FY2026 NDAA, Section 914 ("Small-UAS industrial base working group")

SEC. 914. SMALL-UAS INDUSTRIAL BASE WORKING GROUP. (a) Establishment.--Not later than January 15, 2026, the Deputy Secretary of Defense shall establish a working group to be known as the ``Small-UAS Industrial Base Working Group'' (referred to in this section as the ``Working Group'') to analyze the supplier base for small-UAS systems and recommend investments or other actions to improve such supplier base. (b) Members.--The Working Group shall be composed of the following members: (1) The Deputy Secretary of Defense. (2) The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy. (3) The Director of the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group. (4) One or more representatives of the Defense Innovation Unit. (5) The service acquisition executive of each military department. (6) One or more representatives from the Army Materiel Command. (7) One or more representatives from the United States Special Operations Command. (8) Such other members as the Deputy Secretary of Defense determines appropriate. (c) Director of Working Group.--The Director of the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group shall serve as the Director of the Working Group.

(d) Responsibilities.--The Working Group shall have the following responsibilities: (1) Analyzing the current capacity of the sUAS industrial base, including manufacturers of complete sUAS systems and suppliers of components for such systems. (2) Identifying likely investments by entities in the sUAS industrial base to remediate fragile supply chains and supply chains for systems or components for which there are limited or no domestic suppliers, taking into account reasonable estimates of Federal Government and commercial demand and ensuring that private investment is leveraged to the greatest extent practicable. (3) Developing plans for investments and other actions to remediate fragile or non-U.S. suppliers, including the following: (A) Continued Federal Government purchases of significant numbers of sUAS systems. (B) Partnerships between entities in the sUAS industrial base and the Federal Government, including-- (i) the SkyFoundry initiative of the Army Materiel Command; (ii) arrangements for companies in the sUAS industrial base to operate commercially-owned, commercially-operated production facilities on sites within the United States organic industrial base; (iii) arrangements for the establishment of Government- owned, contractor-operated sUAS component production facilities on such sites; and (iv) arrangements for the establishment of Government- owned, Government-operated sUAS component production facilities on such sites. (C) Identifying sUAS capabilities that are required by the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force, but which commercial industry cannot or is not expected to fulfill. (D) Identifying opportunities for public-private partnerships to support the incubation and innovation of sUAS technology. (4) Identifying potential changes in qualification processes for sUAS components that could enable greater commercial production of such components and sUAS systems.

(e) Reports.-- (1) Initial report.--Not later than April 1, 2026, the Working Group shall submit to the Deputy Secretary of Defense and the congressional defense committees a report that includes-- (A) an initial assessment of the sUAS industrial base; (B) a summary of the aggregate demand signal made by the Federal Government for sUAS production as of the date of the report; (C) a summary of the future projected demand signal by the Federal Government for sUAS production; (D) a description of the likely investments in the sUAS component supplier base by commercial industry over the period of 18 months following the date of the report; (E) recommendations for investments or other actions to strengthen the sUAS industrial base to optimally meet aggregate Federal Government and commercial demand; and (F) an assessment of the Sky Foundry initiative of the Army to determine how that initiative is expected to-- (i) assist the Army in meeting its sUAS requirements at a competitive cost; and (ii) materially impact the health of the sUAS industrial base.

(2) Biannual reports.--Not less frequently than once every 180 days following the submittal of the initial report under paragraph (1), the Working Group shall submit to the Deputy Secretary of Defense and the congressional defense committees an updated version of the report. (f) Authorization of SkyFoundry Program.--The Secretary of the Army may establish a SkyFoundry program if-- (1) the Working Group has submitted the initial report required under subsection (e)(1) to the congressional defense committees; and (2) the Deputy Secretary of Defense certifies to such committees that the SkyFoundry program-- (A) will improve the ability of the Army to rapidly field sUAS systems at a competitive cost; and (B) will not negatively impact the commercial sUAS industrial base.

(g) Definitions.--In this section: (1) The term ``small-UAS'' or ``sUAS'' means an unmanned aircraft system designated as Group 1, Group 2, or Group 3 in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Categorization Chart set forth in chapter III of the Department of Defense Joint Publication 3-30 (relating to ``Joint Air Operations''), or any successor to such categorization system. (2) The term ``sUAS component'' means any of following components for sUAS systems: (A) Brushless motors. (B) Batteries. (C) Antennae. (D) Flight controllers, including printed circuit boards. (E) Wiring harnesses. (F) Rotors. (G) Blades and propellers. (H) Chassis, bodies, and frames. (I) Sensors, including electro-optical and infra-red sensors, GPS, and other such sensors.