EconDefense
ACQ-50 / Research, innovation and experimentation

Use an alternative iterative, data-driven test pathway

For covered programs, integrate developmental/operational testing around unified objectives and ongoing data while preserving independent DOT&E evaluation.

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At a glance

Possible toolACQ-50 · Other statutory tools

Authority holder: Secretary of Defense establishes/designates pathway; Service Secretaries through Service test activities; DOT&E independent evaluator

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

  • Unified T&E and test-data strategies; government ownership/access to specified raw test data and analytics.
  • Designation after required guidance or qualifying post-enactment software/covered-hardware program.

Limits & exclusions

  • Specified master-plan/milestone-event exemptions do not mean no evaluation.
  • DOT&E retains independent sufficiency/effectiveness assessment and raw-data access.

Funding conditions

  • Program resources for data collection, storage, analytics and testing; implementation/coverage must be confirmed.

Read the funding and execution guide

Who contributes what

Need & planning

  • Program manager, Service test activities and operational users

Resources

  • Program/test infrastructure budget owners

Approval

  • Secretary of Defense for designation after guidance; statutory software/hardware coverage applies
    Office profile

Execution

  • Service developmental/operational test activities

Partners & review

  • DOT&E, industry data producers and authorized DoD data users

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

Coordination pathway

Acquisition program → eligibility/designation → unified Service test/data strategy → continuous evaluation and independent DOT&E oversight.

Actor and execution-role sources

Legal basis

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: Directly reviewed P.L. 119-60 §218; establishment guidance deadline 180 days after 2025-12-18; actual issued guidance not verified.

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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