FLRAA Production Acceleration Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2080 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2080

To authorize the Secretary of the Army to accelerate the procurement of 
 the future long range assault aircraft by initiating early production 
       of not more than 24 such aircraft, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 12, 2025

  Mr. Cruz (for himself and Mr. Banks) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the Secretary of the Army to accelerate the procurement of 
 the future long range assault aircraft by initiating early production 
       of not more than 24 such aircraft, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``FLRAA Production Acceleration Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION TO INITIATE EARLY PRODUCTION OF FUTURE LONG RANGE 
              ASSAULT AIRCRAFT.

    (a) Authorization.--The Secretary of the Army may enter into 
contracts, in advance of full-rate production, for the procurement of 
not more than 24 future long range assault aircraft as part of an 
accelerated low-rate early production effort.
    (b) Objectives.--In carrying out the early production effort 
described in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Army shall pursue the 
following objectives:
            (1) To expedite delivery of future long range assault 
        aircraft operational capability to the warfighter.
            (2) To maintain momentum and learning continuity between 
        test article completion and full production ramp-up.
            (3) To stabilize and retain the specialized workforce and 
        industrial base supporting future long range assault aircraft, 
        including critical suppliers and production facilities in 
        Texas, Kansas, and other States.
            (4) To mitigate cost escalation risks and improve program 
        affordability across the life cycle.
    (c) Considerations.--In executing the authority provided by 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall--
            (1) prioritize program continuity, cost-efficiency, and 
        workforce retention across the supply chain for tiltrotor 
        aircraft;
            (2) ensure that aircraft procured as part of the early 
        production effort described in subsection (a) incorporate 
        lessons learned from test article evaluations; and
            (3) maintain flexibility in design to accommodate future 
        upgrades through the modular open systems architecture and 
        digital backbone.

SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of the Army shall submit to the congressional 
defense committees a report detailing--
            (1) the implementation plan and timeline for the 
        procurement and early production effort described in subsection 
        (a);
            (2) the status of industrial base readiness and supply 
        chain coordination; and
            (3) estimated long-term cost savings and operational 
        benefits derived from such early production effort.
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