EconDefense
ACQ-07 / Research, innovation and experimentation

Include bridge prototype or initial production units in a research contract

A competitively selected general-solicitation research contract may contain line items/options for development, demonstration, initial production or initial/additional items arising from its work.

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At a glance

Possible toolACQ-07 · Contracts & purchases
Legal basis10 U.S.C. §4004

Authority holder: Secretary of Defense, Army, Navy or Air Force

Contracts & purchases

Mechanism tags describe the source text; they do not expand the authority.

Availability and verification

Express statutory pathway; award-specific appropriations, available balances, delegations, implementation and approvals not independently verified.

Requirements and limits

Eligibility & prerequisites

  • Initial contract comes from competitive general-solicitation proposal selection.
  • Additional units must be minimum needed pending timely competitive follow-on.

Limits & exclusions

  • Line item/option term not more than 2 years; statutory value limit $100m in FY2017 constant dollars.
  • Does not authorize indefinitely bypassing follow-on competition.

Funding conditions

  • Appropriate research or procurement funds according to work; value ceiling is not funding.

Read the funding and execution guide

Who contributes what

Need & planning

  • Operational requirement owner; Service/component portfolio acquisition executive and program manager

Resources

  • Sponsoring Service/component appropriations manager and comptroller

Approval

  • Service/component acquisition executive and authorized contracting authority, at applicable threshold

Execution

Partners & review

  • User command
  • Counsel, fiscal, engineering, testing, logistics and security staff as applicable

Office links are editorial matches to the original role text, not verified delegations. Composite labels and unmatched actors are preserved.

Coordination pathway

Program manager designs bridge line item → contracting officer competes research → validates minimum bridge quantity → follow-on competition.

Actor and execution-role sources

Legal basis

  • 10 U.S.C. §4004Primary statutory text; primary GovInfo baseline and amendment audit identified in research narrative.
  • 10 U.S.C. §3012(2)Primary statutory text; primary GovInfo baseline and amendment audit identified in research narrative.

What this research establishes

Legal powerSource and conditions recorded
EligibilityProject-specific check needed
Available fundsBalances not verified
DelegationValid signature authority must be checked
ExecutionOffice capacity and approvals must be checked

Confidence: High on express authority and cited conditions; execution assignment is illustrative unless statute expressly names it.

Currentness: GovInfo 2024 Code (includes FY2025 NDAA, P.L. 118-159) read in full for cited provision; targeted FY2026 NDAA P.L. 119-60 amendment/repeal sweep. No claim of complete legislative currency through 2026-10-02; remaining 2026 delta needs counsel validation.

Research target: October 2, 2026. A record-specific last-review date is not supplied. Publication date is not legal-currentness certification.

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