To conduct a study on the need for national centers of excellence on unmanned aerial vehicles.

SA 3327. Mr. DASCHLE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 2400, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2005 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe personnel strengths for such fiscal year for the Armed Services, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place in the bill, add the following:

SEC. . REPORT ON ESTABLISHING NATIONAL CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE FOR UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES.

(a) Report Required.--(1) Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit a report on the need for one or more national centers of excellence for unmanned aerial vehicles to the congressional defense committees.

(b) Purpose of Centers.--(1) The goal of national centers for excellence shall be to promote inter-service cooperation and coordination in the following areas:

(A) development of doctrine for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles;

(B) joint procurement, or, where not possible, maximization of shared platforms and components;

(C) identification and coordination, in conjunction with private sector and academia, of research priorities for future development of unmanned aerial vehicles;

(D) monitoring the development and utilization of unmanned aerial vehicles in other nations for both military and non-military purposes; and

(E) identification and development of needed UAV specialists

(c) Report Requirements.--(1) The report shall include at a minimum:

(A) a list of facilities where the Defense Department currently conducts or plans to conduct research, development, and testing activities on unmanned aerial vehicles;

(B) a list of facilities where the Defense Department currently deploys or has committed to deploying unmanned aerial vehicles;

(C) extent to which existing facilities listed in (A) and (B) above have sufficient unused capacity and expertise to research, develop, test, and deploy the next generation of unmanned aerial vehicles;

(D) extent to which efficiencies on research, development, testing, and deployment of existing or future unmanned aerial vehicles can be achieved through consolidation at one or more national centers of excellence for unmanned aerial vehicles;

(E) a list of potential locations for national centers of excellence. When considering potential locations for these centers, the report should take into consideration existing Air Force facilities which possess skilled personnel, existing capacity of runways and other facilities to accommodate the research, testing, and deployment of current and future unmanned aerial vehicles, and minimal restrictions on the research, development, and testing of unmanned aerial vehicles caused by proximity to large population centers or airspace heavily utilized by commercial flights.