MODIFICATION TO LIMITATIONS ON NAVY MEDIUM AND LARGE UNMANNED SURFACE VESSELS.

SEC. 122. MODIFICATION TO LIMITATIONS ON NAVY MEDIUM AND LARGE UNMANNED SURFACE VESSELS. (a) Repeal.—Section 122 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116-283; 134 Stat. 3425) is repealed. (b) Requirement.—The Secretary of the Navy may not award a detail design or construction contract or other agreement, or obligate funds from a procurement account, for a covered program unless such contract or other agreement includes a requirement for an operational demonstration of not less than 720 continuous hours without preventative maintenance, corrective maintenance, emergent repair, or any other form of repair or maintenance, on any of the following: (1) The main propulsion system, including the fuel and lube oil systems. (2) The electrical generation and distribution system. (c) Certification.—The Secretary of the Navy may not accept delivery of articles constructed under a contract or other agreement for a covered program until the Secretary certifies to the congressional defense committees that the operational demonstration described in subsection (b) has been successfully completed. (d) Limitation.—The Secretary of the Navy may not make contract financing payments for a contract or other agreement entered into for a covered program greater than 90 percent for small businesses and 80 percent for all other businesses until the certification described in subsection (c) is submitted. (e) Definitions.—In this section: (1) Covered program.—The term “covered program” means a program for— (A) medium unmanned surface vessels; or (B) large unmanned surface vessels. (2) Operational demonstration.—The term “operational demonstration” means a land-based or sea-based test of the systems concerned in vessel-representative form, fit, and function.