[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 130 (Tuesday, July 29, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4841-S4842]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 3098. Mr. CRUZ (for himself, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Cotton, and Mr.
Cornyn) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the
bill S. 2296, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2026 for
military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for
[[Page S4842]]
such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on
the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. ___. SKYFOUNDRY PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) Program required.--The Secretary of Defense shall
establish and carry out a program to enable the rapid
development, testing, and scalable manufacture of small
unmanned aircraft systems, with potential expansion to
associated energetics and other autonomous systems as
determined by the Secretary.
(2) Designation.--The program established pursuant to
paragraph (1) shall be known as the ``SkyFoundry Program''
(in this section the ``Program'').
(3) Administration.--The Secretary shall--
(A) administer the Program through the Secretary of the
Army; and
(B) establish the Program as part of the Defense Industrial
Resilience Consortium.
(b) Alternative Acquisition Mechanism.--In carrying out the
Program, the Secretary shall leverage alternative acquisition
mechanisms to accelerate development and production. Such
mechanisms shall include the use of other transaction
authority under section 4022 of title 10, United States Code,
and the use of the middle tier of acquisition pathway for
rapid prototyping and rapid fielding as authorized by section
3602 of such title.
(c) Components.--The Program shall have two components as
follows:
(1) Innovation facility.--A Government-owned innovation
facility for the development of small unmanned aircraft
systems that is operated by the United States Army Materiel
Command in coordination with United States Futures Command
and serves as the research, development, and testing hub,
integrating lessons learned from global conflicts to rapidly
evolve United States small unmanned aircraft systems designs.
(2) Production facility.--The Commander of United States
Army Materiel Command shall identify a Government-owned
production facility with the competencies for producing
various forms of small unmanned aircraft systems. The
facility shall be operated by United States Army Materiel
Command and have the capability to produce 1,000,000 small
unmanned aircraft systems annually once fully established.
(d) Government Owned Government Operated Contractor
Augmented Model.--The Secretary may--
(1) enter into multiyear contracts or agreements for
contractor augmented support to the Program, including
integrating specialized contractor personnel within Program
facilities as part of hybrid teams alongside military and
civilian personnel; and
(2) enter into public-private partnership agreements with
private industry, academic institutions, and nonprofit
entities in support of the Program.
(e) Facilities and Infrastructure.--
(1) In general.--In carrying out the Program, the Secretary
shall prioritize utilizing or modifying existing Army Depot
facilities and select at least two separate sites for the
Program, one to house the innovation facility required by
subsection (b)(1) and one to house the production facility
required by subsection (b)(2).
(2) Authority to renovate, expand, and construct.--The
Secretary may renovate, expand, or construct facilities for
the Program using available funds, notwithstanding chapter
169 of title 10, United States Code.
(3) Selection of sites.--When selecting sites for the
Program, the Secretary shall consider that the production
facility required by subsection (b)(2) shall be housed at an
existing Army Depot that meets the following requirements:
(A) The Army Depot shall be comprised of 15,000 acres of
land.
(B) The Army Depot shall have approximately 10,000
buildable acres of land.
(C) The Army Depot shall have approximately 8,000,000
square feet of facilities.
(D) The Army Depot shall be located within 50 miles of four
States.
(f) Intellectual Property Rights.--The Secretary shall
ensure that the United States retains appropriate
intellectual property and technical data rights for any
systems or technologies developed under the Program. At a
minimum, the Secretary shall secure Government purpose rights
in intellectual property developed jointly with contractors,
to enable the Government's continued production, sustainment,
modification, and competitive procurement of such systems.
(g) Defense Production Act Designation.--The President (or
the Secretary of Defense under delegated authority) shall
utilize authorities under title III of the Defense Production
Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4531 et seq.) to prioritize and
support domestic industrial base capacity for small unmanned
aircraft systems and associated energetics and autonomous
systems. Such items shall be deemed essential for the
national defense industrial base, and Title III efforts may
include investments in production scale-up, establishment of
strategic materials stockpiles, and surge manufacturing
capacity for these systems and components.
(h) Expedited Approvals and Waivers.--The Secretary, or the
Secretary of the Army under explicit delegated authority, may
expedite, and as appropriate to waive or modify Department of
Defense regulatory requirements and internal procedures that
would otherwise impede the rapid development, acquisition, or
production activities of the Program.
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