Pub. L. 94-361, tit. VIII, sec. 803

Sec. 803. (a) It is the, sense of Congress that weapons systems being developed wholly or primarily for employment in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization theater shall conform to a common North Atlantic Treaty Organization requirement in order to proceed toward joint doctrine and planning and to facilitate maximum feasible standardization and interoperability of equipment. A common North 90 STAT. 931Atlantic Treaty Organizer ion requirement shall be understood to include a common definition of the military threat to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries. The Secretary of Defense shall, in the reports required by section 302(c) of Public Law 93–365, as amended, identify those programs in research and development for United States forces in Europe and the common North Atlantic Treaty Organization requirements which such programs support. If the absence of such common requirement, the Secretary shall include a discussion of the actions taken within the North Atlantic Alliance in pursuit of a common requirement. The Secretary of Defense shall also report on efforts to establish a regular procedure and mechanism within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for determining common military requirements. (b) It is the sense of the Congress that progress toward the realization of the objectives of standardization and interoperability would be enhanced by expanded inter-Allied procurement of arms and equipment within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It is further the sense of the Congress that expanded inter-Allied procurement would be facilitated by greater reliance on licensing and coproduction agreements among the signatories of the North Atlantic Treaty. It is the Congress’ considered judgment that such agreements, if properly constructed so as to preserve the efficiencies associated with economies of scale, could not only minimize potential economic hardship to parties to such agreements but also increase the survivability, in time of war, of the Alliance’s armaments production base by dispersing manufacturing facilities. Accordingly, the Secretary of Defense, in conjunction with appropriate representatives of other members of the Alliance, shall attempt to the maximum extent feasible (1) to identify areas for such cooperative arrangements and (2) to negotiate such agreements pursuant to these ends. The Secretary of Defense, shall include in the report to the Congress required by section 302(c) of Public Law 93–365, as amended, a discussion of the specific assessments made under the above provisions and the results achieved with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies, (c) It is the sense of the Congress that standardization of weapons and equipment within the North Atlantic Alliance on the basis of a “two-way street” concept of cooperation in defense procurement between Europe and North America could only work in a realistic sense if the European nations operated on a united and collective basis. Accordingly, the Congress encourages the governments of Europe to accelerate their present efforts to achieve European armaments collaboration among all European members of the Alliance.