The defense policy bill is handing the Army a to-do list

The Army would upgrade its tech to protect troops downrange and improve training at home, and may put its efforts to procure open-source intelligence tools under a program executive office under proposals in the compromise version of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act.

The House passed its version of the bill, which lays out where the military will spend its funding, on Wednesday. 

Here are some of the items Congress has placed on the Army’s to-do list:

• Designate one of the service’s existing program executive offices to oversee the acquisition of open-source intelligence tools—programs that scour the internet, and the deep web, for content that could provide insights to Army missions. The provision in the bill allows but does not mandate the redesignation.
• Buy more air defense systems to shoot down the types of low, slow-flying drones deployed by Iran-backed militias that attacked U.S. troops in the Middle East in record numbers over the past year. The plan is due to the House and Senate Armed Services committees by Sept. 30.
• Create a pilot program, dubbed the ‘‘Lethality and Warfighting Enhancement Program,” in which the Army would select Army Reserve and National Guard infantry units on at least three posts to incorporate robotic targets on live-fire small arms ranges. The targets can move across a range on their own, simulating close combat, and collect data on shots taken. The service would have six months to get the pilot off the ground, with a requirement to run it for five years and then report back to the armed services committees on its effectiveness.
• Install anti-lock brakes and stability-control systems in all of its Humvees. The service has awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts to Ricardo Systems, dating back to 2021, to develop and install safety upgrade kits at Red River Army Depot, Texas. The Army will have 90 days to deliver a report detailing how to speed up the production and installation of the kits and solutions for any associated challenges, a funding plan for the undertaking, and a plan to potentially open a second depot for the retrofits. 

The Senate is expected to vote on this latest version in the coming days, paving the way for President Joe Biden to sign the bill into law before the new year.