[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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