EconDefense
USC-77 / Industrial capacity, capital and credit

Pay to incorporate defense features in committed commercial aircraft

Contract with eligible U.S. citizens or manufacturers for defense features in civil aircraft committed to the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, including permitted direct payment to the modification provider.

Action briefPDF dossier · original 168Download record
Authority / instrument · USC-77

Commercial space and airlift

Industrial capacity, capital and credit

Statute & instrument
Authority holder

Secretary of Defense

What this does not authorize / hard limit

Not an unrestricted aircraft subsidy; defense features, CRAF service and recapture terms are mandatory.

Recorded executor

Responsible commercial-space or airlift contracting/agreement office; current assignment must be verified

Continue to actor →

Recorded executing role; this record-specific route is not an additional institutional office.

Legal basisSources linkedLegal sources and instrument limits are recorded.
RequirementsGates recordedRead the requirements for this instrument; applicability depends on the proposed action.
Public fundingRules recordedContracts are permitted only to the extent funds are otherwise available for obligation; operation is compensated at fair and reasonable rates. Office budget figures are separate institutional context, not an allocation to this instrument.
Assigned rolesRoles recordedPublic sources describe institutional authority. The instrument identifies approval and execution roles; a specific signature remains transaction-dependent.
EngagementProgram unverifiedAdded in the October 5 statutory review; no current implementing program, intake or individual delegation verified.

Public evidence describes the institution and instrument; it is not approval of an individual transaction.

At a glance

Mission goalExpand production
Possible toolUSC-77 · Other statutory tools
Legal basis10 U.S.C. §9511

Authority holder: Secretary of Defense

Other statutory tools

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

Availability and verification

Express statutory mechanism; current program implementation, open intake, funds and individual delegations were not verified in this statutory review.

Requirements and limits

Eligibility & prerequisites

  • Aircraft must be committed to CRAF and available for DoD use on activation notwithstanding competing commitments, subject to the Secretary’s release.
  • Contracts must specify repayment percentages for loss, unusability, feature removal, disqualifying transfer or specified registration termination.

Limits & exclusions

  • Not an unrestricted aircraft subsidy; defense features, CRAF service and recapture terms are mandatory.
  • The legacy chapter 137 cross-reference must be read with the acquisition recodification and §3016, not treated as a repeal of this power.

Funding conditions

  • Contracts are permitted only to the extent funds are otherwise available for obligation; operation is compensated at fair and reasonable rates.

Read the funding and execution guide

Who contributes what

Need & planning

  • Sponsoring defense component and mission customer; current assignment must be verified

Resources

  • Sponsoring component budget owner and comptroller

Approval

  • Secretary of Defense; transaction-specific delegation must be verified
    Office profile

Execution

  • Responsible commercial-space or airlift contracting/agreement office; current assignment must be verified

Partners & review

  • Participating eligible commercial entity; fiscal, security and legal reviewers

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

Coordination pathway

Mission customer → responsible component program office → eligibility, fiscal and security review → authorized contracting or agreement official. This is an illustrative routing chain, not a verified delegation.

Actor and execution-role sources

October 5 statutory review

Added in the October 5 statutory coverage review. The cited legal mechanism and its conditions were examined; a current implementing program, intake, funding balance and individual delegation were not verified.

Section coverage and review findings

Legal basis

  • 10 U.S.C. §9511Official 2024 Code baseline; reviewed October 5, 2026 with targeted P.L. 119-60 amendment check. Not a complete current-law citator.
  • 10 U.S.C. §9513Official 2024 Code baseline; reviewed October 5, 2026 with targeted P.L. 119-60 amendment check. Not a complete current-law citator.

What this research establishes

Legal basisSources linkedLegal sources and instrument limits are recorded.
RequirementsGates recordedRead the requirements for this instrument; applicability depends on the proposed action.
Public fundingRules recordedContracts are permitted only to the extent funds are otherwise available for obligation; operation is compensated at fair and reasonable rates. Office budget figures are separate institutional context, not an allocation to this instrument.
Assigned rolesRoles recordedPublic sources describe institutional authority. The instrument identifies approval and execution roles; a specific signature remains transaction-dependent.
EngagementProgram unverifiedAdded in the October 5 statutory review; no current implementing program, intake or individual delegation verified.

Confidence: High on the express mechanism in the reviewed official text; no claim of verified transaction readiness.

Currentness: Reviewed October 5, 2026: official 2024 Code body and targeted enacted P.L. 119-60 text search. Selected OLRC September 2026 indexed text corroborates §§2274, 2276, 9513 and 9531. Later enactments and annual riders were not exhaustively reconciled.

Review scope: Record reviewed 2026-10-05. Publication is not legal-currentness certification.

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