Spare Parts Competition Act

Except as provided by paragraph (2), a contractor providing spare parts to the Defense Logistics Agency may manufacture such spare parts using additive manufacturing except to the extent that the contract or other agreement under which such contractor is providing such spare parts to the Defense Logistics Agency express prohibits the use of additive manufacturing for such spare parts.

The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment may waiver paragraph (1) with respect to a spare part or contract or other agreement if the Under Secretary determines that such a waiver is in the interest of national security or necessary to reduce the costs to the Department of Defense.

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Director of the Defense Logistics Agency shall make publicly available on a website of the Defense Logistics Agency the following:

(1) A list of the of National Stock Numbers for which the Department of Defense has qualified additive manufacturing designs for use as spare parts in systems of the Department.

(2) A list, disaggregated by subject area, of the additive manufacturing designs for goods properly submitted to the Defense Logistics Agency for qualification for use as spare parts in systems of the Department of Defense, for which the Defense Logistics Agency has not granted such qualification as of the date on which the Director makes publicly available the information required under this subsection pursuant to this subsection.

(3) The rate at which additive manufacturing designs for goods are being submitted to the Defense Logistics Agency, the military departments, and the other elements of the Department of Defense for qualification for use as spare parts in systems of the Department of Defense, including the changes in such rate during the three-year period immediately preceding the date on which the Director publishes such rate on a website of the Defense Logistics Agency pursuant to this subsection.

(4) An assessment of whether the Defense Logistics Agency, each of the military departments, and the Department of Defense as a whole have sufficient appropriate personnel required to evaluate additive manufacturing designs for goods for qualification for use as spare parts in a timely manner.

(5) An explanation of whether the Defense Logistics Agency has pursued certifying additive manufacturing processes to produce parts suitable for use in aircraft of the Department of Defense, including an explanation of the efforts of the Defense Logistics Agency, if any, to develop and implement such a qualification approach or, if the Defense Logistics Agency is not pursing such a qualification approach, why the Defense Logistics Agency ceased pursing such a qualification approach.

(6) An explanation of the goals of the Defense Logistics Agency with respect to the manufacture of spare parts for the Defense Logistics Agency through the use of additive manufacturing, including the types of spare parts the Defense Logistics Agency has determined to be strong candidates for manufacturing through the use of additive manufacturing and any plans of the Defense Logistics Agency to achieve such goals.

(7) An assessment of whether the contracting practices of the Defense Logistics Agency are optimized to encourage submission of spare parts manufactured using additive manufacturing for qualification for use as spare parts in systems of the Department of Defense.

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Director of the Defense Logistics Agency shall submit to Congress a report containing—

(1) the list of the of National Stock Numbers for which the Department of Defense has qualified additive manufacturing designs for use as spare parts in systems of the Department, disaggregated by subject area; and

(2) an explanation of the barriers to the Defense Logistics Agency—

(A) encouraging contractors to submit new additive manufacturing designs for qualification for use as spare parts in systems of the Department; and

(B) evaluating such new additive manufacturing designs in a timely manner.

In this section, the term military department has the meaning given such term in section 101(a) of title 10, United States Code.

The Secretary of Defense, acting through the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, shall take such actions as may be necessary to implement the recommendations of the Comptroller General of the United States contained in the report entitled F–35 Program: DOD Needs Better Accountability for Global Spare Parts and Reporting of Losses Worth Millions (GAO–23–106098), published on May 23, 2023.

Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report on the progress of the implementation required by subsection (a).