SEC. 142. LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR KC-46A AIR-
CRAFT PENDING SUBMITTAL OF CERTIFI-
CATION. 
(a) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—The Secretary of 
the Air Force shall submit to the congressional defense 
committees certification that, as of the date of the certifi-
cation— 
(1) the supplemental type certification and the 
military type certification for the KC-46A aircraft 
have been approved; and 
(2) the Air Force has accepted the delivery of 
the first KC-46A aircraft. 
(b) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—None of the 
funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made 
available by this Act for fiscal year 2019 for Aircraft Pro-
curement, Air Force, may be obligated or expended for 
three KC-46A aircraft until the Secretary of the Air Force 
submits the certification required under subsection (a). 
SEC. 143. RETIREMENT DATE FOR VC–25A AIRCRAFT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of the application 
of section 2244a of title 10, United States Code, the re-
tirement date of the covered aircraft is deemed to be not 
later than December 31, 2025. 
(b) COVERED AIRCRAFT DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘‘covered aircraft’’ means the two VC–25A air-
craft of the Air Force that are in service as of the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 144. CONTRACT FOR LOGISTICS SUPPORT FOR VC–25B 
AIRCRAFT. 
The Secretary of the Air Force shall— 
(1) ensure that the total period of any contract 
awarded for logistics support for the VC–25B air-
craft does not exceed five years, as required under 
part 17.204(e) of the Federal Acquisition Regula-
tion, unless otherwise approved in accordance with 
established procedures; and 
(2) comply with section 2304 of title 10, United 
States Code, regarding full and open competition 
through the use of competitive procedures for the 
award of any logistics support contract following the 
initial five-year contract period. 
SEC. 145. MULTIYEAR PROCUREMENT AUTHORITY FOR C– 
130J AIRCRAFT. 
(a) AUTHORITY FOR MULTIYEAR PROCUREMENT.— 
Subject to section 2306b of title 10, United States Code, 
the Secretary of the Air Force may enter into one or more 
multiyear contracts, beginning with the fiscal year 2019 
program year, for the procurement of up to 52 C–130J 
aircraft.
(b) CONDITION
FOR OUT-YEAR CONTRACT PAY-
MENTS.—A contract entered into under subsection (a) 
shall provide that any obligation of the United States to 
make a payment under the contract for a fiscal year after 
fiscal year 2019 is subject to the availability of appropria-
tions for that purpose for such later fiscal year. 
SEC. 146. REMOVAL OF WAITING PERIOD FOR LIMITATION 
ON AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR EC–130H 
COMPASS 
CALL 
RECAPITALIZATION 
PRO-
GRAM. 
Section 135(a) of the National Defense Authorization 
Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 115–91) is amended 
by striking ‘‘a period of 30 days has elapsed following’’. 
SEC. 147. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING 
KC–46 AERIAL REFUELING TANKERS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings: 
(1) Aerial refueling tankers provide an essential 
foundation for our nation’s ability to project power 
and deter adversaries, enabling the global reach of 
our joint force. 
(2) 87 percent of the legacy aerial refueling 
fleet is comprised of KC–135 aircraft with an aver-
age age of 56 years.
(3) The Commander of United States Trans-
portation Command has identified the aerial refuel-
ing fleet as the ‘‘most stressed of our air mobility 
forces’’ and stated that ‘‘delaying KC–46 production 
puts the Joint Force’s ability to effectively execute 
war plans at risk’’. 
(4) As directed by the National Defense Au-
thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 
115–91), the Air Force is undertaking an updated 
mobility capability and requirements study that will 
reflect guidance articulated in the 2018 National 
Defense Strategy and reassess the current tanker re-
quirement of 479 aircraft. 
(5) The fixed-price contract for KC–46A calls 
for 179 aircraft to be delivered by 2028. 
(6) The KC–46 is a multirole platform that will 
bring enhanced capabilities to both the aerial refuel-
ing and strategic airlift missions. The aircraft pro-
vides the ability to refuel joint and coalition aircraft 
by both boom and drogue systems in the same sor-
tie; improved cargo, passenger and aeromedical evac-
uation capabilities; and enhanced survivability with 
multiple layers of protection enabling it to operate 
safely in a broader range of threat environments 
than legacy tankers.
(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
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.
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.
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—
(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-
spections and Oversight’’ (GAO-17-513), not later than 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Army shall— 
(1) ensure that in-progress inspections are con-
ducted at the armoring vendor’s facility for each 
procurement of an armored commercial passenger- 
carrying vehicle until the date on which the Sec-
retary of Defense approves and implements an up-
dated armoring and inspection standard for such ve-
hicles; and 
(2) designate a central point of contact for col-
lecting and reporting information on armored com-
mercial passenger-carrying vehicles (such as infor-
mation on contracts execution and vehicle inspec-
tions). 
(b) BRIEFING REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of Defense shall provide to the congressional defense com-
mittees a briefing on the progress of the Secretary in im-
plementing Department of Defense Instruction O– 
2000.16 Volume 1, dated November 2016, with respect 
to armored commercial passenger-carrying vehicles, in-
cluding—
(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:
‘‘(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.’’.
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.
(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
(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—
(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;
(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—
(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