Wednesday, September 16, 2026Independent tracking of the National Defense Authorization Act

The hub for the National Defense Authorization Act — status, history, and analysis

Title I: Procurement

Sec. 111Standards for networked, autonomous, kinetic capabilities to protect against small unmanned aircraft systems

TL;DR

Requires the Secretary of the Army to submit a report on standards for networked, autonomous, kinetic capabilities to protect against small unmanned aircraft systems not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Statutory text

(a) In general. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Army shall establish standards to guide the development, procurement, and fielding of covered capabilities to protect ground combat, support, and mobility platforms against small unmanned aircraft systems.

(b) Requirements. The standards established under subsection (a) shall provide for the development, procurement, and fielding of covered capabilities that—(1)are interoperable across brigade combat team elements, including interoperability of capabilities for the detection, tracking, and kinetic interception of small unmanned aircraft systems;(2)ensure seamless networking between a wide variety of sensors and ground platforms; and(3)meet such other requirements as the Secretary of the Army determines appropriate.

(c) Report to Congress. Not later than 90 days after the date on which the Secretary of the Army establishes the standards under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report that includes—(1)an explanation of the standards; and(2)identification of any hardware or software components that—(A)potentially meet such standards; and(B)would be appropriate for incorporation into covered capabilities.

(d) Covered capabilities defined. In this section, the term covered capabilities means platforms and other capabilities that—(1)are networked and autonomous;(2)are capable of the detection, tracking, and kinetic interception of small unmanned aircraft systems; and(3)incorporate—(A)passive and active sensors for the persistent detection and tracking of threats posed by unmanned aircraft systems;(B)autonomous kinetic effects capable of neutralizing threats with minimal operator intervention; and(C)mesh networking to allow for sensor-to-shooter handoffs between multiple ground platforms.