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‘‘(A) achieves initial operating capability for nuclear 
missions prior to the retirement of the nuclear-armed 
AGM–86; 
‘‘(B) achieves initial operating capability for conven-
tional missions by not later than five years after the date 
of the achievement under subparagraph (A); and’’. 
SEC. 1663. ACCELERATION OF GROUND-BASED STRATEGIC DETER-
RENT PROGRAM AND LONG-RANGE STANDOFF WEAPON 
PROGRAM. 
(a) PLAN FOR ACCELERATION OF PROGRAMS.—Consistent with 
validated military requirements and in accordance with applicable 
provisions of Federal law regarding acquisition, the Under Secretary 
of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in consultation with 
the Secretary of the Air Force, shall develop and implement— 
(1) a plan to accelerate the development, procurement, 
and fielding of the ground-based strategic deterrent program; 
and 
(2) a plan to accelerate the development, procurement, 
and fielding of the long-range standoff weapon. 
(b) CRITERIA.—The plans developed under subsection (a) shall 
meet the following criteria: 
(1) With respect to the plan developed under paragraph 
(1) of such subsection, the plan shall ensure that the ground- 
based strategic deterrent program includes the recapitalization 
of the full intercontinental ballistic missile weapon system for 
400 deployed missiles and associated spares and 450 launch 
facilities, without phasing or splitting the program, including 
with respect to the missile flight system, ground-based infra-
structure and equipment, appropriate command and control 
elements. 
(2) The plans shall include a comprehensive assessment 
of the benefits, risks, feasibility, costs, and cost savings of 
various options for accelerating the respective program covered 
by the plan, including by considering— 
(A) accelerating— 
(i) the technology maturation and risk reduction 
phase, including through the identification of low- and 
high- technology readiness levels, requirements, and 
timelines for maturing such technology; 
(ii) the award of an engineering and manufacturing 
development contract; and 
(iii) making the milestone B decision; 
(B) transitioning full acquisition authority, responsi-
bility, and accountability of the respective program to the 
Secretary of the Air Force, including milestone decision 
authority; 
(C) providing a general officer-level program executive 
officer a dedicated, single-program, long-term assignment 
with a tailored acquisition approach, program strategy, 
and oversight model for the respective program that 
empowers the general officer to accelerate the program, 
make decisions, and be held accountable; 
(D) streamlining, as appropriate, test and evaluation 
activities for the respective program, particularly for proven 
technologies, while ensuring high confidence in the final 
deployed system;
H. R. 5515—519 
(E) leveraging agile software development or other 
innovative approaches to reduce timeframes for software 
development; 
(F) identifying and proposing statutory changes that 
the Under Secretary or the Secretary of the Air Force 
determine could accelerate the respective program; 
(G) identifying accelerated goals for initial operational 
capability and full operational capability for the respective 
program; and 
(H) such other options as the Under Secretary or the 
Secretary of the Air Force consider appropriate. 
(c) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 120 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary, in consultation 
with the Secretary of the Air Force, shall submit to the congres-
sional defense committees the plans developed under subsection 
(a), including an assessment of the options considered and the 
options selected to be implemented under the plans. 
(d) BRIEFING.—Not later than 160 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Commander of the United States Stra-
tegic Command shall provide to the congressional defense commit-
tees a briefing on the views of the Commander with respect to 
the plans developed under subsection (a). 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘milestone B decision’’ has the meaning given 
that term in section 2400(a) of title 10, United States Code. 
(2) The term ‘‘milestone decision authority’’ has the 
meaning given that term in section 2366a(d) of title 10, United 
States Code. 
SEC. 1664. PROCUREMENT AUTHORITY FOR CERTAIN PARTS OF INTER-
CONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILE FUZES. 
(a) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Notwithstanding section 1502(a) 
of title 31, United States Code, of the amount authorized to be 
appropriated for fiscal year 2019 by section 101 and available 
for Missile Procurement, Air Force, as specified in the funding 
table in division D, $9,841,000 shall be available for the procure-
ment of covered parts pursuant to contracts entered into under 
section 1645(a) of the Carl Levin and Howard P. ‘‘Buck’’ McKeon 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (Public 
Law 113–291; 128 Stat. 3651). 
(b) COVERED PARTS DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘cov-
ered parts’’ means commercially available off-the-shelf items as 
defined in section 104 of title 41, United States Code. 
SEC. 1665. PROHIBITION ON REDUCTION OF THE INTERCONTINENTAL 
BALLISTIC MISSILES OF THE UNITED STATES. 
(a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided by subsection (b), none 
of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or otherwise 
made available for fiscal year 2019 for the Department of Defense 
shall be obligated or expended for— 
(1) reducing, or preparing to reduce, the responsiveness 
or alert level of the intercontinental ballistic missiles of the 
United States; or 
(2) reducing, or preparing to reduce, the quantity of 
deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles of the United States 
to a number less than 400. 
(b) EXCEPTION.—The prohibition in subsection (a) shall not 
apply to any of the following activities:
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(1) The maintenance or sustainment of intercontinental 
ballistic missiles. 
(2) Ensuring the safety, security, or reliability of interconti-
nental ballistic missiles. 
SEC. 1666. EXTENSION OF PROHIBITION ON AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS 
FOR MOBILE VARIANT OF GROUND-BASED STRATEGIC 
DETERRENT MISSILE. 
Section 1664 of the National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114–328; 130 Stat. 2615), as amended 
by section 1663 by the National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 115–91), is amended by striking 
‘‘2019’’ and inserting ‘‘2020’’. 
SEC. 1667. EXCHANGE PROGRAM FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM 
EMPLOYEES. 
(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Chairman of the Nuclear 
Weapons Council established under section 179 of title 10, United 
States Code, and the Administrator for Nuclear Security, shall 
jointly establish an exchange program under which— 
(1) the Chairman shall arrange for the temporary assign-
ment of civilian and military personnel working on nuclear 
weapons policy, production, and force structure issues in the 
Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Navy, 
or the Air Force to the Office of the Deputy Administrator 
for Defense Programs in the National Nuclear Security 
Administration; and 
(2) the Administrator shall arrange for the temporary 
assignment of civilian personnel working on programs related 
to nuclear weapons in the Office of the Deputy Administrator 
for Defense Programs to the elements of the Department of 
Defense specified in paragraph (1). 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the exchange program estab-
lished under subsection (a) are— 
(1) to familiarize personnel from the Department of Defense 
and the National Nuclear Security Administration with the 
equities, priorities, processes, culture, and employees of the 
other agency; 
(2) for participants in the exchange program to return 
the expertise gained through their exchanges to their original 
agencies at the conclusion of their exchanges; and 
(3) to improve communication between and integration of 
the agencies that support the formation and oversight of nuclear 
weapons policy through lasting relationships across the chain 
of command. 
(c) PARTICIPANTS.— 
(1) NUMBER
OF
PARTICIPANTS.—The Chairman and the 
Administrator shall each select not fewer than five and not 
more than 10 participants per year for participation in the 
exchange program established under subsection (a). The Chair-
man and the Administrator may determine how many partici-
pants to select under this paragraph without regard to the 
number of participants selected from the other agency. 
(2) CRITERIA FOR SELECTION.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Chairman and the Adminis-
trator shall select participants for the exchange program 
established under subsection (a) from among mid-career 
employees and based on—
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(i) the qualifications and desire to participate in 
the program of the employee; and 
(ii) the technical needs and capacities of the 
Department of Defense and the National Nuclear Secu-
rity Administration, as applicable. 
(B) DEPARTMENT
OF
DEFENSE.—In selecting partici-
pants from the Department of Defense for the exchange 
program established under subsection (a), the Chairman 
shall ensure that there is a mix of military personnel 
and civilian employees of the Department. 
(d) TERMS.—Exchanges pursuant to the exchange program 
established under subsection (a) shall be for terms of one to two 
years, as determined and negotiated by the Chairman and the 
Administrator. Such terms may begin and end on a rolling basis. 
(e) GUIDANCE AND IMPLEMENTATION.— 
(1) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 90 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Chairman and the Administrator 
shall jointly develop and submit to the congressional defense 
committees interim guidance on the form and contours of the 
exchange program established under subsection (a). 
(2) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Chairman and the 
Administrator shall implement the guidance developed under 
paragraph (1). 
SEC. 1668. PLAN TO TRAIN OFFICERS IN NUCLEAR COMMAND, CON-
TROL, AND COMMUNICATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, in consultation 
with the Secretary of the Air Force, the Secretary of the Navy, 
the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Commander 
of the United States Strategic Command, shall develop a plan 
to train, educate, manage, and track officers of the Armed Forces 
in nuclear command, control, and communications. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The plan required by subsection (a) shall 
address— 
(1) manpower requirements at various grades; 
(2) desired career paths and promotion timing; and 
(3) any other matters the Secretary of Defense considers 
relevant to develop a mature cadre of officers with nuclear 
command, control, and communications expertise. 
(c) SUBMISSION OF PLAN.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall 
submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and 
the House of Representatives the plan required by subsection (a). 
(d) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 18 months after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall imple-
ment the plan required by subsection (a). 
SEC. 1669. INDEPENDENT STUDY ON OPTIONS TO INCREASE PRESI-
DENTIAL 
DECISION-TIME 
REGARDING 
NUCLEAR 
WEAPONS EMPLOYMENT. 
(a) INDEPENDENT STUDY.—Not later than 30 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall 
seek to enter into a contract with a federally funded research 
and development center to conduct a study on the potential benefits 
and risks of options to increase the time the President has to 
make a decision regarding the employment of nuclear weapons. 
(b) REPORTS.—