S.Amdt. 1005

SA 1005. Mr. PADILLA submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2024 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 A of title XV, add the following:

SEC. 1510. PILOT PROGRAM ON DEVELOPMENT OF REENTRY VEHICLES
AND RELATED SYSTEMS.

(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Air Force may carry
out a pilot program, to be known as the ``Reentry Vehicle
Flight Test Bed Program'', to assess the feasibility of
providing regular flight test opportunities that support the
development of reentry vehicles--
(1) to facilitate technology upgrades tested in a realistic
flight environment;
(2) to provide an enduring, high-cadence test bed to mature
technologies for planned reentry vehicles; and
(3) to transition technologies developed under other
programs, prototype projects, or research and development
programs related to long-range ballistic missiles.
(b) Grants, Contracts, and Other Agreements.--

[[Page S3494]]

(1) Authority.--In carrying out a pilot program under this
section, the Secretary may make grants and enter into
contracts or other agreements with appropriate entities for
the conduct of relevant flight tests of reentry vehicles and
systems.
(2) Use of funds.--An entity that receives a grant, or
enters into a contract or other agreement, as part of a pilot
program carried out under this section shall use the grant,
or any amount received under the contract or other agreement,
to carry out one or more of the following activities:
(A) Conducting flight tests to develop or validate--
(i) aeroshell design;
(ii) thermal protective systems;
(iii) guidance and control systems;
(iv) sensors;
(v) communications;
(vi) environmental sensors; or
(vii) other relevant technologies.
(B) Expanding flight test opportunities through low-cost,
high cadence platforms.
(c) Coordination.--If the Secretary of the Air Force
carries out a pilot program under this section, the Secretary
shall ensure that the activities under the pilot program are
carried out in coordination with the Secretary of Defense and
the Secretary of the Navy.
(d) Termination.--The authority to carry out a pilot
program under this section shall terminate on December 31,
2029.
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