10 U.S. Code § 4325 - Major weapon systems: assessment, management, and control of operating and support costs

(a) Guidance Required.—

The Secretary of Defense shall issue and maintain guidance on actions to be taken to assess, manage, and control Department of Defense costs for the operation and support of major weapon systems.

(b) Elements.—

The guidance required by subsection (a) shall, at a minimum—

(1) be issued in accordance with the requirements of section 118 of this title and in conjunction with the comprehensive guidance on life-cycle management and the development and implementation of product support strategies for major weapon systems required by section 4324 of this title;

(2) require the military departments to retain each estimate of operating and support costs that is developed at any time during the life cycle of a major weapon system, together with supporting documentation used to develop the estimate;

(3) require each Secretary of a military department to update estimates of operating and support costs periodically throughout the life cycle of a major weapon system, and make necessary adjustments to the life-cycle sustainment plan required by section 4324 of this title to ensure such major weapon system meets applicable operational readiness requirements and materiel readiness objectives (established in accordance with section 118(c) of this title) in the most cost-effective manner practicable;

(4) establish policies and procedures for the collection, organization, maintenance, and availability of standardized data on operating and support costs for major weapon systems in accordance with section 2222 of this title;

(5) establish standard requirements for the collection and reporting of data on operating and support costs for major weapon systems by contractors performing weapon system sustainment functions in an appropriate format, and develop contract clauses to ensure that contractors comply with such requirements;

(6) require the military departments—

(A) to collect and retain data from operational and developmental testing and evaluation on the reliability and maintainability of major weapon systems; and

(B) to use such data to inform system design decisions, provide insight into sustainment costs, and inform estimates of operating and support costs for such systems;

(7) require the military departments to ensure that sustainment factors are fully considered at key life-cycle management decision points and that appropriate measures are taken to reduce operating and support costs by influencing system design early in development, developing sound sustainment strategies, and addressing key drivers of costs;

(8) require the military departments to conduct an independent logistics assessment of each major weapon system prior to key acquisition decision points (including milestone decisions) to identify features that are likely to drive future operating and support costs, changes to system design that could reduce such costs, and effective strategies for managing such costs;

(9) prior to the Milestone B approval (or equivalent approval) for a major weapon system, require the Secretary concerned to ensure the completion of an intellectual property management plan for product support required under section 4324(b)(1)(D) of this title; and

(10) require each Secretary of a military department to create and retain an independent cost estimate for the remainder of the life cycle of the covered weapon system every five years.

(c) Major Weapon System Defined.—

In this section, the term “major weapon system” has the meaning given that term in section 101(a) of this title.

(Added Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title VIII, § 836(a)(1), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1472, § 2337a; amended Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title X, § 1081(a)(20), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1984; renumbered § 4325 and amended Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title XVIII, § 1848(d)(1), (3), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4258; Pub. L. 119–60, div. A, title VIII, § 811(c)(2)(C), title XVIII, § 1803(e), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 950, 1233.)

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2025—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1803(e)(1)(A), inserted “in accordance with the requirements of section 118 of this title and” after “be issued”.

Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1803(e)(1)(B), amended par. (3) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (3) read as follows: “require the military departments to update estimates of operating and support costs periodically throughout the life cycle of a major weapon system, to determine whether preliminary information and assumptions remain relevant and accurate, and identify and record reasons for variances;”.

Subsec. (b)(9). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1803(e)(1)(C), amended par. (9) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (9) read as follows: “include—

“(A) reliability metrics for major weapon systems; and

“(B) requirements on the use of metrics under subparagraph (A) as triggers—

“(i) to conduct further investigation and analysis into drivers of those metrics; and

“(ii) to develop strategies for improving reliability, availability, and maintainability of such systems at an affordable cost; and”.

Subsec. (b)(10). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1803(e)(1)(D), amended par. (10) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (10) read as follows: “require the military departments to conduct periodic reviews of operating and support costs of major weapon systems after such systems achieve initial operational capability to identify and address factors resulting in growth in operating and support costs and adapt support strategies to reduce such costs.”

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1803(e)(2), (3), redesignated subsec. (d) as (c) and struck out former subsec. (c) which related to retention of data on operating and support costs.

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1803(e)(3), redesignated subsec. (d) as (c).

Pub. L. 119–60, § 811(c)(2)(C), substituted “section 101(a)” for “section 3455(f)”.

2021—Pub. L. 116–283, § 1848(d)(3)(B), amended section catchline generally. Prior to amendment, section catchline read as follows: “Assessment, management, and control of operating and support costs for major weapon systems”.

Pub. L. 116–283, § 1848(d)(1), renumbered section 2337a of this title as this section.

Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1848(d)(3)(A)(i), substituted “section 4324” for “section 2337”.

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1848(d)(3)(A)(ii), substituted “section 3455(f)” for “section 2379(f)”.

2018—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 115–232 substituted “this title” for “title 10, United States Code”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2021 Amendment

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.

Retention of Data on Operating and Support Costs

Pub. L. 119–60, div. A, title XVIII, § 1803(f), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1233, provided that:

“(1) In general.—

The Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation shall develop and maintain a database on operating and support estimates, supporting documentation, and actual operating and support costs for major weapon systems (as defined in section 101 of title 10, United States Code, as added by section 811 of this Act).

“(2) Support.—

The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the Director, in carrying out the requirements of paragraph (1)—

“(A) promptly receives the results of all cost estimates and cost analyses conducted by each Secretary of a military department with regard to operating and support costs of major weapon systems acquired pursuant to a major defense acquisition program (as defined in section 4201 of title 10, United States Code); and

“(B) has timely access to any records and data of military departments (including classified and proprietary information) that the Director considers necessary to carry out such requirements.

“(3) Coordination.—

The Secretary of Defense may direct each Secretary of a military department, with concurrence of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, to collect and retain information necessary to support the database required in (1).”

Pilot Program on Time-Certain Development in Acquisition of Major Weapon Systems

Pub. L. 109–364, div. A, title VIII, § 812, Oct. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 2317, as amended by Pub. L. 110–417, [div. A], title VIII, § 813(d)(3), Oct. 14, 2008, 122 Stat. 4527; Pub. L. 111–84, div. A, title X, § 1073(c)(5), Oct. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 2474; Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title XVIII, § 1806(e)(2)(D), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4155, which authorized a pilot program on the use of time-certain development in the acquisition of major weapon systems in order to deliver new capabilities to warfighters more rapidly, was repealed by Pub. L. 119–60, div. A, title VIII, § 811(b)(16)(A), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 949.