Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – This week, Congressman Rob Wittman (R-VA) and Congressman Pat Ryan (D-NY), founding co-chairs of the House Defense Modernization Caucus (HDMC), voted in support of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026. The legislation included key wins that accelerate defense innovation and modernization efforts at the Pentagon, including strengthening counter-unmanned aerial systems capabilities, empowering the defense innovation ecosystem through the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), Office of Strategic Capital (OSC), and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), prioritizing commercial solutions, and enabling more seamless collaboration between industry and the Department.

“This NDAA made significant strides to modernize our defense acquisition system and industrial base. By streamlining processes that enable better collaboration with innovative defense firms and prioritizing a software-first approach to developing new systems, we are expanding the field for innovative ideas and solutions that give our forces the capabilities they need, when they need them. This legislation represents our commitment as co-chairs of the House Defense Modernization Caucus to pursuing innovative solutions to how the Department fields new technologies, and I look forward to seeing it signed into law.” – Rep. Rob Wittman

“I’m damn proud to be an American today. Not only did the DMC help deliver a historic NDAA whose main focus was acquisition reform; we also secured a number of provisions directly focused on removing barriers to entry for small and non-traditional companies, driving the Pentagon to take a software-centric approach, and advancing crucial c-UAS capabilities,” said Congressman Pat Ryan. “Our mission is simple: develop the tools our warfighters need to succeed, and deliver them at the speed of combat. I want to thank Congressman Wittman for his continued partnership. Stay tuned – the push for making the FY27 NDAA the most disruptive in history starts now.”

Co-chairs Wittman and Ryan secured the following provisions that will:

• Streamline and expedite the Authorization to Operate (ATO) process
• Accelerate access and accreditation to sensitive compartmented information facilities (SCIF) for industry
• Expand the Defense Innovation Unit’s regional presence and outreach 
• Leverage commercial sensor networks to support Air Force counter-drone base protection capabilities
• Accelerate the DoD’s counter-unmanned aerial system capabilities and authorities to protect military operations and sensitive defense installations in the United States
• Require DoD to develop and maintain a virtual sandbox environment for operational testing and development. 
• Integrate modern software practices at the Department by establishing a pilot program to leverage commercial software innovations for testing and evaluation
• Review the Department’s approach to commercial purchasing and compliance with the commercial services acquisition approach
• Facilitate artificial intelligence and machine learning security in the Department
• Require a Comptroller review and report on the Department’s use of Other Transaction Authorities (derived from H.R. 6325)

Additional defense modernization priorities HDMC supported will: :

• Encourage the Department to leverage modular open system architectures (MOSA) when developing exquisite systems
• Require the Pentagon to look to commercial-off-the-shelf solutions before embarking on costly programs to build exquisite systems
• Provide OSC with the authority to assess fees, ensuring its funding is allocated efficiently towards the goal of bridging new technologies into deployed capabilities
• Establish the Bridging Operational Objectives and Support for
• Transition (BOOST) Program within DIU to align promising technologies with operational needs
• Require the Department to streamline the qualification and approval of parts made with advanced manufacturing methods 
• Formally establish the Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) 401 as the entity with primary responsibility for counter-small unmanned aircraft systems
• Allow DARPA to continue expanding its talent pool by extending the authority to temporarily assign employees from nontraditional defense contractors to the Agency

In March, following the caucus’s relaunch, HDMC opened an NDAA submissions portal, soliciting from industry and academia issues and ideas related to defense modernization. These submissions helped inform Congressmen Wittman’s and Ryan’s NDAA provisions. In November, the two sent an HDMC conference letter to House Armed Services Committee leadership encouraging them to prioritize issues of defense modernization and to specifically include several key provisions in the conferenced bill. 

Congressmen Ryan and Wittman founded the House Defense Modernization Caucus last year to accelerate innovation across the Department of Defense and deliver capabilities to the warfighter at speed and at scale. Ryan’s experience as a military intelligence officer and tenure in the startup world, along with Wittman’s deep ties to Virginia's shipbuilding ecosystem and leadership on the Tactical Air and Land Subcommittee brings two uniquely valuable perspectives, each keenly aware of the importance of modernization and apt to collaborate on the HDMC’s goals.

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