H.R. 3626: United States-United Kingdom Directed Energy Cooperation Act

Summary

A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Ted Lieu to authorize the Secretary of Defense to carry out joint research, development, test, and evaluation activities with the United Kingdom to establish directed energy capabilities. The legislation highlights the strategic and cost advantages of directed energy platforms for missile defense and aerial threat mitigation, mandating bilateral cost-sharing, intellectual property frameworks, and congressional reporting.

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116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3626

To authorize the Secretary of Defense to carry out research, development, test, and evaluation activities, on a joint basis with the United Kingdom, to establish directed energy capabilities that address threats to the United States, deployed forces of the United States, or the United Kingdom, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 5, 2019

Mr. TED LIEU of California (for himself, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. LANGEVIN, and Mr. LAMBORN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Defense to carry out research, development, test, and evaluation activities, on a joint basis with the United Kingdom, to establish directed energy capabilities that address threats to the United States, deployed forces of the United States, or the United Kingdom, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-United 3 Kingdom Directed Energy Cooperation Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5 Congress finds the following: 6 (1) Directed energy platforms are electro- 7 magnetic systems capable of converting chemical or 8 electrical energy to radiated energy and focusing it 9 on a target, resulting in physical damage that de- 10 grades or neutralizes an adversarial capability. 11 These systems include high-energy lasers that emit 12 photons and high-power microwaves that release ra- 13 diofrequency waves. 14 (2) Directed energy platforms hold enormous 15 potential for non-lethal, defensive capabilities, in- 16 cluding protection against advanced missiles and 17 swarms of unmanned aerial systems. 18 (3) At a fraction of the per-use cost of kinetic 19 defense platforms, directed energy capabilities could 20 greatly enhance the deterrence posture of the United 21 States and protect against emerging threats such as 22 hypersonic and maneuverable missiles. 23 (4) Collaboration between the United States 24 and the United Kingdom on the development and 25 application of directed energy weapon technologies 26 can be traced back to 2010. The UK/US Directed

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1 Energy Symposium was created under bilateral ex- 2 change agreements between the United States and 3 the United Kingdom, covering topics such as high- 4 energy lasers, modeling and simulation, and protec- 5 tion against high-power radio frequency weapons. 6 (5) In response to technological advances and 7 emerging threats, the United States has increased 8 investments in next-generation directed energy capa- 9 bilities and is exploring the potential for boost-phase 10 ballistic missile defense with the Low-Power Laser 11 Demonstrator program. Existing programs within 12 each service branch are developing technologies to 13 protect members of the Armed Forces from rocket, 14 artillery, mortar, and unmanned aerial systems. 15 (6) In 2017, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of 16 Defence awarded £30M to an international defense 17 consortium to build a prototype for the Laser Di- 18 rected Energy Weapon (LDEW) Capability Demon- 19 strator. The air defense system will be capable of en- 20 gaging targets in land and maritime environments. 21 (7) In 2017, the United Kingdom’s Minister for 22 Defence Procurement Harriett Baldwin said, ‘‘The 23 UK has long enjoyed a reputation as a world leader 24 in innovation and it is truly ground-breaking 25 projects like the Laser Directed Energy Weapon

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1 which will keep this country ahead of the curve. The 2 Defense Innovation Initiative and £800M Defense 3 Innovation Fund aim to encourage imagination, in- 4 genuity and entrepreneurship, in pursuit of main- 5 taining a military advantage in the future.’’. 6 (8) In 2018, while offering remarks at the Di- 7 rected Energy Summit, Undersecretary of Defense 8 for Research and Engineering Michael Griffin ex- 9 pressed support for the United States partnering 10 with allies to develop directed energy technologies. 11 (9) In 2019, the United States Missile Defense 12 Review highlighted the promise that high-powered 13 laser technology holds for boost-phase ballistic mis- 14 sile defense.

15 SEC. 3. UNITED STATES-UNITED KINGDOM DIRECTED EN- 16 ERGY CAPABILITIES COOPERATION. 17 (a) AUTHORITY.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, 19 upon request of the United Kingdom’s Secretary of 20 State for Defence and with the concurrence of the 21 Secretary of State, is authorized to carry out re- 22 search, development, test, and evaluation activities, 23 on a joint basis with the United Kingdom, to estab- 24 lish directed energy capabilities that address threats 25 to the United States, deployed forces of the United

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1 States, or the United Kingdom. Any activities car- 2 ried out pursuant to such authority shall be con- 3 ducted in a manner that appropriately protects sen- 4 sitive information and the national security interests 5 of the United States and the national security inter- 6 ests of the United Kingdom. 7 (2) REPORT.—The activities described in para- 8 graph (1) may be carried out after the Secretary of 9 Defense submits to the appropriate committees of 10 Congress a report setting forth the following: 11 (A) A memorandum of agreement between 12 the United States and the United Kingdom re- 13 garding sharing of research and development 14 costs for the capabilities described in paragraph 15 (1), and any supporting documents. 16 (B) A certification that the memorandum 17 of agreement— 18 (i) requires sharing of costs of 19 projects, including in-kind support, be- 20 tween the United States and the United 21 Kingdom; 22 (ii) establishes a framework to nego- 23 tiate the rights to any intellectual property 24 developed under the memorandum of 25 agreement; and

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1 (iii) requires the United States Gov- 2 ernment to receive semiannual reports on 3 expenditure of funds, if any, by the Gov- 4 ernment of the United Kingdom, including 5 a description of what the funds have been 6 used for, when funds were expended, and 7 an identification of entities that expended 8 the funds.

9 (b) SUPPORT IN CONNECTION WITH ACTIVITIES.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense is 11 authorized to provide maintenance and sustainment 12 support to the United Kingdom for the directed en- 13 ergy capabilities research, development, test, and 14 evaluation activities authorized in subsection (a)(1). 15 Such authority includes authority to install equip- 16 ment necessary to carry out such research, develop- 17 ment, test, and evaluation. 18 (2) REPORT.—The support described in para- 19 graph (1) may not be provided until 15 days after 20 the Secretary of Defense submits to the appropriate 21 committees of Congress a report setting forth a de- 22 tailed description of the support to be provided. 23 (3) MATCHING CONTRIBUTION.—The support 24 described in paragraph (1) may not be provided un- 25 less the Secretary of Defense certifies to the appro-

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1 priate committees of Congress that the Government 2 of the United Kingdom will contribute to such sup- 3 port— 4 (A) an amount equal to not less than the 5 amount of support to be so provided; or 6 (B) an amount that otherwise meets the 7 best efforts of the United Kingdom, as mutually 8 agreed to by the United States and the United 9 Kingdom. 10 (c) LEAD AGENCY.—The Secretary of Defense shall 11 designate an appropriate research and development entity 12 of a military department as the lead agency of the Depart- 13 ment of Defense in carrying out this section. 14 (d) SEMIANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary of De- 15 fense shall submit to the appropriate committees of Con- 16 gress on a semiannual basis a report that contains a copy 17 of the most recent semiannual report provided by the Gov- 18 ernment of the United Kingdom to the Department of De- 19 fense pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(B)(iii). 20 (e) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE- 21 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit- 22 tees of Congress’’ means— 23 (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 24 Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 25 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the

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1 Committee on Appropriations, and the Select Com- 2 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate; and 3 (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 4 Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on 5 Homeland Security, the Committee on Appropria- 6 tions, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intel- 7 ligence of the House of Representatives.