[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3381 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3381
To require coordination of depot-level maintenance in multinational
exercises conducted by the Air Force.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 8 (legislative day, December 4), 2025
Mr. Kelly (for himself, Mr. Lankford, and Mr. Curtis) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require coordination of depot-level maintenance in multinational
exercises conducted by the Air Force.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. DEPOT-LEVEL MAINTENANCE COORDINATION IN MULTINATIONAL
EXERCISES.
(a) In General.--Each year, the Secretary of the Air Force shall
incorporate in at least one multinational exercise conducted in the
area of operations of the United States Indo-Pacific Command--
(1) depot-level maintenance, repair, and sustainment
considerations, including binational or multinational planning
sessions with covered nations on--
(A) identifying opportunities to cooperate on
depot-level maintenance and repair in ways that
minimize transportation requirements in such area of
operations and determining the authorities necessary to
deliver necessary joint capabilities;
(B) facilitating real-time coordination between the
United States and covered nations to maintain munitions
stock levels and resupply routes in such area of
operations;
(C) mutual recognition of airworthiness and
maintenance certification between the United States and
covered nations; and
(D) emergency tabletop exercises, such as when an
aircraft of a covered nation breaks down in United
States territory, and vice versa, in a contested
logistics environment.
(2) coordination with the Air Force Sustainment Center,
including the participation of representatives of--
(A) the United States Indo-Pacific Command;
(B) the United States Pacific Air Forces;
(C) the United States Air Mobility Command; and
(D) the Air Force Sustainment Center.
(b) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Air Force shall
submit to Congress a report summarizing the lessons learned
from carrying out an exercise in accordance with subsection (a)
with respect to the Republic of Korea and the Commonwealth of
Australia.
(2) Elements.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall
include the following:
(A) A list of candidate systems for co-sustainment
with the Republic of Korea and the Commonwealth of
Australia.
(B) A list of depot-level repair workload
opportunities to undertake with the Republic of Korea
and the Commonwealth of Australia, including testing
equipment or line replaceable units.
(C) Opportunities to incorporate Korean and
Australian industry partners in depot-level maintenance
repair activities, including through public-private
partnerships.
(D) An identification of any potential logistical
challenges that could arise with the host country,
including with respect to workforce, housing, and
location of workload.
(E) An identification of any potential impediments
involving intellectual property or data rights between
original equipment manufacturers and the Department of
the Air Force or between the Department of the Air
Force and the Republic of Korea or the Commonwealth of
Australia.
(F) An identification of any potential impediments
related to International Traffic in Arms Regulations
and related statutes.
(G) Any additional recommendations to Congress that
would ease the facilitation of depot-level maintenance
repair partnerships with the Republic of Korea and the
Commonwealth of Australia, including changes to
existing status of forces agreements.
(H) An analysis of current maintenance and repair
capabilities and gaps in the organic industrial base of
the Republic of Korea and the Commonwealth of
Australia.
(I) An assessment of the types of maintenance and
repair activities (including depot-level, preventative,
and corrective) that may be most appropriate for a
partnership with the Republic of Korea or the
Commonwealth of Australia.
(J) An assessment of how any such partnership may
contribute to allied contingency operations,
interoperability, and regional posture resilience in
the Indo-Pacific region.
(K) A consideration of planning factors related to
the evolving force generation models of the Air Force,
future-generation aircraft programs, deployment
schedules, statutory maintenance thresholds, and other
relevant operational requirements.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Covered nation defined.--The term ``covered nation''
means any of the following:
(A) The Commonwealth of Australia.
(B) Canada.
(C) Japan.
(D) New Zealand.
(E) The Republic of Korea.
(F) The United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland.
(G) Any other nation as designated as a covered
nation for the purposes of this section by the
Secretary of the Air Force.
(2) International traffic in arms regulations.--The term
``International Traffic in Arms Regulations'' means subchapter
M of chapter I of title 22, Code of Federal Regulations (or
successor regulations).
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