EconDefense
ACQ-12 / Research, innovation and experimentation

Sponsor research through FFRDCs within approved missions

Use research contracts and long-term sponsored research institutions; work placed with FFRDCs must remain within sponsoring agreement purpose, mission and scope unless statutory exception applies.

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At a glance

Possible toolACQ-12 · Other statutory tools
Legal basis10 U.S.C. §4001

Authority holder: Secretary of Defense or military-department Secretary for research; head of agency for new-center restriction

Other statutory tools

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

  • Research purpose and defense relevance; suitable sponsoring agreement.
  • New FFRDC operation requires congressional report and 60-day wait under §4126(c).

Limits & exclusions

  • Not a means to obtain any arbitrary work from a favored center; applied scientific laboratory research has an express scope exception.
  • University affiliation does not alone confer federal laboratory/FFRDC powers.

Funding conditions

  • Appropriated research/sponsoring funds; individual sponsored work must fit their purpose.

Read the funding and execution guide

Who contributes what

Need & planning

  • USD(R&E) and Service science-and-technology executives
    Office profile
  • DARPA or Service laboratory/program manager

Resources

  • Sponsoring component RDT&E budget owner; component comptroller
    Office profile

Approval

  • Secretary of Defense or military-department Secretary; valid delegate must be confirmed
    Office profile

Execution

  • DARPA Contracts Management Office or Service contracting/grants/agreements office
    Office profile
  • Performing laboratory or external research performer

Partners & review

  • Operational customer / acquiring program
  • Security, export-control, counsel and fiscal officials as applicable

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

Coordination pathway

Research sponsor → mission/scope review with FFRDC sponsor → contracting office → center; new-center proposal requires congressional steps.

Actor and execution-role sources

Legal basis

  • 10 U.S.C. §4001Primary statutory text; primary GovInfo baseline and amendment audit identified in research narrative.
  • 10 U.S.C. §4126Primary 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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