BOOST PHASE BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE.

SEC. 1685. [10 U.S.C. 2431 note] BOOST PHASE BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE. (a) Sense of Congress.—It is the sense of Congress that— (1) the Secretary of Defense should rapidly develop and demonstrate a boost phase intercept capability for missile defense as soon as practicable; (2) existing technologies should be adapted to demonstrate this capability; (3) the concept of operation for this demonstration should be developed in cooperation with the United States Pacific Command to address emerging threats and heightened tensions in the Asia-Pacific region; and (4) the Secretary should prioritize funding allocations for the development of boost phase intercept capabilities and coordinate these efforts with the Missile Defense Agency as the Agency develops a space-based missile defense sensor layer. (b) Initial Operational Deployment.—The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that an effective interim kinetic or directed energy boost phase ballistic missile defense capability is available for initial operational deployment as soon as practicable. (c) Plan.—Together with the budget of the President submitted to Congress under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, for fiscal year 2019, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a plan to achieve the requirement in subsection (b). Such plan shall include— (1) the budget requirements; (2) a robust test schedule; and (3) a plan to develop an enduring boost phase ballistic missile defense capability, including cost and test schedule. (d) Development.— (1) Requirement.—Subject to the availability of appropriations, beginning fiscal year 2019, the Director of the Missile Defense Agency shall carry out a program to develop boost phase intercept capabilities that— (A) are cost effective; (B) are air-launched, ship-based, or both; and (C) include kinetic interceptors. (2) Partnerships.—In developing kinetic boost phase intercept capabilities under paragraph (1), the Director may enter into partnerships with the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea or the Ministry of Defense of Japan, or both. (e) Independent Study.— (1) Requirement.—The Secretary of Defense shall seek to enter into an agreement with a federally funded research and development center to conduct a feasibility study on providing an initial or demonstrated boost phase capability using unmanned aerial vehicles and kinetic interceptors by December 31, 2021. Such study shall include, at a minimum, a review of the study published by the Science, Technology, and National Security Working Group of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2017 titled “Airborne Patrol to Destroy DPRK ICBMs in Powered Flight”. (2) Submission.—Not later than July 31, 2019, the Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees the study conducted under paragraph (1).