§4127. Defense Innovation Unit
10 U.S.C. § 4127
Establishment.— There is established in the Department of Defense a Defense Innovation Unit (referred to in this section as the “Unit”).
Director and Deputy Director.— There is a Director of the Unit who shall be appointed by the Secretary of Defense from among persons with substantial experience in innovation and commercial technology, as determined by the Secretary.
Authority of Director.— The Director is the head of the Unit. The Director—
shall serve as a principal staff assistant to the Secretary of Defense on matters within the responsibility of the Unit;
shall report directly to the Secretary without intervening authority; and
may communicate views on matters within the responsibility of the Unit directly to the Secretary without obtaining the approval or concurrence of any other official within the Department of Defense.
Responsibilities.— The Unit shall have the following responsibilities:
Seek out, identify, and support development of and experimentation with commercial technologies that have the potential to be implemented within the Department of Defense.
Accelerate the adoption or integration of commercial technologies within the Department of Defense to transform military capacity and capabilities.
Serve as the principal liaison between the Department of Defense and individuals and entities in the national security innovation base, including entrepreneurs, startups, commercial technology companies, and venture capital sources.
Carry out programs, projects, and other activities to strengthen the national security innovation base.
Coordinate and harmonize the activities of other organizations and elements of the Department of Defense on matters relating to commercial technologies, dual use technologies, and the innovation of such technologies.
Coordinate and advise efforts among elements of the Department of Defense on matters relating to the development, procurement, and fielding of nontraditional capabilities.
Coordinate with the Joint Staff and the commanders of the combatant commands to identify operational challenges that have the potential to be addressed through the use of nontraditional capabilities, including dual-use technologies, that are being developed and financed in the commercial sector.
Using funds made available to the Unit—
select projects to be carried out by one or more of the service-level innovation organizations;
allocate funds to service-level innovation organizations to carry out such projects; and
monitor the execution of such projects by the service-level innovation organizations.
Serve as the principal liaison between the Department of Defense, nontraditional defense contractors, investors in nontraditional defense companies, and departments and agencies of the Federal Government pursuing nontraditional capabilities similar to those pursued by the Department.
Lead engagement with industry, academia, and other nongovernment entities to develop—
domestic capacity with respect to innovative, commercial, and dual-use technologies and the use of nontraditional defense contractors; and
the capacity of international allies and partners of the United States with respect to such technologies and the use of such contractors.
Carry out such other activities as the Secretary of Defense determines appropriate.
Support for Multi-stakeholder Partnerships.—
The Director shall identify and support multi-stakeholder research and innovation partnerships that—
have the potential to generate technologies, processes, products, or other solutions that address national defense or security needs; and
have as an objective the technology transfer or commercialization of the work product generated by the partnership, which may include work product that incorporates Government-developed intellectual property licensed to the partnership in accordance with paragraph (3).
Support provided by the Director to a multi-stakeholder research and innovation partnership under this subsection may include—
providing funding or other resources to the partnership;
participating in the partnership;
providing technical and technological advice and guidance to the partnership;
suggesting and introducing other participants for inclusion in the partnership;
providing the partnership with insight into desired solutions for defense and security needs; and
such other forms of support as the Director determines appropriate.
To the extent the Director determines appropriate, the Director shall seek to actively inform potential participants in multi-stakeholder research and innovation partnerships of the availability of Government-developed intellectual property that may be licensed to the partnership.
On an annual basis, the Director shall submit to the Secretary of Defense and the congressional defense committees a report on the activities, advances, outcomes, and work product of the multi-stakeholder research and innovation partnerships supported under this subsection.
Regional Outreach Centers.—
In general.— The Director may establish and maintain regional offices of the Unit at locations within and outside the United States for purposes of conducting outreach to and streamlining interactions between the Unit and the private sector, academia, and other mission partners.
Selection criteria and other guidance.— In the event the Director exercises the authority to establish and maintain regional offices under paragraph (1), the Director shall—
develop a strategy and criteria for the selection of locations for such offices;
issue any rules, regulations, policies, or guidance necessary for the operation of such offices; and
make the information described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) available on a publicly accessible website of the Department of Defense.
Definitions.— In this section:
The term “multi-stakeholder research and innovation partnership” means a partnership composed of any combination of two or more of the following:
Universities, colleges, or other institutions of higher education with research and innovation capability.
Non-profit organizations that provide policy, research, outreach, operations, organizational, management, testing, evaluation, technology transfer, legal, financial, or advocacy expertise.
For-profit commercial enterprises that may be publicly or privately owned, early stage or mature, and incorporated or operating by another ownership structure.
Departments or agencies of the Federal Government with expertise, operations, or resources related to the objectives of the multi-stakeholder research and innovation partnership.
The term “nontraditional capability” means a solution to an operational challenge that can significantly leverage commercial innovation or external capital with minimal dependencies on fielded systems.
The term “nontraditional defense contractor” has the meaning given that term in section 3014 of this title.
Notes, amendments, and revision history
(Added Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title IX, § 913(a)(1), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 365; amended Pub. L. 118–159, div. A, title XVII, § 1701(a)(43), Dec. 23, 2024, 138 Stat. 2206; Pub. L. 119–60, div. A, title IX, § 913, title XVII, § 1701(a)(26), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1018, 1209.)
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2025—Subsec. (d)(9). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1701(a)(26), substituted “pursuing” for “pursing”.
Subsecs. (f), (g). Pub. L. 119–60, § 913, added subsec. (f) and redesignated former subsec. (f) as (g).
2024—Pub. L. 118–159 substituted “Defense Innovation Unit” for “Defense innovation unit” in section catchline.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date; Implementation
Section effective 180 days after Dec. 22, 2023, with additional implementation requirements, see section 913(b)(1), (2) of Pub. L. 118–31, set out as notes under section 1766 of this title.