United States-Israel Future of Warfare Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1802 To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a fund for the conduct of collaborative defense projects between the United States and Israel in emerging technologies, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 1, 2023 Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. BUDD, and Ms. ROSEN) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Foreign Relations A BILL To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a fund for the conduct of collaborative defense projects between the United States and Israel in emerging technologies, and for other purposes. 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 Future of Warfare Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1802.IS S1802 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1802 IS SEC. 2. FUND FOR CONDUCT OF COLLABORATIVE DEFENSE 1 PROJECTS BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES 2 AND ISRAEL IN EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES. 3 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find- 4 ings: 5 (1) The strategic partnership between the 6 United States and Israel is mutually beneficial, rein- 7 forcing shared moral values and security interests 8 while promoting peace and regional stability. 9 (2) A strong strategic relationship between the 10 United States and Israel, and enhanced bilateral co- 11 operation between such countries in defense, home- 12 land security, cybersecurity, space, and other key 13 areas, ensure that both countries can confront cur- 14 rent and future emerging defense challenges. 15 (3) Israel is a global leader and innovator in 16 the development of defense technology and is one of 17 the closest foreign defense partners of the United 18 States. 19 (4) On September 14, 2016, the United States 20 and Israel signed a 10-year memorandum of under- 21 standing reaffirming the importance of continuing 22 annual United States military assistance to Israel 23 (and other defense programs in areas such as missile 24 defense, counter tunneling, and counter-unmanned 25 aircraft systems) in a way that enhances the security 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1802.IS S1802 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1802 IS of Israel and strengthens the bilateral relationship 1 between the two countries. 2 (5) On July 12, 2022, President Joe Biden and 3 former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid committed 4 to elevating the strategic partnership between the 5 United States and Israel to new heights by launch- 6 ing the Strategic High-Level Dialogue on Tech- 7 nology, tasked with establishing a technological part- 8 nership between the United States and Israel with 9 respect to critical and emerging technologies and so- 10 lutions to global challenges. 11 (6) On July 14, 2022, President Joe Biden and 12 former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed a 13 joint declaration, entitled the ‘‘Jerusalem U.S.-Israel 14 Strategic Partnership Joint Declaration’’, that reaf- 15 firms the steadfast commitment of the United States 16 to strengthening the self-defense capability of Israel 17 and to moving forward ‘‘the U.S.-Israel defense 18 partnership through cooperation in cutting-edge de- 19 fense technologies such as high energy laser weapons 20 systems to defend the skies of Israel and in the fu- 21 ture those of other U.S. and Israel security part- 22 ners’’. 23 (7) Since 2016, Congress has appropriated 24 $320,000,000 for counter-tunneling cooperation be- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1802.IS S1802 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1802 IS tween the United States (specifically the Irregular 1 Warfare Technical Support Directorate of the De- 2 partment of Defense) and Israel, which has resulted 3 in the development of counter-tunnel technology that 4 enhances the capability of the United States and 5 Israel to deal with tunnel threats at the borders of 6 such countries and elsewhere. 7 (8) Since 2020, Congress has appropriated 8 $88,000,000 for counter-unmanned aircraft systems 9 cooperation between the United States (specifically 10 the Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate 11 of the Department of Defense) and Israel, which has 12 resulted in the co-development of counter-unmanned 13 aircraft systems for use by the United States Armed 14 Forces, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the 15 United States Secret Service. 16 (9) In January 2023, the Irregular Warfare 17 Technical Support Directorate of the Department of 18 Defense awarded Israel Aerospace Industries a 19 multi-million dollar contract to rapidly develop and 20 deliver a loitering munition known as ‘‘ROC–X’’ to 21 provide ground-based tactical forces with more pre- 22 cise capabilities and to improve the safety and secu- 23 rity of United States warfighters. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1802.IS S1802 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1802 IS (10) Over the last few years, the Irregular War- 1 fare Technical Support Directorate of the Depart- 2 ment of Defense and the Directorate of Defense Re- 3 search and Engineering of the Ministry of Defense 4 of Israel have hosted a competition known as the 5 ‘‘MOSAIC Challenge’’ for the purpose of identifying 6 cutting-edge hardware and software solutions to ad- 7 dress challenging and longstanding technological 8 gaps relating to remote autonomous indoor maneu- 9 verability. 10 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 11 United States to support and encourage further defense 12 collaboration with Israel in areas of emerging technologies 13 that may enable the development of the warfare capabili- 14 ties of the United States and Israel so as to meet emerging 15 defense challenges, including with respect to the areas of 16 artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, directed energy, and 17 automation. 18 (c) UNITED STATES-ISRAEL WARFARE RESEARCH 19 AND DEVELOPMENT FUND.— 20 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of De- 21 fense shall establish a fund, to be known as the 22 ‘‘United States-Israel Future of Warfare Research 23 and Development Fund’’ (in this section referred to 24 as the ‘‘Fund’’). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1802.IS S1802 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1802 IS (2) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts in the Fund 1 shall be available for the conduct of collaborative de- 2 fense projects between the United States and Israel 3 in areas of emerging technologies, including artificial 4 intelligence, automation, cybersecurity, and directed 5 energy, for the purpose of enabling the United 6 States Armed Forces and the military forces of 7 Israel to meet emerging defense challenges. 8 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 9 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Fund 10 $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 11 2028. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1802.IS S1802 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS