Instructs the Executive Agent of the C–sUAS Office to develop a plan that speeds up the development of a counter unmanned aircraft system, to be deployed by 2021.
Analysis summaries, actor details, and coverage mappings were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
This is a binding federal statute enacted by the United States Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, with mandatory language requiring specific actions by designated executive agents and oversight mechanisms.
The document has minimal coverage of risk domains, with primary focus on malicious actors (4.2) through counter-UAS weapons development, and limited coverage of competitive dynamics (6.4) through accelerated development timelines. Coverage is concentrated in security and defense-related domains.
This document primarily governs the National Security sector through requirements for counter-UAS system development and deployment by military departments and defense agencies. It does not regulate private sector activities or civilian applications.
The document covers multiple AI lifecycle stages with primary focus on Plan and Design (developing counter-UAS systems), Build and Use Model (autonomous and semi-autonomous systems), Verify and Validate (operational testing requirements), Deploy (fielding by fiscal year 2021), and Operate and Monitor (oversight of execution and continuous integration capabilities).
The document explicitly mentions autonomous and semi-autonomous AI systems for counter-UAS applications. It does not reference AI models, frontier AI, general purpose AI, foundation models, generative AI, or compute thresholds. The focus is on task-specific AI systems designed for defense applications.
United States Congress
The document is a section of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which is federal legislation enacted by the United States Congress.
Congressional defense committees, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
The congressional defense committees receive mandatory briefings and provide oversight, while the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment has authority to designate the Executive Agent who must ensure compliance.
Congressional defense committees, Executive Agent of the Joint Counter Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C–sUAS) Office
The congressional defense committees monitor implementation through mandatory briefings, while the Executive Agent monitors execution of counter-UAS systems development across military departments.
Executive Agent of the Joint Counter Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C–sUAS) Office, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, military departments
The document explicitly targets the Executive Agent designated by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, requiring them to develop and execute plans for counter-UAS systems and oversee military department activities.
5 subdomains (1 Good, 4 Minimal)