10 U.S. Code § 4211 - Acquisition strategy

(a) Acquisition Strategy Required.—

There shall be an acquisition strategy for each major defense acquisition program and each major system approved by a decision authority.

(b) Responsible Official.—

For each acquisition strategy required by subsection (a), the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, or the decision authority, when the decision authority is the service acquisition executive of the military department that is managing the program, is responsible for issuing and maintaining the requirements for—

(1) the content of the strategy; and

(2) the review and approval process for the strategy.

(c) Considerations.—

(1) In issuing requirements for the content of an acquisition strategy for a major defense acquisition program or major system, the Under Secretary, or the decision authority, when the decision authority is the service acquisition executive of the military department that is managing the program, shall ensure that—

(A) the strategy clearly describes the proposed business case and capability management approach for the program or system, and to the maximum extent practicable, describes how capability requirements will be met through delivery of such program or system;

(B) the strategy contains a clear explanation of the resources, such as time, funding, and management capacity, necessary to meet capability requirements;

(C) the strategy is tailored to address program requirements and constraints; and

(D) the strategy considers the items listed in paragraph (2).

(2) Each strategy shall, where appropriate, consider the following:

(A) An approach that delivers required capabilities in increments, each depending on available mature technology, and that recognizes up front the need for future capability improvements or transitions to alternative end items through use of continuous competition.

(B) Requirements related to logistics, maintenance, and sustainment in accordance with sections 2464 and 2466 of this title, and the acquisition of technical data, computer software, and associated licenses, to enable such requirements in accordance with sections 3771 through 3775 of this title.

(C) A process for collaborative interaction and market research with the science and technology community, including Department of Defense science and technology reinvention laboratories, government innovation cells, academia, small businesses, nontraditional defense contractors, and other contractors.

(D) Identification of enterprise-wide designs and standards in support of an architecture that provides for an integrated suite of capabilities that focuses on simplicity of implementation and speed of delivery.

(E) Overarching roadmaps that create integrated strategic schedules of legacy systems and new capabilities.

(F) A contracting strategy that develops long-term partnerships with multiple companies to actively contribute to architectures, development, production, and sustainment across the capabilities to be developed by decomposing large systems into smaller sets of projects across time and technical component.

(G) An assignment of roles and responsibilities of key personnel of the acquisition workforce, identification of external stakeholder dependencies, and the need for subject matter expert inputs at critical points in the program, including the need for special hiring authority or advisory and assistance services, in order to deliver the desired capabilities.

(H) A process of testing and experimentation with the test community and end users to ensure continuous user feedback, acceptance, and development of concepts of operations.

(d) Review.—

The decision authority shall review and approve, as appropriate, the acquisition strategy for a major defense acquisition program or major system prior to the acquisition decision memorandum and ensure that the strategy is updated at regular intervals to incorporate significant changes to program requirements, resourcing, or acquisition decisions.

(e) Decision Authority Defined.—

In this section, the term “decision authority”, with respect to a major defense acquisition program or major system, means the official within the Department of Defense designated with the overall responsibility and authority for acquisition decisions for the program or system, including authority to approve entry of the program or system into the next phase of the acquisition process.

(Added Pub. L. 114–92, div. A, title VIII, § 821(a)(1), Nov. 25, 2015, 129 Stat. 897, § 2431a; amended Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title VIII, § 848, Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2292; Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title X, § 1081(a)(39), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1596; Pub. L. 116–92, div. A, title IX, § 902(70), Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1551; renumbered § 4211 and amended Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title XVIII, § 1847(b)(1), (2), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4253; Pub. L. 117–81, div. A, title XVII, § 1701(s)(1), Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 2149; Pub. L. 118–159, div. A, title XVII, § 1701(a)(39), Dec. 23, 2024, 138 Stat. 2205; Pub. L. 119–60, div. A, title XVIII, § 1805(a), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1235.)

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2025—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1805(a)(1), struck out “milestone” before “decision authority”.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1805(a)(2), in introductory provisions, struck out “milestone” before “decision authority” in two places.

Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1805(a)(3)(A)(i), in introductory provisions, struck out “milestone” before “decision authority” in two places.

Subsec. (c)(1)(A). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1805(a)(3)(A)(ii), amended subpar. (A) generally. Prior to amendment, subpar. (A) read as follows: “the strategy clearly describes the proposed top-level business and technical management approach for the program or system, in sufficient detail to allow the milestone decision authority to assess the viability of the proposed approach, the method of implementing laws and policies, and program objectives;”.

Subsec. (c)(1)(B). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1805(a)(3)(A)(iii), substituted “the resources, such as time, funding, and management capacity, necessary to meet capability requirements” for “how the strategy is designed to be implemented with available resources, such as time, funding, and management capacity”.

Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1805(a)(3)(B), amended par. (2) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (2) related to considerations for each acquisition strategy for a major defense acquisition program or major system.

Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1805(a)(4), added subsecs. (d) and (e) and struck out former subsecs. (d) and (e) which related to times for review and approval of the acquisition strategy and provided definitions for the section, respectively.

2024—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 118–159, § 1701(a)(39)(B), struck out “, each major automated information system,” after “defense acquisition program”.

Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 118–159, § 1701(a)(39)(A), struck out “, major automated information system,” after “defense acquisition program” in introductory provisions.

Subsec. (c)(2)(H). Pub. L. 118–159, § 1701(a)(39)(C), substituted “section 3501 of this title” for “sections 3501 through 3511 of this title”.

Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 118–159, § 1701(a)(39)(A), struck out “, major automated information system,” after “defense acquisition program” wherever appearing.

2021—Pub. L. 116–283, § 1847(b)(1)(A), renumbered section 2431a of this title as this section.

Subsec. (c)(2)(B). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1847(b)(2), formerly § 1847(b)(2)(B), as redesignated and amended by Pub. L. 117–81, § 1701(s)(1), substituted “section 4820 of this title” for “section 2440 of this title”.

Subsec. (c)(2)(D). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1847(b)(1)(B)(i)(I), substituted “section 4324” for “section 2337”.

Subsec. (c)(2)(F). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1847(b)(1)(B)(i)(II), substituted “sections 3771 through 3775” for “section 2320”.

Subsec. (c)(2)(H). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1847(b)(1)(B)(i)(III), substituted “sections 3501 through 3511” for “section 2306b”.

Subsec. (c)(3). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1847(b)(2)(A), which directed the transfer of section 2440 of this title to subsec. (c)(3) of this section and substitution of “section 4811” for “section 2501” in text, was repealed by Pub. L. 117–81, § 1701(s)(1)(A).

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1847(b)(1)(C), which directed amendment of subsec. (e) by striking pars. (1) and (2) and redesignating pars. (3) to (10) as (1) to (8), respectively, was executed by striking pars. (1) and (2) and redesignating former pars. (3) to (9) as (1) to (7), respectively, to reflect the probable intent of Congress, as no par. (10) had been enacted. Prior to amendment, pars. (1) and (2) defined “major defense acquisition program” and “major system”, respectively.

Subsec. (e)(4). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1847(b)(1)(B)(ii)(I), substituted “section 4172(e)(7)” for “section 2366(e)(7)”.

Subsec. (e)(7). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1847(b)(1)(B)(ii)(II), substituted “section 4371(a)(2)” for “section 2433(a)(4)”.

Subsec. (e)(8). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1847(b)(1)(B)(ii)(III), substituted “section 4371(a)(3)” for “section 2433(a)(5)”.

2019—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 116–92 substituted “Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment” for “Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics” in introductory provisions.

2017—Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 115–91 inserted “(1)” before “The milestone”.

2016—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 114–328, § 848(1), in introductory provisions, inserted “, or the milestone decision authority, when the milestone decision authority is the service acquisition executive of the military department that is managing the program,” after “the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics”.

Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 114–328, § 848(2)(A), in introductory provisions, inserted “, or the milestone decision authority, when the milestone decision authority is the service acquisition executive of the military department that is managing the program,” after “the Under Secretary”.

Subsec. (c)(2)(C). Pub. L. 114–328, § 848(2)(B), struck out “, in accordance with section 2431b of this title” before period at end.

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 114–328, § 848(3), substituted “The” for “(1) Subject to the authority, direction, and control of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, the” and, in par. (2), inserted “because of a change described in paragraph (1)(F)” after “for a program or system”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2021 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 117–81 applicable as if included in the enactment of title XVIII of Pub. L. 116–283 as enacted, see section 1701(a)(2) of Pub. L. 117–81, set out in a note preceding section 3001 of this title and note below.

Amendment by Pub. L. 116–283 effective Jan. 1, 2022, with additional provisions for delayed implementation and applicability of existing law, see section 1801(d) of Pub. L. 116–283, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.