F/A–18E/F SUPER HORNET AIRCRAFT PROGRAM.

SEC. 121. F/A–18E/F SUPER HORNET AIRCRAFT PROGRAM. (a) Multiyear Procurement Authority.—Subject to subsection (b), the Secretary of the Navy may, in accordance with section 2306b of title 10, United States Code, enter into a multiyear procurement contract beginning with the fiscal year 2000 program year for procurement of F/A–18E/F aircraft. (b) Limitation.—The Secretary of the Navy may not enter into a multiyear procurement contract authorized by subsection (a), and may not authorize the F/A–18E/F aircraft program to enter into full-rate production, until— (1) the Secretary of Defense submits to the congressional defense committees a certification described in subsection (c); and113 STAT. 534 (2) a period of 30 continuous days of a Congress (as determined under subsection (d)) elapses after the submission of that certification. (c) Required Certification.—A certification referred to in subsection (b)(1) is a certification by the Secretary of Defense of each of the following: (1) That the results of the Operational Test and Evaluation program for the F/A–18E/F aircraft indicate— (A) that the aircraft is operationally effective and operationally suitable; and (B) that the F/A–18E and the F/A–18F variants of that aircraft both meet their respective key performance parameters as established in the Operational Requirements document (ORD) for the F/A–18E/F program, as validated and approved by the Chief of Naval Operations on April 1, 1997 (other than for a permissible deviation of not more than 1 percent with respect to the range performance parameter). (2) That the cost of procurement of the F/A–18E/F aircraft using a multiyear procurement contract as authorized by subsection (a), assuming procurement of 222 aircraft, is at least 7.4 percent less than the cost of procurement of the same number of aircraft through annual contracts. (d) Continuity of Congress.—For purposes of subsection (b)(2)— (1) the continuity of a Congress is broken only by an adjournment of the Congress sine die at the end of the final session of the Congress; and (2) any day on which either House of Congress is not in session because of an adjournment of more than three days to a day certain, or because of an adjournment sine die at the end of the first session of a Congress, shall be excluded in the computation of such 30-day period.