Public Law No: 117-81 (12/27/2021)

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022

This bill authorizes Department of Defense (DOD) activities and programs for FY2022 and addresses various other issues.

For example, the bill

• provides or extends procurement authority for certain helicopters and amphibious shipbuilding programs;
• imposes various cost and operational limits on the F-35 aircraft program;
• provides statutory authority related to DOD Science and Technology Reinvention Laboratories, including direct hire authority with respect to advanced degree holders for positions at such laboratories;
• authorizes DOD to establish a consortium of institutions of higher education to study irregular warfare;
• establishes pilot programs for using private-sector partnerships to promote technology transition, deploying fifth-generation wireless telecommunications services on military installations, and digitally optimizing organic industrial base maintenance and repair operations;
• extends and modifies authorities to assist vetted Syrian groups and individuals, provide assistance to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and support the activities of the Office of Security Cooperation in Iraq;
• extends and modifies the Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Initiative and the Pacific Deterrence Initiative;
• extends a pilot program providing regional cybersecurity training for members of the Army National Guard;
• establishes a program within the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to continuously monitor cybersecurity risks to critical infrastructure entities that support national critical functions;
• authorizes a Department of Energy program to improve defense environmental cleanup processes;
• authorizes the establishment of an Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs within the Department of State; and
• imposes limits on when the State Department may use a nonstandard design when constructing an embassy or consulate compound.