Military contractors are trying to filibuster a widely supported right-to-repair provision in the annual defense policy bill — and their efforts may be paying off. A source familiar with the negotiations says The Verge There are significant concerns that the bill’s right-to-repair language would be replaced by a “data-as-a-service” model, potentially requiring the Department of Defense to pay for access to equipment repair information.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Tim Sheehy (R-MT) also included language from the Warrior Right to Repair Act into the Pentagon’s annual policy bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed the Senate in October. This provision would give all branches of the military the ability to fix their own equipment, while requiring contractors to provide the information needed to make repairs.
Senator Warren began warning about potential outside influence earlier this month. The National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), a trade group for major DoD contractors, published a white paper that includes support for Data-as-a-Service, saying that “DoD could be allowed to contract for access to a contractor’s complete technical data library on a ‘pay-per-use’ basis” to protect contractors’ intellectual property. The proposed language clearly mirrors what Representatives Mike Rogers (R-AL) and Adam Smith (D-WA), who head the House Armed Services Committee, outlined in their SPEED Act, which requires DOD to negotiate “data solutions as a service to facilitate access” to repair equipment and information.
Eric Fanning, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) – a trade group that supports companies that make aircraft – similarly argued in a November op-ed that the right-to-repair provision would harm contractors by forcing them to “hand over their intellectual property,” as previously reported. appearanceDefense contractors represented by trade groups such as NDIA and AIA are lobbying for the veterans, As Rossman pointed out, Rep, Rogers received more than $535,000 from the defense industry in 2024, while Rep, Smith received more than $310,550,
The final version of the NDAA is expected to be released early next week.
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