
carrying out the activities described in subpara-
graphs (A) and (B). 
(e) PROGRAM OFFICE PERSONNEL.—Using funds 
authorized to be appropriated by this Act or otherwise 
made available for the Air Force for fiscal year 2019 for 
the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System re-
capitalization program, the Secretary of the Air Force 
may obligate and expend funds necessary for civilian pay 
expenses required to manage, execute, and deliver the 
Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System recapital-
ization weapon system capability. 
(f) COVERED PROGRAM DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘‘covered program’’ means any program com-
prising Increment 1, Increment 2, or Increment 3, of the 
21st Century Advanced Battle-Management System of 
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Systems capability of the Air Force, except the term does 
not include any activities under the legacy E–8C program 
or the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System re-
capitalization program of the Air Force. 
SEC. 215. LIMITATION ON AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR F– 
35 CONTINUOUS CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT 
AND DELIVERY. 
(a) LIMITATION.—Except as provided in subsection 
(b), of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act 
or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2019 for the 
F–35 continuous capability development and delivery pro-
gram, not more than 75 percent may be obligated or ex-
pended until a period of 15 days has elapsed following the 
date on which the Secretary of Defense submits to the 
congressional defense committees a detailed cost estimate 
and baseline schedule for the program, which shall include 
any information required for a major defense acquisition 
program under section 2435 of title 10, United States 
Code. 
(b) EXCEPTION.—The limitation in subsection (a) 
does not apply to any funds authorized to be appropriated 
or otherwise made available for the development of the F– 
35 dual capable aircraft capability. 
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SEC. 216. LIMITATION ON AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS PEND-
ING REPORT ON AGILE SOFTWARE DEVELOP-
MENT AND SOFTWARE OPERATIONS. 
(a) LIMITATION.—Of the of funds described in sub-
section (d), not more than 75 percent may be obligated 
or expended until a period of 30 days has elapsed following 
the date on which the Secretary of the Air Force submits 
the report required under subsection (b). 
(b) REPORT.—Subject to subsection (c), the Sec-
retary of the Air Force shall submit to the congressional 
defense committees a report that includes a description 
of each of the following: 
(1) The specific cost-estimating tools and meth-
odologies used to formulate Air Force budgets for 
software application development using Agile Soft-
ware Development and Software Operations (re-
ferred to in this section as ‘‘Agile DevOps’’) in sup-
port of modernization and upgrade activities for Air 
Operations Centers. 
(2) The types of contracts used to execute Agile 
DevOps activities and the rationale for using each 
type of contract. 
(3) How intellectual property ownership issues 
associated with software applications developed with 
Agile DevOps processes will be addressed to ensure 
future sustainment, maintenance, and upgrades to 
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