REQUIREMENT THAT TACTICAL UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES USE SPECIFIED STANDARD DATA LINK.

SEC. 141. REQUIREMENT THAT TACTICAL UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES USE SPECIFIED STANDARD DATA LINK.(a) Requirement.—The Secretary of Defense shall take such steps as necessary to ensure that (except as specified in subsection (c)) all tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force are equipped and configured so that—119 STAT. 3164(1) the data link used by those vehicles is the Department of Defense standard tactical unmanned aerial vehicle data link known as the Tactical Common Data Link (TCDL), until such time as the Tactical Common Data Link standard is replaced by an updated standard for use by those vehicles; and(2) those vehicles use data formats consistent with the architectural standard for tactical unmanned aerial vehicles known as STANAG 4586, developed to facilitate multinational interoperability among NATO member nations.(b) Funding Limitation.—After December 1, 2006, no funds available to the Department of Defense may be used to enter into a contract for procurement of a new tactical unmanned aerial vehicle system with data links other than as required by subsection (a)(1).(c) Waiver Authority.—The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics may waive the applicability of subsection (a) to any tactical unmanned aerial vehicle if the Under Secretary determines, and certifies to the congressional defense committees, that it would be technologically infeasible or uneconomically acceptable to integrate a tactical data link specified in that subsection into that tactical unmanned aerial vehicle.(d) Report.—Not later than February 1, 2006, the Secretary of each military department shall submit to Congress a report on the status of implementation of standard data links for unmanned aerial vehicles under the jurisdiction of the Secretary in accordance with subsection (a).