---
kind: "section"
citation: "22 U.S.C. § 10412"
title: "22"
title_heading: "Foreign Relations and Intercourse"
number: "10412"
heading: "Designation of senior official for Department of Defense activities relating to, and implementation plan for, the AUKUS partnership"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/22/10412"
units:
  - "Chapter 111 — Australia, United Kingdom, and United States (aukus) Security Partnership"
  - "Subchapter I — Administrative Provisions"
---

# §10412. Designation of senior official for Department of Defense activities relating to, and implementation plan for, the AUKUS partnership

- (a) **Designation of senior official—** Not later than 90 days after December 22, 2023, the [Secretary](/usc/22/277d–43.md?p=5) of Defense shall designate a senior civilian official of the Department of Defense who shall be responsible for overseeing Department of Defense activities relating to the [AUKUS partnership](/usc/22/10401.md?p=2-A).
- (b) **Plan—**
  - (1) **In general—** Not later than 90 days after December 22, 2023, the [Secretary](/usc/22/277d–43.md?p=5) of Defense, in coordination with the [Administrator](/usc/22/277d–43.md?p=1) for Nuclear Security and the Secretary of State, shall submit to the [appropriate committees of Congress](/usc/22/10703.md?p=1) a report containing an implementation plan outlining Department of Defense efforts relating to the [AUKUS partnership](/usc/22/10401.md?p=2-A).
  - (2) **Elements—** The plan required by [paragraph (1)](#b-1) shall include the following:
    - (A) Timelines and major anticipated milestones for the implementation of the [AUKUS partnership](/usc/22/10401.md?p=2-A).
    - (B) An identification of dependencies of such milestones on defense requirements that are—
      - (i) unrelated to the [AUKUS partnership](/usc/22/10401.md?p=2-A); and
      - (ii) solely within the decisionmaking responsibility of Australia or the United Kingdom.
    - (C) A consideration of the implications of the plan on the industrial base with respect to—
      - (i) the expansion of existing United States submarine construction capacity to fulfill United States, United Kingdom, and Australia requirements;
      - (ii) acceleration of the restoration of United States capabilities for producing highly enriched uranium to fuel submarine reactors;
      - (iii) stabilization of commodity markets and expanding supplies of high-grade steel, construction materials, and other resources required for improving shipyard condition and expanding throughput capacity; and
      - (iv) coordination and synchronization of industrial sourcing opportunities among Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
    - (D) A description of resourcing and personnel requirements, including—
      - (i) a detailed assessment of the feasibility of hiring and retaining additional foreign disclosure officers to facilitate more rapid technology transfer to Australia and the United Kingdom; and
      - (ii) an assessment of any additional requirements for Department of Defense personnel to [support](/usc/22/7432.md?p=12) the transfer of defense articles to Australia and the United Kingdom.
    - (E) A plan for improving information sharing, including—
      - (i) recommendations for modifications to foreign disclosure policies and processes;
      - (ii) the promulgation of written information-sharing guidelines or policies to improve information sharing under the [AUKUS partnership](/usc/22/10401.md?p=2-A);
      - (iii) the establishment of an information handling caveat specific to the [AUKUS partnership](/usc/22/10401.md?p=2-A); and
      - (iv) the reduction in use of the Not Releasable to Foreign Nations (NOFORN) information handling caveat.
    - (F) Processes for the protection of privately held intellectual property, including patents.
    - (G) Recommended updates to other [title 10](/usc/10.md) authorities or regulatory, policy, or process frameworks.
- (c) **Semiannual updates—** Not later than 60 days after the date on which the plan required by [subsection (b)](#b) is submitted, and semiannually thereafter not later than April 1 and October 1 each year through 2029, the senior civilian official designated under [subsection (a)](#a) shall provide the congressional defense committees and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate with a briefing on the status of all Department activities to implement the [AUKUS partnership](/usc/22/10401.md?p=2-A).

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title XIII, § 1332, Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 505.)

## Notes

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### “Congressional Defense Committees” Defined

Congressional defense committees means the Committees on Armed Services and Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives, see section 3 of Pub. L. 118–31, set out as a note under section 101 of Title 10, Armed Forces.