ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE FIELDING OF AIR FORCE HYPERSONIC CAPABILITIES.

SEC. 222. [10 U.S.C. 4001 note] ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE FIELDING OF AIR FORCE HYPERSONIC CAPABILITIES. (a) Improvement of Ground-based Test Facilities.—The Secretary of Defense shall take such actions as may be necessary to improve ground-based test facilities used for the research, development, test, and evaluation of hypersonic capabilities. (b) Increasing Flight Test Rate.—The Secretary of Defense shall increase the rate at which hypersonic capabilities are flight tested to expedite the maturation and fielding of such capabilities. (c) Strategy and Plan.—Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, in consultation with the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, shall submit to the congressional defense committees a strategy and plan for fielding air-launched and air- breathing hypersonic weapons capabilities within the period of three years following such date of enactment. (d) Report.—In addition to the strategy and plan required under subsection (c), not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, in consultation with the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the testing capabilities and infrastructure used for hypersonic weapons development. The report shall include— (1) an assessment of the sufficiency of the testing capabilities and infrastructure used for fielding hypersonic weapons; and (2) a description of any investments in testing capabilities and infrastructure that may be required to support in-flight and ground-based testing for such weapons.