4. Department of Defense · Notable · Needs Congress
Strengthen multiyear procurement and block buy authorities
Printed page 97 4. Department of Defense
“Strengthen the ability of acquisition authorities to engage in multiyear procurements and block buys. This will improve private-sector rates of return, thereby incentivizing defense contractors to partner with the government.”
What has happened
- Partially done
The FY2026 NDAA sec. 804 makes multiyear procurement the default for major systems: the Secretary of Defense *shall* ask Congress for specific multiyear authority whenever a covered system has reached a full-rate production decision and is planned to stay in full-rate production for five or more years, waivable only on a changed-threat determination. Sec. 804(b) authorizes multiyear contracts from FY2026 for SM-3 Block 1B, SM-6, Tomahawk (up to seven program years) and AMRAAM, and secs. 112 and 128 add Blackhawk and barge multiyears. What Congress did not do is broaden the underlying multiyear and block-buy authority in 10 U.S.C. 3501 itself, so contractors' rates of return improve program by program rather than across the board.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
Requires Congress, and Congress acted. The FY2026 NDAA carries four multiyear-procurement provisions: sec. 112 (UH-60 Blackhawk), sec. 128 (yard, repair, berthing and messing barges), sec. 2814 (military construction) and, the structural one, sec. 804.
This item was also covered by one negative search run across its whole cluster of related asks in this Chapter.
- Action
- expand
- Object
- multiyear procurement and block buy authorities
- ID
- 149