National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, Section 914 ("Small-UAS industrial base working group")

• Authority: United States Congress
• Parent authority: Federal government
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: NDAA provisions;U.S. federal laws;FY2026 NDAA
• Most recent activity: Enacted
• Most recent activity date: 2025-12-18

Risk subdomain coverage

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the risk subdomain are described.

• Competitive dynamics

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

This document has minimal to no coverage of AI risk domains. It is a defense industrial policy document focused on strengthening the small-UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) supplier base through working groups, investments, and partnerships. While it addresses autonomous systems, it does not explicitly discuss AI risks, harms, or safety concerns from the MIT taxonomy.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Agriculture, Mining, Construction & Manufacturing
• Scientific Research & Development Services
• National Security

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the sector are described.

• Professional & Technical Services

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document primarily governs the National Security sector through Department of Defense industrial base policy for small unmanned aircraft systems. It also has significant coverage of the Manufacturing sector (sUAS and component production) and the Scientific Research and Development Services sector (through innovation partnerships and technology incubation).

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding legislative provision within the National Defense Authorization Act, enacted by the United States Congress with mandatory requirements, specific deadlines, and enforcement through federal appropriations authority.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress
• Summary: The document is Section 914 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, which is enacted by the United States Congress as the legislative authority.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor, AI_Developer, AI_Infrastructure_Provider
• Entities: Deputy Secretary of Defense; Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy; Director of the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group; Defense Innovation Unit; service acquisition executive of each military department; Army Materiel Command; United States Special Operations Command; sUAS industrial base entities; manufacturers of complete sUAS systems; suppliers of components for such systems
• Summary: The document targets Department of Defense officials who must establish and participate in the Working Group, as well as the sUAS industrial base including manufacturers and component suppliers who are the subject of analysis and potential investment.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Deputy Secretary of Defense; congressional defense committees
• Summary: The Deputy Secretary of Defense has authority to establish the Working Group and certify programs, while congressional defense committees receive reports and exercise oversight authority.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Small-UAS Industrial Base Working Group; congressional defense committees; Deputy Secretary of Defense
• Summary: The Working Group is responsible for ongoing monitoring through biannual reports, with congressional defense committees and the Deputy Secretary receiving these reports for oversight.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Plan and Design
• Verify and Validate
• Deploy

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document primarily addresses the Plan and Design stage through industrial base analysis and investment planning, and the Deploy stage through qualification processes and production facility arrangements. It does not explicitly cover data collection, model building, or operational monitoring of AI systems themselves, but rather focuses on the industrial capacity to produce autonomous systems.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

No technical scope terms identified.

Technical Scope Summary

The document focuses on small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) as autonomous systems but does not explicitly discuss AI models, AI systems, or specific AI technical categories. It addresses autonomous warfare capabilities through the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group but without detailed AI technical specifications.