RESTRUCTURING OF ACQUISITION STRATEGY FOR THEATER HIGH-ALTITUDE AREA DEFENSE (THAAD) SYSTEM.

SEC. 236. RESTRUCTURING OF ACQUISITION STRATEGY FOR THEATER HIGH-ALTITUDE AREA DEFENSE (THAAD) SYSTEM. (a) Establishment of Competitive Contractor.— (1) The Secretary of Defense shall take appropriate steps to implement technical and price competition for the development and production of the interceptor missile for the Theater High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. (2) The Secretary shall take such steps as necessary to ensure that the prime contractor (as of the date of the enactment of this Act) for the THAAD system provides the cooperation needed to establish the technical and price competition required in subsection (a). 112 STAT. 1954 (3) The Secretary shall use the authority provided in section 2304(c)(2) of title 10, United States Code, to expedite the implementation of paragraphs (1) and (2). (4) Of the amount made available under section 201(4) for the THAAD System, $29,600,000 shall be available to establish the technical and price competition required in paragraph (1). (b) Cost Sharing Arrangement.— (1) The Secretary of Defense shall contractually establish with the THAAD interceptor prime contractor an appropriate arrangement for sharing between the United States and that contractor the costs for flight test failures of the interceptor missile for the THAAD system beginning with the flight test numbered 9. (2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term “THAAD interceptor prime contractor” means the firm that as of May 14, 1998, is the prime contractor for the interceptor missile for the Theater High-Altitude Area Defense system. (c) Engineering and Manufacturing Development Phase for Other Elements of the THAAD System.— The Secretary of Defense may proceed with the milestone approval process for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase for the Battle Management and Command, Control, and Communications (BM/C³) element of the THAAD system and for the Ground Based Radar (GBR) element for that system without regard to the stage of development of the interceptor missile for that system. (d) Plan for Contingency Capability.— (1) The Secretary of Defense shall prepare a plan that would allow for deployment of THAAD missiles and the other elements of the THAAD system referred to in subsection (c) in response to theater ballistic missile threats that evolve before United States military forces are equipped with the objective configuration of those missiles and elements. (2) The Secretary shall submit a report on the plan to the congressional defense committees by December 15, 1998. (e) Limitation on Entering Engineering and Manufacturing Development Phase.— (1) The Secretary of Defense may not approve the commencement of the Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase for the interceptor missile for the THAAD system until there have been 3 successful tests of that missile. (2) For purposes of paragraph (1), a successful test of the interceptor missile of the THAAD system is a body-to-body intercept by that missile of a ballistic missile target.