U.S.-Israel Anti-Killer Drone Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5063 To provide for increased authorities relating to United States-Israel unmanned aerial systems cooperation. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 13, 2019 Mr. GOTTHEIMER (for himself and Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for increased authorities relating to United States-Israel unmanned aerial systems cooperation. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-Israel 4 Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems Cooperation Enhance- 5 ment Act’’ or the ‘‘U.S.-Israel Anti-Killer Drone Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress finds the following: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5063.IH H5063 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5063 IH (1) Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) remain a 1 threat to Israel and to the United States. 2 (2) In August 2019, Israeli forces struck Ira- 3 nian Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force and 4 Iranian-backed militia facilities to thwart a planned 5 drone attack on Israel. 6 (3) In February 2018, Iran launched an armed 7 drone from Syria into Israeli airspace, which Israeli 8 warplanes destroyed. 9 (4) On September 19, 2017, Israeli forces de- 10 stroyed an Iranian supplied Hezbollah UAS over 11 Syria. 12 (5) Pursuant to the authority of section 1279 13 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 14 Year 2016 (Public Law 114–92; 22 U.S.C. 8606 15 note), as amended by section 1272(a) of the John S. 16 McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fis- 17 cal Year 2019 (Public Law 115–232), the Depart- 18 ment of Defense and the Ministry of Defense of 19 Israel identified several gaps in UAS technology. 20 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 21 It is the sense of Congress that the United States 22 should enhance cooperation with Israel in developing mu- 23 tually beneficial counter unmanned aerial systems tech- 24 nologies. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5063.IH H5063 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5063 IH SEC. 4. UNITED STATES-ISRAEL UNMANNED AERIAL SYS- 1 TEMS COOPERATION. 2 (a) AUTHORITY.—Subsection (a)(1) of section 1279 3 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 4 2016 (Public Law 114–92; 22 U.S.C. 8606 note) is 5 amended— 6 (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘IN 7 GENERAL’’ and inserting ‘‘AUTHORITY’’; 8 (2) by striking ‘‘The Secretary of Defense’’ and 9 inserting the following: 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of De- 11 fense’’; 12 (3) by striking ‘‘United States or Israel.’’ and 13 inserting the following: ‘‘United States or Israel. 14 ‘‘(B) ACTIVITIES TO BE INCLUDED.—Ac- 15 tivities carried out pursuant to such authority 16 may include the following: 17 ‘‘(i) Low-cost, close-range final protec- 18 tive fire kinetic counter unmanned aerial 19 systems (C–UAS) capability. 20 ‘‘(ii) Reduction of false alarm rates 21 for tactical teams, an organic capability to 22 detect, track, identify, and electronically 23 deter and, where possible, capture small 24 UAS that present a very low radar cross 25 section. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5063.IH H5063 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5063 IH ‘‘(iii) Non-kinetic means to detect, 1 track, classify, take control of, and capture 2 small UAS. 3 ‘‘(iv) Dual air and ground individual 4 weapon overmatch optic that enables oper- 5 ators to quickly target and destroy UAS at 6 range of 300 meters during the day and 7 200 meters at night. 8 ‘‘(v) Radar systems for urban environ- 9 ments to facilitate detection of UAS 10 threats when other techniques are not via- 11 ble. 12 ‘‘(vi) Evaluation of the performance 13 characteristics of radio frequency UAS sys- 14 tems in urban environments.’’; and 15 (4) by striking ‘‘Any activities’’ and inserting 16 the following: 17 ‘‘(C) CONDUCT OF ACTIVITIES.—Any ac- 18 tivities’’. 19 (b) SUNSET.—Subsection (f) of such section is 20 amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 2020’’ and inserting 21 ‘‘December 31, 2021’’. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5063.IH H5063 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS