December 8 (legislative day, December 4), 2025
Mr. Kelly (for himself, Mr. Lankford, and Mr. Curtis) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
To require coordination of depot-level maintenance in multinational exercises conducted by the Air Force.
Section 1. Depot-level maintenance coordination in multinational exercises
(a) In general
Each year, the Secretary of the Air Force shall incorporate in at least one multinational exercise conducted in the area of operations of the United States Indo-Pacific Command—
(1)
depot-level maintenance, repair, and sustainment considerations, including binational or multinational planning sessions with covered nations on—
(A)
identifying opportunities to cooperate on depot-level maintenance and repair in ways that minimize transportation requirements in such area of operations and determining the authorities necessary to deliver necessary joint capabilities;
(B)
facilitating real-time coordination between the United States and covered nations to maintain munitions stock levels and resupply routes in such area of operations;
(C)
mutual recognition of airworthiness and maintenance certification between the United States and covered nations; and
(D)
emergency tabletop exercises, such as when an aircraft of a covered nation breaks down in United States territory, and vice versa, in a contested logistics environment.
(2)
coordination with the Air Force Sustainment Center, including the participation of representatives of—
(A)
the United States Indo-Pacific Command;
(B)
the United States Pacific Air Forces;
(C)
the United States Air Mobility Command; and
(D)
the Air Force Sustainment Center.
(b) Report
(1) In general
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Air Force shall submit to Congress a report summarizing the lessons learned from carrying out an exercise in accordance with subsection (a) with respect to the Republic of Korea and the Commonwealth of Australia.
(2) Elements
The report required by paragraph (1) shall include the following:
(A)
A list of candidate systems for co-sustainment with the Republic of Korea and the Commonwealth of Australia.
(B)
A list of depot-level repair workload opportunities to undertake with the Republic of Korea and the Commonwealth of Australia, including testing equipment or line replaceable units.
(C)
Opportunities to incorporate Korean and Australian industry partners in depot-level maintenance repair activities, including through public-private partnerships.
(D)
An identification of any potential logistical challenges that could arise with the host country, including with respect to workforce, housing, and location of workload.
(E)
An identification of any potential impediments involving intellectual property or data rights between original equipment manufacturers and the Department of the Air Force or between the Department of the Air Force and the Republic of Korea or the Commonwealth of Australia.
(F)
An identification of any potential impediments related to International Traffic in Arms Regulations and related statutes.
(G)
Any additional recommendations to Congress that would ease the facilitation of depot-level maintenance repair partnerships with the Republic of Korea and the Commonwealth of Australia, including changes to existing status of forces agreements.
(H)
An analysis of current maintenance and repair capabilities and gaps in the organic industrial base of the Republic of Korea and the Commonwealth of Australia.
(I)
An assessment of the types of maintenance and repair activities (including depot-level, preventative, and corrective) that may be most appropriate for a partnership with the Republic of Korea or the Commonwealth of Australia.
(J)
An assessment of how any such partnership may contribute to allied contingency operations, interoperability, and regional posture resilience in the Indo-Pacific region.
(K)
A consideration of planning factors related to the evolving force generation models of the Air Force, future-generation aircraft programs, deployment schedules, statutory maintenance thresholds, and other relevant operational requirements.
(c) Definitions
In this section:
(1) Covered nation defined
The term covered nation means any of the following:
(A)
The Commonwealth of Australia.
(B)
Canada.
(C)
Japan.
(D)
New Zealand.
(E)
The Republic of Korea.
(F)
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
(G)
Any other nation as designated as a covered nation for the purposes of this section by the Secretary of the Air Force.
(2) International Traffic in Arms Regulations
The term International Traffic in Arms Regulations means subchapter M of chapter I of title 22, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations).