H. R. 1735—159 
have significant and relevant experience managing large 
and complex programs. 
(B) The program manager for each program shall 
report with respect to such program directly, without inter-
vening review or approval, to the service acquisition execu-
tive of the military department concerned. 
(C) The service acquisition executive of the military 
department concerned shall evaluate the job performance 
of such manager on an annual basis. In conducting an 
evaluation under this paragraph, a service acquisition 
executive shall consider the extent to which the manager 
has achieved the objectives of the program for which the 
manager is responsible, including quality, timeliness, and 
cost objectives. 
(D) The program manager of a defense streamlined 
program shall be authorized staff positions for a technical 
staff, including experts in business management, con-
tracting, auditing, engineering, testing, and logistics, to 
enable the manager to manage the program without the 
technical assistance of another organizational unit of an 
agency to the maximum extent practicable. 
(E) The program manager of a defense streamlined 
program shall be authorized, in coordination with the users 
of the equipment and capability to be acquired and the 
test community, to make trade-offs among life-cycle costs, 
requirements, and schedules to meet the goals of the pro-
gram. 
(F) The service acquisition executive, acting in 
coordination with the defense acquisition executive, shall 
serve as the milestone decision authority for the program. 
(G) The program manager of a defense streamlined 
program shall be provided a process to expeditiously seek 
a waiver from Congress from any statutory or regulatory 
requirement that the program manager determines adds 
little or no value to the management of the program. 
(d) RAPID PROTOTYPING FUND.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall establish 
a fund to be known as the ‘‘Department of Defense Rapid 
Prototyping Fund’’ to provide funds, in addition to other funds 
that may be available for acquisition programs under the rapid 
prototyping pathway established pursuant to this section. The 
Fund shall be managed by a senior official of the Department 
of Defense designated by the Under Secretary of Defense for 
Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. The Fund shall consist 
of amounts appropriated to the Fund and amounts credited 
to the Fund pursuant to section 828 of this Act. 
(2) TRANSFER AUTHORITY.—Amounts available in the Fund 
may be transferred to a military department for the purpose 
of carrying out an acquisition program under the rapid proto-
typing pathway established pursuant to this section. Any 
amount so transferred shall be credited to the account to which 
it is transferred. The transfer authority provided in this sub-
section is in addition to any other transfer authority available 
to the Department of Defense. 
(3) CONGRESSIONAL NOTICE.—The senior official designated 
to manage the Fund shall notify the congressional defense
H. R. 1735—160 
committees of all transfers under paragraph (2). Each notifica-
tion shall specify the amount transferred, the purpose of the 
transfer, and the total projected cost and estimated cost to 
complete the acquisition program to which the funds were 
transferred. 
SEC. 805. USE OF ALTERNATIVE ACQUISITION PATHS TO ACQUIRE 
CRITICAL NATIONAL SECURITY CAPABILITIES. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall establish procedures for 
alternative acquisition pathways to acquire capital assets and serv-
ices that meet critical national security needs. The procedures 
shall— 
(1) be separate from existing acquisition procedures; 
(2) be supported by streamlined contracting, budgeting, 
and requirements processes; 
(3) establish alternative acquisition paths based on the 
capabilities being bought and the time needed to deploy these 
capabilities; and 
(4) maximize the use of flexible authorities in existing 
law and regulation. 
SEC. 806. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE WAIVER OF ACQUISITION LAWS 
TO ACQUIRE VITAL NATIONAL SECURITY CAPABILITIES. 
(a) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Defense is authorized 
to waive any provision of acquisition law or regulation described 
in subsection (c) for the purpose of acquiring a capability that 
would not otherwise be available to the Armed Forces of the United 
States, upon a determination that— 
(1) the acquisition of the capability is in the vital national 
security interest of the United States; 
(2) the application of the law or regulation to be waived 
would impede the acquisition of the capability in a manner 
that would undermine the national security of the United 
States; and 
(3) the underlying purpose of the law or regulation to 
be waived can be addressed in a different manner or at a 
different time. 
(b) DESIGNATION
OF RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL.—Whenever the 
Secretary of Defense makes a determination under subsection (a)(1) 
that the acquisition of a capability is in the vital national security 
interest of the United States, the Secretary shall designate a senior 
official of the Department of Defense who shall be personally respon-
sible and accountable for the rapid and effective acquisition and 
deployment of the needed capability. The Secretary shall provide 
the designated official such authority as the Secretary determines 
necessary to achieve this objective, and may use the waiver 
authority in subsection (a) for this purpose. 
(c) ACQUISITION LAWS AND REGULATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon a determination described in sub-
section (a), the Secretary of Defense is authorized to waive 
any provision of law or regulation addressing— 
(A) the establishment of a requirement or specification 
for the capability to be acquired; 
(B) research, development, test, and evaluation of the 
capability to be acquired; 
(C) production, fielding, and sustainment of the capa-
bility to be acquired; or
H. R. 1735—161 
(D) solicitation, selection of sources, and award of con-
tracts for the capability to be acquired. 
(2) LIMITATIONS.—Nothing in this subsection authorizes 
the waiver of— 
(A) the requirements of this section; 
(B) any provision of law imposing civil or criminal 
penalties; or 
(C) any provision of law governing the proper expendi-
ture of appropriated funds. 
(d) REPORT
TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary of Defense shall 
notify the congressional defense committees at least 30 days before 
exercising the waiver authority under subsection (a). Each such 
notice shall include— 
(1) an explanation of the basis for determining that the 
acquisition of the capability is in the vital national security 
interest of the United States; 
(2) an identification of each provision of law or regulation 
to be waived; and 
(3) for each provision identified pursuant to paragraph 
(2)— 
(A) an explanation of why the application of the provi-
sion would impede the acquisition in a manner that would 
undermine the national security of the United States; and 
(B) a description of the time or manner in which the 
underlying purpose of the law or regulation to be waived 
will be addressed. 
(e) NONDELEGATION.—The authority of the Secretary to waive 
provisions of laws and regulations under subsection (a) is nondele-
gable. 
SEC. 807. ACQUISITION AUTHORITY OF THE COMMANDER OF UNITED 
STATES CYBER COMMAND. 
(a) AUTHORITY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commander of the United States 
Cyber Command shall be responsible for, and shall have the 
authority to conduct, the following acquisition activities: 
(A) Development and acquisition of cyber operations- 
peculiar equipment and capabilities. 
(B) Acquisition and sustainment of cyber capability- 
peculiar equipment, capabilities, and services. 
(2) ACQUISITION
FUNCTIONS.—Subject to the authority, 
direction, and control of the Secretary of Defense, the Com-
mander shall have authority to exercise the functions of the 
head of an agency under chapter 137 of title 10, United States 
Code. 
(b) COMMAND ACQUISITION EXECUTIVE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The staff of the Commander shall include 
a command acquisition executive, who shall be responsible for 
the overall supervision of acquisition matters for the United 
States Cyber Command. The command acquisition executive 
shall have the authority— 
(A) to negotiate memoranda of agreement with the 
military departments and Department of Defense compo-
nents to carry out the acquisition of equipment, capabilities, 
and services described in subsection (a)(1) on behalf of 
the Command;
H. R. 1735—162 
(B) to supervise the acquisition of equipment, capabili-
ties, and services described in subsection (a)(1); 
(C) to represent the Command in discussions with 
the military departments regarding acquisition programs 
for which the Command is a customer; and 
(D) to work with the military departments to ensure 
that the Command is appropriately represented in any 
joint working group or integrated product team regarding 
acquisition programs for which the Command is a customer. 
(2) DELIVERY OF ACQUISITION SOLUTIONS.—The command 
acquisition executive of the United States Cyber Command 
shall be— 
(A) responsible to the Commander for rapidly deliv-
ering acquisition solutions to meet validated cyber oper-
ations-peculiar requirements; 
(B) subordinate to the defense acquisition executive 
in matters of acquisition; 
(C) subject to the same oversight as the service acquisi-
tion executives; and 
(D) included on the distribution list for acquisition 
directives and instructions of the Department of Defense. 
(c) ACQUISITION PERSONNEL.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall provide 
the United States Cyber Command with the personnel or 
funding equivalent to ten full-time equivalent personnel to sup-
port the Commander in fulfilling the acquisition responsibilities 
provided for under this section with experience in— 
(A) program acquisition; 
(B) the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development 
System Process; 
(C) program management; 
(D) system engineering; and 
(E) costing. 
(2) EXISTING PERSONNEL.—The personnel provided under 
this subsection shall be provided from among the existing per-
sonnel of the Department of Defense. 
(d) BUDGET.—In addition to the activities of a combatant com-
mand for which funding may be requested under section 166 of 
title 10, United States Code, the budget proposal of the United 
States Cyber Command shall include requests for funding for— 
(1) development and acquisition of cyber operations- 
peculiar equipment; and 
(2) acquisition and sustainment of other capabilities or 
services that are peculiar to cyber operations activities. 
(e) CYBER OPERATIONS PROCUREMENT FUND.—In exercising the 
authority granted in subsection (a), the Commander may not obli-
gate or expend more than $75,000,000 out of the funds made 
available in each fiscal year from 2016 through 2021 to support 
acquisition activities provided for under this section. 
(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING INTELLIGENCE AND SPE-
CIAL ACTIVITIES.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to 
constitute authority to conduct any activity which, if carried out 
as an intelligence activity by the Department of Defense, would 
require a notice to the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 
Senate and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of 
the House of Representatives under title V of the National Security 
Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.).