EconDefense
ACQ-49 / Acquisition, transition and contract finance

Start urgent development before the next budget cycle

With Secretary of Defense approval, a Service Secretary may initiate urgent/emerging development to exploit new technology or respond to threats using bounded rapid acquisition/funding authorities.

Download record

At a glance

Possible toolACQ-49 · Other statutory tools

Authority holder: Military-department Secretary with Secretary of Defense approval

Other statutory tools

Mechanism tags describe the source text; they do not expand the authority.

Availability and verification

Express statutory pathway; award-specific appropriations, available balances, delegations, implementation and approvals not independently verified.

Requirements and limits

Eligibility & prerequisites

  • Compelling urgent/emergency need; explain why waiting for next President budget harms defense.
  • Identify current-year funding and acquisition pathway/programmed transition funding within 2 years.

Limits & exclusions

  • DoD-wide annual $100m limit under this mechanism; initial 1 year with single 1 year extension/notice.
  • Chapter 221 competition may not be waived; other §3601 fiscal/penalty restrictions remain.

Funding conditions

  • Current-year procurement or RDT&E funds permitted under specific authority; not unlimited reprogramming.

Read the funding and execution guide

Who contributes what

Need & planning

  • Service Secretary and operational/technical sponsor

Resources

  • Current-year Service procurement or RDT&E funds

Approval

  • Secretary of Defense approves Service Secretary determination
    Office profile

Execution

  • Service program and contracting offices

Partners & review

  • Comptroller, OMB/congressional notifications, receiving acquisition pathway

Office links are editorial matches to the original role text, not verified delegations. Composite labels and unmatched actors are preserved.

Coordination pathway

Service identifies threat/technology → funding/transition case → Service Secretary request and Secretary of Defense approval → notice → development and planned program transition.

Actor and execution-role sources

Legal basis

  • P.L. 118-31, §229Uncodified 10 U.S.C. §3601 note; enacted text reproduced in GovInfo 2024chapter 253.

What this research establishes

Legal powerSource and conditions recorded
EligibilityProject-specific check needed
Available fundsBalances not verified
DelegationValid signature authority must be checked
ExecutionOffice capacity and approvals must be checked

Confidence: High on express authority and cited conditions; execution assignment is illustrative unless statute expressly names it.

Currentness: GovInfo 2024 Code (includes FY2025 NDAA, P.L. 118-159) read in full for cited provision; targeted FY2026 NDAA P.L. 119-60 amendment/repeal sweep. No claim of complete legislative currency through 2026-10-02; remaining 2026 delta needs counsel validation.

Research target: October 2, 2026. A record-specific last-review date is not supplied. Publication date is not legal-currentness certification.

Related tools in this family