COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT ON JOINT CAPABILITIES INTEGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM.

SEC. 862. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT ON JOINT CAPABILITIES INTEGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM.(a) Report Required.—The Comptroller General of the United States shall carry out a comprehensive review of the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (in this section referred to as “JCIDS”). Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the review and include in such report any recommendations the Comptroller General considers necessary and advisable to improve or replace JCIDS.(b) Content of the Review.—(1) Purpose.—The purpose of the review required by subsection (a) is to evaluate the effectiveness of JCIDS in achieving the following objectives:(A) Timeliness in delivering capability to the warfighter.(B) Efficient use of the investment resources of the Department of Defense.(C) Control of requirements creep.(D) Responsiveness to changes occurring after the approval of a requirements document (including changes to the threat environment, the emergence of new capabilities, or changes in the resources estimated to procure or sustain a capability).(E) Development of the personnel skills, capacity, and training needed for an effective and efficient requirements process.(2) Matters considered.—In performing the review, the Comptroller General shall gather information on and consider the following matters:(A) The time that requirements documents take to receive approval through JCIDS.(B) The quality of cost information considered in JCIDS and the extent of its consideration.(C) The extent to which JCIDS establishes a meaningful level of priority for requirements.(D) The extent to which JCIDS is considering trade-offs between cost, schedule, and performance objectives.(E) The quality of information on sustainment considered in JCIDS and the extent to which sustainment information is considered.(F) An evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of designating a commander of a unified combatant command for each requirements document for which the Joint Requirements Oversight Council is the validation authority to provide a joint evaluation task force to participate in a materiel solution and to—(i) provide input to the analysis of alternatives;(ii) participate in testing (including limited user tests and prototype testing);124 STAT. 4293(iii) provide input on a concept of operations and doctrine;(iv) provide end user feedback to the resource sponsor; and(v) participate, through the combatant commander concerned, in any alteration of the requirement for such solution.(c) Definitions.—In this section:(1) Joint capabilities integration and development system.—The term “Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System” means the system for the assessment, review, validation, and approval of joint warfighting requirements that is described in Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction 3170.01G(2) Requirements document.—The term “requirements document” means a document produced in JCIDS that is provided for an acquisition program to guide the subsequent development, production, and testing of the program and that—(A) justifies the need for a materiel approach, or an approach that is a combination of materiel and non-materiel, to satisfy one or more specific capability gaps;(B) details the information necessary to develop an increment of militarily useful, logistically supportable, and technically mature capability, including key performance parameters; or(C) identifies production attributes required for a single increment of a program.(3) Requirements creep.—The term “requirements creep” means the addition of new technical or operational specifications after a requirements document is approved.(4) Materiel solution.—The term “materiel solution” means the development, acquisition, procurement, or fielding of a new item, or of a modification to an existing item, necessary to equip, operate, maintain, and support military activities.