Sec. 824 — Requirement for modular open system approach and modifications to rights in technical data

Statutory text

(a) Requirement for modular open system approach. Section 4401 of title 10, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:4401.Requirement for modular open system approach

(a) Requirement. The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that a covered system to be procured is designed and developed with a modular open system approach that is appropriately tailored to—(1)the characteristics, intended purpose, and use of the covered system;(2)the planned service life of the covered system; and(3)any other factors relevant to the design and development of the covered system.

(b) Assessment to inform strategy. Before designing, developing, or making a modification to a covered system, the Secretary of Defense shall conduct an assessment to identify one or more open systems objectives to be achieved by the design and development of the covered system. Such assessment shall describe how a modular open system approach would—(1)support the objectives of the defense acquisition system established pursuant to section 3102 of this title;(2)align with the preference for the acquisition of commercial products and commercial services in section 3453 of this title and preserve the commercial characteristics of modules that comprise the covered system;(3)reduce the complexity of, and increase the speed by which, new technologies can be integrated into a covered system to enhance military effectiveness and responsiveness to emerging threats;(4)enable the use of iterative development cycles and discontinue or terminate the development of capabilities—(A)that no longer align with a capability requirement established by the Secretary of Defense; or(B)that are experiencing significant cost growth, technical or performance deficiencies, or delays in schedule;(5)seek to maintain a robust, resilient, and innovative defense industrial base to support requirements throughout the life cycle of the covered system;(6)reduce schedule delays and development timelines;(7)increase and enable interoperability of a covered system with the joint force as changes to force design evolve;(8)enhance supply chain risk management and mitigate industrial base production capacity risks by enabling the integration of alternative sources of supply or enabling augmented production of modules throughout the life cycle of the covered system; or (9)enable effective life-cycle management and product support of a covered system—(A)in accordance with the requirements of section 4324 of this title; and(B)to achieve applicable operational readiness requirements and materiel readiness objectives (established under section 118(c) of this title) in the most cost-effective manner practicable.

(c) Architecture requirements

(1) In developing an open systems architecture for the procurement of a covered system, the Secretary shall ensure that such architecture—(A)adequately designates and defines for the covered system—(i)modules;(ii)open external interfaces and open module interfaces to ensure loose coupling of modules within the covered system;(iii)open external interfaces, including external interfaces with a host platform or other external system, in a manner that supports interoperability; and(iv)the openness characteristics identified in subsection (d);(B)requires the exposure and full definition of open interfaces in a manner than is most suited to achieve the open systems objectives of the covered system through—(i)if available and suitable to achieve the open system objectives, the use, reuse, modification, or adaption of existing open systems architectures, interface standards, or widely supported or consensus-based standards that are available at no cost or under fair and reasonable license terms;(ii)the use of commercial standards if such commercial standards are available under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms;(iii)the use of new standards that define relationships between module interfaces and external interfaces if such standards include—(I)the software-defined syntax and properties that specifically govern how values are validly passed and received between modules of a covered system, and between the covered system and other covered systems or a host platform, in a machine-readable format;(II)a machine-readable definition that is compatible with Department-approved digital engineering environments and model-based systems engineering tools and defines the relationship between—(aa)a module interface or external interface; and(bb)existing standards or interfaces that available in the repository required by subsection (g); and(III)documentation with functional descriptions of software-defined interfaces that conveys the semantic meaning of elements of a module interface or external interface; or(iv)any combination of clauses (i) through (iii); and(C)is designed and developed to accelerate the procurement and integration of commercial products as modules when suitable and appropriate.

(2) If a contractor develops a new interface standard or modifies an existing standard, and such new or modified standard is incorporated into an open systems architecture for a covered system, the Secretary shall ensure the new or modified standard is submitted to the repository required by subsection (g) and, if the Secretary determines such submission would support the open system objectives of the covered system, is made available to recognized standards bodies.

(3) The Secretary shall ensure acquisition executives and program managers consider input from private entities as early as possible to inform decisions regarding the level in the open systems architecture at which a modular open system approach will be implemented for a covered system.

(4) The open systems architecture described in this subsection shall be included in any draft and final solicitations for procurement of a covered system.

(d) Openness characteristics. Consistent with the requirements of subchapter I of chapter 275 of this title, the Secretary shall include in any draft or final solicitation for