10 U.S.C. § 4252: Major defense acquisition programs: factors to be considered before Milestone B approval

information about the program or subprogram is sufficient to warrant entry of the program or subprogram into the engineering and manufacturing development phase; appropriate trade-offs among cost, schedule, technical feasibility, and performance objectives have been made to ensure that the program or subprogram is affordable when considering the per-unit cost and the total life-cycle cost, and the Secretary of the military department concerned and the Chief of the armed force concerned concur with these trade-offs; and there are sound plans for progression of the program or subprogram to the production phase. The program or subprogram has received a preliminary design review and a formal post-preliminary design review or an equivalent assessment was conducted. The technology in the program or subprogram has been demonstrated in a relevant environment. The program or subprogram is affordable when considering the ability of the Department of Defense to accomplish the program’s or subprogram’s general mission using alternative systems. Reasonable lifecycle cost and schedule estimates have been developed to execute, with the concurrence of the Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation, the plan under the program or subprogram. The estimated procurement unit cost for the program or subprogram and the estimated date for initial operational capability for the baseline description for the program or subprogram (under section 4214 of this title ) have been established. Funding is expected to be available to execute the product development and production plan for the program or subprogram, consistent with the estimates described in paragraph (4) for the program or subprogram. Appropriate market research has been conducted prior to technology development, including market research of commercial products, commercial services, and nondevelopmental items (as defined in section 110 of title 41 ). The Department of Defense has completed an analysis of alternatives with respect to the program or subprogram, or in lieu of an analysis of alternatives, early experimentation with a combatant commander has been conducted. Life-cycle sustainment planning has identified and evaluated relevant sustainment cost elements, factors, risks, and gaps that are likely to drive readiness of the system as well as operating and supporting costs. An estimate has been made of the requirements for core logistics capabilities and the associated sustaining workloads required to support such requirements. The program or subprogram complies with all relevant policies, regulations, and directives of the Department of Defense. Appropriate actions are planned for the acquisition of technical data required to support the program or subprogram. The program or subprogram has an approved life cycle sustainment plan required under section 4324(b) of this title . In the case of a naval vessel program or subprogram, such program or subprogram is in compliance with the requirements of section 8669b of this title . The milestone decision authority shall issue a written record of decision at the time that Milestone B approval is granted. The record shall confirm compliance with subsection (b) and specifically state that the milestone decision authority considered the factors described in subsection (b) prior to the decision to grant milestone approval. The milestone decision authority shall retain records of the basis for the milestone decision. alter the substantive basis for the decision of the milestone decision authority relating to any component of such decision specified in subsection (b); or otherwise cause the program or subprogram to deviate significantly from the material provided to the milestone decision authority in support of such decision. Upon receipt of information under paragraph (1), the milestone decision authority may rescind Milestone B approval if the milestone decision authority determines that such approval is no longer valid. Not later than 15 days after granting Milestone B approval for a major defense acquisition program or major subprogram, the milestone decision authority for the program or subprogram shall provide to the congressional defense committees and, in the case of intelligence or intelligence-related activities, the congressional intelligence committees a written record of the milestone decision. At the request of any of the congressional defense committees or, in the case of intelligence or intelligence-related activities, the congressional intelligence committees, the milestone decision authority shall submit to the committee an explanation of the basis for the decision to grant Milestone B approval with respect to a major defense acquisition program or major subprogram, or further information or underlying documentation. The explanation or additional information shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. The term “milestone decision authority”, with respect to a major defense acquisition program, means the official within the Department of Defense designated with the overall responsibility and authority for acquisition decisions for the program, including authority to approve entry of the program into the next phase of the acquisition process. The term “Milestone B approval” has the meaning provided that term in section 4172(e)(7) of this title . The term “core logistics capabilities” means the core logistics capabilities identified under section 2464(a) of this title . The term “congressional intelligence committees” has the meaning given that term in section 437(c) of this title . The term “written record of milestone decision”, with respect to a major defense acquisition program or a major subprogram, means a document signed by the milestone decision authority that formalizes approved entry of the program or subprogram into the next phase of the acquisition process. if the milestone decision authority for the program is the service acquisition executive of the military department that is managing the program, the sufficiency assessment shall be conducted by the senior official within the military department with responsibility for developmental testing; and if the milestone decision authority for the program is the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, the sufficiency assessment shall be conducted by the senior Department of Defense official with responsibility for developmental testing.” the developmental test and evaluation plan; the developmental test and evaluation schedule, including a comparison to historic analogous systems; the developmental test and evaluation resources (facilities, personnel, test assets, data analytics tools, and modeling and simulation capabilities); the risks of developmental test and production concurrency; and the developmental test criteria for entering the production phase; and the sufficiency of the developmental test and evaluation completed; the sufficiency of the plans and resources available for remaining developmental test and evaluation; the risks identified during developmental testing to the production and deployment phase; the sufficiency of the plans and resources for remaining developmental test and evaluation; and the readiness of the system to perform scheduled initial operational test and evaluation.” the bandwidth requirements needed to support such program are or will be met; and a determination will be made with respect to how to meet the bandwidth requirements for such program.”