Arlington, Va. (Dec. 7, 2023) – Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) President and CEO Eric Fanning today commended the Senate and House Armed Services Committees for reaching agreement on a conference report for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024(FY24 NDAA).
“Recognizing the value of the defense industrial base to America’s national security, this year’s National Defense Authorization Act makes important strides to build capacity, streamline regulations, and enable industry to operate with speed and flexibility,” Fanning said. “The continued bipartisan support for strong investment in national defense sets the country on a better track to meet the needs of rising global tensions, maintain deterrence, and equip our military and our allies and partners to defend the free world.
“The Aerospace Industries Association welcomes key provisions that support our members, including flexibility to address sustained high inflation in government contracts, as well as the bill’s focus on advancing national security in space.
“We also applaud the inclusion of our recommendations that make historic changes to ensure theAUKUS partnership will succeed, including adjustments to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the sale of Virginia-class submarines to Australia,” Fanning continued. “We thank Chairmen Reed and Rogers and Ranking Members Wicker and Smith for their leadership, and we also thank Chairmen Cardin and McCaul and Ranking Members Risch and Meeks for their collaboration. We urge both chambers to pass this legislation swiftly.”
Key provisions in the FY24 NDAA that support the American aerospace and defense industrial base include:
- Sec. 152: Authorizes the National Defense Stockpile to use multi-year procurement for critical materials processed by Defense Production Act (DPA) “domestic sources”;
- Sec. 824: Extends the Department of Defense’s (DOD) authority to modify certain contracts based on inflation impact;
- Sec. 842: Requires the Secretary of Defense to establish a contested logistics demonstration and prototyping program to identify, develop, demonstrate, and field capabilities for product support to reduce or mitigate the risks associated with operations in a contested logistics environment;
- Sec. 1080: Expands the definition of “domestic source” under DPA Title III to include the U.K. and Australia, provided that the U.S. and Canada cannot meet national defense needs;
- Sec. 1341: Prioritizes Australia and the United Kingdom in Foreign Military Sales and Direct Commercial Sales;
- Sec 1342: Identifies and pre-clears platforms, technologies, and equipment for sale to Australia and the United Kingdom through Foreign Military Sales and Direct Commercial Sales;
- Sec. 1343: Establishes AUKUS ITAR exemption;
- Sec. 1344: Expedites the review of export licenses for exports of advanced technologies to Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada;
- Sec. 1352: Authorizes the transfer of nuclear-powered conventionally armed submarines to Australia;
- Sec. 1601: Promotes the development of new space launch vehicles; and
- Sec. 1609: Makes improvements to threat-sharing agreements between satellite operators and the government.
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