USD(Comptroller) and component comptrollers

Conduct and purchase defense-relevant research and development

Conduct basic, applied and advanced research and development internally, through military departments, by contract, or by agreement with another federal agency.

• 10 U.S.C. §4001
• 10 U.S.C. §4007
• 10 U.S.C. §4014

What this is not / limit: Not authority to fund a project with no potential defense interest.

Executing role: DARPA Contracts Management Office or Service contracting/grants/agreements office; Performing laboratory or external research performer

Fund external R&D through grants and cooperative agreements

Provide assistance for defense-relevant research; use a cooperative agreement when substantial federal involvement is expected, and a grant when it is not.

• 10 U.S.C. §4001(b)
• 10 U.S.C. §4024
• 10 U.S.C. §4141
• 31 U.S.C. §6304
• 31 U.S.C. §6305
• 31 U.S.C. §6303

What this is not / limit: Not a general-purpose economic-development grant power.

Executing role: DARPA Contracts Management Office or Service contracting/grants/agreements office; Performing laboratory or external research performer

Negotiate research OTs, cost sharing and contingent repayments

Use research transactions outside procurement contracts, grants and cooperative agreements; negotiate advances and repayment clauses that credit designated research-support accounts.

• 10 U.S.C. §4021

What this is not / limit: Research OT is not unrestricted production, lending or equity authority.

Executing role: DARPA Contracts Management Office or Service contracting/grants/agreements office; Performing laboratory or external research performer

Prototype technology, processes and business arrangements with flexible OTs

Carry out directly defense-relevant prototypes, including proofs of concept, business processes, reverse engineering for obsolescence, commercial-technology pilots and agile development.

• 10 U.S.C. §4022(a)-(e)
• 10 U.S.C. §4021

What this is not / limit: Above $100m through $500m: nondelegable written determination by specified contracting/agency head; above $500m: senior approval plus 30-day congressional advance notice.

Executing role: DARPA Contracts Management Office or Service contracting/grants/agreements office; Performing laboratory or external research performer

Buy experimental products, services, demonstrations and prototypes

Purchase or modify purchases, domestically or abroad, of experimental/test demonstrations, prototypes, products, supplies, parts, auxiliary services and design for defense development.

• 10 U.S.C. §4023
• P.L. 119-60, §1831

What this is not / limit: Not unlimited serial-production authority.

Executing role: DARPA Contracts Management Office or Service contracting/grants/agreements office; Performing laboratory or external research performer

Award cash, noncash, contract or agreement prizes for defense innovation

Competitively reward research, technology, prototypes and transition-improving management practices; accept outside funds or nonmonetary prize contributions.

• 10 U.S.C. §4025
• P.L. 119-60, §211

What this is not / limit: No special consideration for private donors; award above $20m as contract/agreement triggers 15-day post-award congressional notice.

Executing role: DARPA Contracts Management Office or Service contracting/grants/agreements office; Performing laboratory or external research performer

Accelerate commercialization through the Rapid Innovation Program

Use competitive contracts, cooperative agreements and OTs to transition innovative small-business/laboratory/prototype technologies into defense acquisition programs.

• 10 U.S.C. §4061

What this is not / limit: Normally 2 years of program funding; added year requires approval.

Executing role: DARPA Contracts Management Office or Service contracting/grants/agreements office; Performing laboratory or external research performer

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.

• 10 U.S.C. §4001
• 10 U.S.C. §4126

What this is not / limit: Not a means to obtain any arbitrary work from a favored center; applied scientific laboratory research has an express scope exception.

Executing role: DARPA Contracts Management Office or Service contracting/grants/agreements office; Performing laboratory or external research performer

Retain government-use rights and conditionally intervene in federally funded inventions

Under covered small-business/nonprofit funding agreements, allow contractor title while retaining a paid-up government license; invoke statutory march-in only on specified findings.

• 35 U.S.C. §202
• 35 U.S.C. §203
• 35 U.S.C. §204

What this is not / limit: Not general power to seize all privately developed patents, cap market prices, or obtain proprietary manufacturing know-how.

Executing role: DARPA Contracts Management Office or Service contracting/grants/agreements office; Performing laboratory or external research performer

Build research capacity in eligible states through DEPSCoR

Competitively fund university research, instrumentation and graduate assistance, and facilitate laboratory collaboration in eligible states and territories.

• 10 U.S.C. §4010

What this is not / limit: Geographically targeted eligibility; not a universal state economic-development grant.

Executing role: DARPA Contracts Management Office or Service contracting/grants/agreements office; Performing laboratory or external research performer

Strengthen HBCU and minority-serving defense research and education

Support covered institutions through competitive grants, agreements, contracts, scholarships, fellowships, instrumentation, faculty support and partnerships.

• 10 U.S.C. §4144
• P.L. 119-60, §223

What this is not / limit: USD(R&E)-run program’s programming/budgeting authority cannot be transferred outside OSD.

Executing role: DARPA Contracts Management Office or Service contracting/grants/agreements office; Performing laboratory or external research performer

Rapidly acquire urgent capabilities and make limited emergency funding/waiver decisions

Respond to documented combat, contingency or cyber deficiencies through accelerated acquisition/deployment; specified determinations unlock bounded use of available funds and selected legal waivers.

• 10 U.S.C. §3601

What this is not / limit: Cannot waive criminal/civil-penalty statutes, appropriations-expenditure laws or §3601 itself.

Executing role: Service/component program and contracting office

Prioritize defense contracts and allocate scarce industrial resources

Require capable suppliers to accept and prioritize national-defense orders and allocate materials, services, and facilities. This is economic mobilization authority, not a general nationalization power.

• 50 U.S.C. § 4511
• 50 U.S.C. § 4553
• 50 U.S.C. § 4564
• Pub. L. 119-103, div. B §2004

What this is not / limit: Does not cover employment contracts

Executing role: DoD program and warranted contracting officials applying authorized ratings; resource-agency allocation officials

Guarantee private loans for defense production capacity

The President may authorize a guaranteeing procurement agency to guarantee private-institution loans supporting essential defense production and services.

• 50 U.S.C. § 4531
• 50 U.S.C. § 4534
• 50 U.S.C. § 4564
• Pub. L. 119-75, div. A, title III, Defense Production Act Purchases

What this is not / limit: Not general banking authority; applies to identified defense shortfalls

Executing role: Assigned DPA Title III executing office and warranted contracting officer; current assignment must be verified

Make direct loans to private enterprises for productive capacity

Finance defense-related capacity, processes and essential materials, including exploration, development and mining, through DPA direct loans.

• 50 U.S.C. § 4532
• 50 U.S.C. § 4534
• 50 U.S.C. § 4564
• Pub. L. 119-75, div. A, title III, Defense Production Act Purchases

What this is not / limit: Not equity or unrestricted corporate rescue

Executing role: Assigned DPA Title III executing office and warranted contracting officer; current assignment must be verified

Underwrite industrial capacity through purchases, offtake commitments and targeted subsidies

Purchase industrial resources or critical technology items for use or resale, encourage mining, and support production or technology transition; conditioned subsidies can sustain threatened high-cost domestic material sources.

• 50 U.S.C. § 4533(a)-(d)
• 50 U.S.C. § 4534
• 50 U.S.C. § 4552(7)
• 50 U.S.C. § 4564
• Pub. L. 119-75, div. A, title III, Defense Production Act Purchases

What this is not / limit: Commitments generally no more than 10 years

Executing role: Assigned DPA Title III executing office and warranted contracting officer; current assignment must be verified

Install industrial equipment and improve government or private plants

Procure/install government-owned equipment in government and private industrial facilities; modify or expand private facilities and transfer installed equipment under express DPA terms.

• 50 U.S.C. § 4533(e)-(g)
• 50 U.S.C. § 4534
• Pub. L. 119-75, div. A, title III, Defense Production Act Purchases

What this is not / limit: Does not convey an unrestricted real-estate investment mandate

Executing role: Assigned DPA Title III executing office and warranted contracting officer; current assignment must be verified

Organize supervised voluntary industry agreements with limited antitrust defense

Establish voluntary agreements and plans for defense preparedness, with statutory safeguards that can protect conforming actions from antitrust liability.

• 50 U.S.C. § 4558
• 50 U.S.C. § 4564

What this is not / limit: No general immunity for industry coordination

Executing role: Assigned DPA Title III executing office and warranted contracting officer; current assignment must be verified

Compel industrial information needed to administer DPA authorities

Obtain reports, inspect records, and issue subpoenas for information necessary to administer or enforce the DPA.

• 50 U.S.C. § 4555
• 10 U.S.C. § 4818

What this is not / limit: Not a general counterintelligence search or law-enforcement warrant power

Executing role: Assigned DPA Title III executing office and warranted contracting officer; current assignment must be verified

Finance or refinance dual-use critical technology with OSC direct loans

Provide loans for eligible investments in enumerated covered technology categories; the legal form is capital assistance, not an unrestricted equity fund.

• 10 U.S.C. § 149(d)-(h)
• Pub. L. 119-60, §§905–906
• Pub. L. 119-75, div. A §8134
• Pub. L. 119-21, §20004(d)
• Pub. L. 119-21, §20005(b)

What this is not / limit: Not an unrestricted equity fund.

Executing role: OSC Director and credit transaction team

Guarantee private loans for OSC-eligible investments

OSC can guarantee loans for eligible investments with established private-lender rates, stated guaranteed principal percentage and credit controls.

• 10 U.S.C. § 149(e)(3)
• Pub. L. 119-60, §906
• Pub. L. 119-75, div. A §8134
• Pub. L. 119-21, §20004(d)
• Pub. L. 119-21, §20005(b)

What this is not / limit: Guarantee is not purchase of stock

Executing role: OSC Director and credit transaction team

Support financial structuring, due diligence and credit servicing

Provide technical assistance to OSC applicants/recipients; charge limited transaction fees, accept specified professional services, and use other agencies’ personnel/facilities by agreement.

• 10 U.S.C. § 149(e)(3)(B)
• 10 U.S.C. § 149(e)(12)
• 10 U.S.C. § 149(f)-(g)
• Pub. L. 119-60, §906
• Pub. L. 119-75, div. A §8134
• Pub. L. 119-21, §20004(d)
• Pub. L. 119-21, §20005(b)

What this is not / limit: Fees may not pay DoD civilian salaries/expenses or unrelated activities

Executing role: OSC Director and credit transaction team

Convene public/private capital and vet agency investment transactions

A National Security Capital Forum connects financiers, firms, partner nations and agencies and acts as a clearinghouse for potential loan/equity transactions by agencies with their own authorities.

• Pub. L. 118-159, §1092
• Pub. L. 119-60, §867(c)–(d)
• 10 U.S.C. § 149

What this is not / limit: Forum coordination is not itself authority to buy equity or obligate another agency’s money

Executing role: OSC Director and credit transaction team

Fund supply-chain capacity and workforce through grants and agreements

Use contracts, grants, cooperative agreements and other transactions; provide private-sector incentives to create, maintain, protect, expand or restore essential domestic industrial-base capabilities. Express eligible uses include workforce, facilities and production infrastructure.

• 10 U.S.C. § 4817(g)-(h)
• Pub. L. 119-60, §867

What this is not / limit: Purpose-limited supply-chain program, not general economic development

Executing role: WIRE/IBAS program and assigned warranted contracting or agreements officer

Award funding to third-party investment entities for small and medium firms

Make awards to intermediaries supporting investments in small/medium entities working in defense-interest areas that benefit DoD missions.

• 10 U.S.C. § 4817(h)(3)
• Pub. L. 119-60, §867

What this is not / limit: This text expressly authorizes third-party investment awards; it does not expressly enumerate a general direct government equity portfolio

Executing role: WIRE/IBAS program and assigned warranted contracting or agreements officer

Offset market manipulation and sustain strategic-material supplies

Provide subsidies to offset market manipulation; use conditioned material subsidy payments, including loss-making resale or purchase commitments, for specified supply risks.

• 10 U.S.C. § 4817(h)(4)
• 10 U.S.C. § 4817(i)(2)-(3)
• Pub. L. 119-60, §867

What this is not / limit: No covered-country source subsidies under §4817(i)(3)

Executing role: WIRE/IBAS program and assigned warranted contracting or agreements officer

Create durable demand through industrial-base offtake commitments

Make purchase commitments for federal use or resale, critical-mineral development, components, production capacity and dual-use technology transition.

• 10 U.S.C. § 4817(i)(1)-(3)
• Pub. L. 119-60, §867

What this is not / limit: Commitment term no more than 10 years

Executing role: WIRE/IBAS program and assigned warranted contracting or agreements officer

Construct and improve private or government industrial facilities

Expressly procure/install equipment, construct private facilities, modify production processes, transfer government equipment and construct facilities for eligible supply chains.

• 10 U.S.C. § 4817(i)(4)
• Pub. L. 119-60, §867

What this is not / limit: No free-standing commercial real-estate speculation authority

Executing role: WIRE/IBAS program and assigned warranted contracting or agreements officer

Qualify substitutes, restrict sourcing to reliable sources and create reserves

Support material/component substitutes and production incentives; use reliable-source restrictions, stockpiles, reserves and lead-time planning. Excess acquired materials may transfer to National Defense Stockpile without acquisition reimbursement.

• 10 U.S.C. § 4817(i)(5)-(6)
• 10 U.S.C. § 4817(j)
• Pub. L. 119-60, §867

What this is not / limit: No blanket waiver of acquisition restrictions

Executing role: WIRE/IBAS program and assigned warranted contracting or agreements officer

Use a time-limited industrial innovation pilot for credit and third-party debt/equity investment

An uncodified pilot expressly lists loans, guarantees, purchase commitments, cost-sharing and third-party awards supporting debt/equity investment in small/medium manufacturers.

• Pub. L. 115-91, §1711
• Pub. L. 116-283, §213(c)
• 10 U.S.C. § 4816

What this is not / limit: Express third-party equity support does not establish unlimited direct Treasury equity acquisition

Executing role: WIRE/IBAS program and assigned warranted contracting or agreements officer

Editorial cross-list: the recorded pilot summary also names credit and purchase commitments. An operating program and new awards are not verified.

Operate reimbursable supply and industrial businesses with working-capital funds

Finance inventories and common industrial/commercial services; recover costs from customer appropriations and support capital assets under specified rules.

• 10 U.S.C. § 2208
• Pub. L. 119-60, §333

What this is not / limit: Not authority to conduct arbitrary commercial businesses or make private loans

Executing role: Service industrial and supply activities; DLA supply chains; Defense Agency common-service providers

Train, equip and sustain foreign national security forces for enumerated missions

Build partner capacity with defense articles/services, training, supplies and small-scale construction for nine listed missions, including military intelligence and defensive cyber.

• 10 U.S.C. § 333
• 10 U.S.C. § 362
• 10 U.S.C. § 382
• Pub. L. 119-60, § 1202

What this is not / limit: Limited statutory mission menu; not unrestricted economic aid.

Executing role: DSCA-designated implementing agency; Army DASA(DE&C)/USASAC; Navy NIPO and systems commands; Air Force SAF/IA and implementing program offices as applicable

Support partner operations with logistics, equipment loans, training and small construction

Provide support for SecDef-designated coalition, combined, military or stability operations within statutory categories.

• 10 U.S.C. § 331

What this is not / limit: No support otherwise prohibited by law.

Executing role: DSCA-designated implementing agency; Army DASA(DE&C)/USASAC; Navy NIPO and systems commands; Air Force SAF/IA and implementing program offices as applicable

Strengthen partner defense financial management and institutions

Assign advisors/trainers to build ministries’ governance, internal controls, resource-management and core defense competencies.

• 10 U.S.C. § 332

What this is not / limit: Defense institution remit, not general economic administration of foreign countries.

Executing role: DSCA and Defense Security Cooperation University institutional-capacity-building implementers; Assigned DoD civilian/military advisors and approved support contractors

Exchange defense personnel and pay eligible foreign-partner liaison/travel expenses

Reciprocal or nonreciprocal exchanges, R&D assignments to supporting foreign industry, and narrowly eligible cooperation travel/liaison support.

• 10 U.S.C. § 311
• 10 U.S.C. § 312
• 10 U.S.C. § 334
• 10 U.S.C. § 335

What this is not / limit: No oath of allegiance or official capacity in host government under §311.

Executing role: Service personnel/international offices; Host headquarters support and travel offices

Sell DoD stocks or procure defense articles/services for foreign customers

Government-to-government sales from stocks and procurement for cash sales, with recipient undertakings to meet costs and cancellation liabilities.

• 22 U.S.C. § 2761
• 22 U.S.C. § 2762
• 22 U.S.C. § 2752
• 22 U.S.C. § 2753
• 10 U.S.C. § 382

What this is not / limit: Not unilateral DoD foreign-policy financing discretion.

Executing role: DSCA-designated implementing agency; Army DASA(DE&C)/USASAC; Navy NIPO and systems commands; Air Force SAF/IA and implementing program offices as applicable

Lease or loan defense articles to foreign partners

Provide temporary access to qualifying DoD stocks under AECA leasing or separate authorized assistance-loan pathways.

• 22 U.S.C. § 2796
• 22 U.S.C. § 2796a
• 22 U.S.C. § 2796b

What this is not / limit: Cannot use ordinary 10 USC2667 property lease authority as substitute for foreign defense-article lease.

Executing role: DSCA-designated implementing agency; Army DASA(DE&C)/USASAC; Navy NIPO and systems commands; Air Force SAF/IA and implementing program offices as applicable

Transfer excess articles or draw down existing resources for authorized partner needs

Use excess-defense-article grants/sales or Presidential drawdowns under distinct statutory triggers.

• 22 U.S.C. § 2321j
• 22 U.S.C. § 2318

What this is not / limit: EDA is not authority to buy new equipment for transfer from DoD procurement funds.

Executing role: DSCA and Service/DLA property owners; Supporting transportation and training organizations

Provide civilian humanitarian and civic support with military operations

Perform limited medical/veterinary care, rudimentary public works, water/sanitation and related assistance serving basic civilian needs; broader humanitarian assistance has a separate funding pathway.

• 10 U.S.C. § 401
• 10 U.S.C. § 2561

What this is not / limit: §401 may not directly or indirectly aid groups engaged in military/paramilitary activity.

Executing role: Service engineering/medical forces and designated implementers; DSCA humanitarian-assistance program offices

Train partners to clear explosive hazards and secure/dispose munitions

Provide humanitarian demining and stockpiled conventional-munitions technical assistance, training, equipment and support.

• 10 U.S.C. § 407

What this is not / limit: U.S. members generally cannot physically detect, lift or destroy mines under this authority unless concurrently supporting a U.S. military operation.

Executing role: Service humanitarian mine-action teams; Designated training/technical assistance and contracting offices

Reuse proceeds of authorized counterintelligence operations

Offset necessary/reasonable operation costs and exceptional performance awards with proceeds when appropriated funding would be impracticable.

• 10 U.S.C. § 423

What this is not / limit: Necessary/reasonable expenses must not otherwise be prohibited by law.

Executing role: Authorized Military Department CI components; DIA counterintelligence program and fiscal offices

Create and operate commercial arrangements to protect authorized foreign intelligence collection

Use ordinary commercial transactions, leases/employment contracts, financial accounts, permits and legal entities only as security for authorized DoD intelligence collection abroad.

• 10 U.S.C. § 431
• 10 U.S.C. § 432
• 10 U.S.C. § 433
• 10 U.S.C. § 435
• 10 U.S.C. § 436
• 10 U.S.C. § 437
• 10 U.S.C. § 430e

What this is not / limit: Domestic acts only to support foreign intelligence; cannot use cover businesses to supply DoD domestically except needed for security of covered activity.

Executing role: Only Defense elements authorized by implementing regulations; public transaction-level delegations not verified

Consolidate and transfer Defense intelligence appropriations into execution accounts

Establish intelligence-element transfer accounts, receive lawful DNI transfers and reimbursements, and refund balances to originating accounts.

• 10 U.S.C. § 429

What this is not / limit: No permission to reprogram to unrelated objects or evade appropriations controls.

Executing role: Defense intelligence element comptrollers; DoD/Treasury accounting and payment organizations

Obtain narrowly authorized financial records or consumer reports for intelligence/counterterrorism

Invoke statutory financial-privacy exceptions for authorized foreign-intelligence/CI requests and the separate consumer-report disclosure power for authorized international-terrorism work.

• 12 U.S.C. § 3414
• 15 U.S.C. § 1681v
• 18 U.S.C. § 3511

What this is not / limit: 12 USC3414(a)(5) mandatory financial-institution compliance power is specifically FBI; do not infer identical compulsory bank-record power for DoD from(a)(1).

Executing role: Properly authorized Defense CI/intelligence element and trained records-request officials

Buy goods or services through another federal organization

Use reimbursable interagency or intra-agency orders where the Economy Act tests are satisfied.

• 31 U.S.C. § 1535
• 10 U.S.C. § 2205

What this is not / limit: The receiving agency does not erase the original procurement restrictions.

Executing role: Servicing agency contracting office; Ordering activity fiscal staff

Credit authorized reimbursements to DoD accounts

Recover reimbursable services/supplies costs and charge fixed rates for specified facility-related overhead services.

• 10 U.S.C. § 2205

What this is not / limit: Not a general exception permitting retention of every receipt.

Executing role: Component comptroller; Disbursing and accounting offices

Transfer funds under a specific annual transfer authority

Shift qualifying available funds between specified accounts using enacted transfer authority—not merely the existence of §2214.

• 31 U.S.C. § 1532
• 10 U.S.C. § 2214
• P.L. 119-75, division A, §8005
• P.L. 119-103, division A, §§101–108

What this is not / limit: §2214 supplies conditions, not an unlimited independent transfer grant.

Executing role: Component comptrollers

Resource urgent combatant-command initiatives

Provide specified readiness, training, exercise, support, and cooperation funding through the Combatant Commander Initiative Fund.

• 10 U.S.C. § 166a

What this is not / limit: Not general authority to capitalize firms, ignore procurement rules, or fund an activity denied authorization by Congress.

Executing role: Combatant-command/supporting Service contracting and program offices