How ’26 defense policy bill takes aim at speed, ease of technological innovation

The competing House and Senate versions of the 2026 defense policy bill advancing through each chamber both contains provisions aimed at expanding or speeding up efforts to get new software and technology into the hands of warfighters. 

The House Armed Services Committee marked up the bill—often referred to as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)—last week and it now awaits consideration on the floor, as does the companion Senate version in its chamber. The NDAA is considered must-pass legislation and is expected to be supported by a bipartisan majority in both the House and Senate.  

The House version would require the Defense Department to set mandatory time limits for the authorization process for new “cloud-hosted platforms, services, and applications.” Any new IT system connected to or installed on DOD networks requires an Authority to Operate from the responsible official. But the process of requesting and granting an ATO, which involves comprehensive documentation of system capabilities and a full risk assessment, can stretch over months or even a year or more, significantly hampering efforts to introduce new software, for instance, in a timely fashion. The bill doesn’t say what the time limit should be, but makes setting one an “additional responsibility” of the DOD chief information officer. 

Read more at Air and Space Forces Magazine