Bill > HR5086

This bill establishes the SkyFoundry Program, a Department of Defense initiative designed to rapidly develop, test, and manufacture small unmanned aircraft systems (drones). The program will be administered through the Army and integrated into the Defense Industrial Resilience Consortium, with two primary components: an innovation facility for research and development, and a production facility capable of manufacturing up to 1 million small unmanned aircraft systems annually. The Secretary of Defense will leverage alternative acquisition mechanisms, including special transaction authorities and rapid prototyping pathways, to accelerate development. The program will utilize existing Army Depot facilities, with specific site requirements including a minimum of 15,000 acres of land and proximity to four states. The bill allows for public-private partnerships, contractor support, and hybrid team structures. Importantly, the government will retain intellectual property rights for developed technologies, and the program will use Defense Production Act authorities to prioritize domestic industrial base capacity for these systems. The Secretary is also granted authority to expedite approvals and waive regulatory requirements that might slow down the program's development and production efforts, with a focus on maintaining national defense capabilities in autonomous systems and drone technologies.

Military Affairs and Security

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5086/all-info