S.Amdt. 4216

SA 4216. Mr. BOOKER (for himself and Mr. Menendez) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 2943, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2017 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle E of title I, add the following:

SEC. 154. REPORT ON NORTHCOM JOINT URGENT OPERATIONS NEED FOR
AESA RADARS.

(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM) requested
a Joint Urgent Operational Need (JUON) in 2015 at the request
of the First Air Force for 72 F-16 aircraft equipped with
active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars.
(2) According to a June 2009 report of the Defense Science
Board Task Force on the Fulfillment of Urgent Operational
Needs, a JUON is ``a need prioritized by a combatant
commander and is defined as a need requiring a solution that,
if left unfilled, could result in the loss of life and/or
prevent the successful completion of a near-term military
mission''.
(3) According to Department of Defense Instruction 5000.02
``Operation of the Defense Acquisition System'', the purpose
of urgent

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operational needs is ``to deliver capability quickly, within
days or months''.
(4) Furthermore, Department of Defense Instruction 5000.02
states that ``DoD Components will use all available
authorities to expeditiously fund, develop, assess, produce,
deploy, and sustain these capabilities for the duration of
the urgent need''.
(5) One of the criteria for selecting a rapid fielding such
as JUON is that the capability can be fielded within 2 years.
However, to date no AESA Radars have been fielded in support
of this JUON.
(b) Report Required.--Not later than 60 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Commander of U.S. Northern
Command and the Secretary of the Air Force shall submit to
the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House
of Representatives a report setting forth--
(1) the status of the NORTHCOM JUON for 72 AESA radar-
equipped F-16 aircraft;
(2) when the Air Force expects to field all 72 radars;
(3) what acquisition strategy the Department of Defense
will use for the full buy; and
(4) how NORTHCOM is addressing threats to the homeland and
capability gaps in United States air combat alert in the
absence of F-16 aircraft equipped with AESA radars.
(c) Form.--The report required under subsection (b) shall
be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a
classified annex.
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