10 U.S.C. § 4142 (ARMED FORCES)
§ 4142. Functions of Defense research facilities
(a) Functions of Defense Research Facilities.—
The Secretary of Defense shall ensure, to the maximum extent practicable—
(1) that Defense research facilities are assigned broad mission requirements rather than specific hardware needs;
(2) that appropriate personnel of such facilities are assigned to serve as consultants on component and support system standardization;
(3) that the managers of such facilities have broad latitude to choose research and development projects based on awareness of activities throughout the technology domain, including within the Federal Government, the Department of Defense, public and private research institutions and universities, and the global commercial marketplace;
(4) that technology position and issue papers prepared by Defense research facilities are readily available to all components of the Department of Defense and to contractors who submit bids or proposals for Department of Defense contracts;
(5) that, in order to promote increased consideration of technological issues early in the development process, any technological assessment made by a Defense research facility shall be provided to the Defense Technical Information Center repository to support acquisition decisions; and
(6) that, in light of Defense research facilities being funded by the public, Defense research facilities are broadly authorized and encouraged to support national technological development goals and support technological missions of other departments and agencies of the Federal Government, when such support is determined by the Secretary of Defense to be in the best interests of the Federal Government.
(b) Definitions.—
In this section, the term “Defense research facility” means a Department of Defense facility which performs or contracts for the performance of—
(1) basic research; or
(2) applied research known as exploratory development.
(Added and amended Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title XVIII, § 1844(d), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4246.)
heading: Codification
text: The text of subsecs. (b) and (c) of section 2364 of this title, which were transferred to this section and redesignated as subsecs. (a) and (b), respectively, by Pub. L. 116–283, § 1844(d)(2), was based on Pub. L. 99–661, div. A, title II, § 234(c)(1), Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 3848; Pub. L. 100–26, §§ 3(1)(A), 7(a)(9), Apr. 21, 1987, 101 Stat. 273, 278; Pub. L. 100–180, div. A, title XII, § 1231(10)(A), Dec. 4, 1987, 101 Stat. 1160; Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title VIII, § 805, Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 390; Pub. L. 113–291, div. A, title II, § 213, Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3325; Pub. L. 114–92, div. A, title II, § 214(a)(2), Nov. 25, 2015, 129 Stat. 768.
heading: Amendments
text: 2021—Subsecs. (a), (b). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1844(d)(2), transferred subsecs. (b) and (c) of section 2364 of this title to this section and redesignated them as subsecs. (a) and (b), respectively.
heading: Effective Date
text: Section and amendment by Pub. L. 116–283 effective Jan. 1, 2022, with additional provisions for delayed implementation and applicability of existing law, see section 1801(d) of Pub. L. 116–283, set out as an Effective Date of 2021 Amendment note preceding section 3001 of this title.