§ 4292 — Contracts: Limitations On Lead System Integrators

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), no entity performing lead system integrator functions in the acquisition of a major system by the Department of Defense may have any direct financial interest in the development or construction of any individual system or element of any system of systems. (b) An entity described in subsection (a) may have a direct financial interest in the development or construction of an individual system or element of a system of systems if— (1) the Secretary of Defense certifies to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives that— (A) the entity was selected by the Department of Defense as a contractor to develop or construct the system or element concerned through the use of competitive procedures; and (B) the Department took appropriate steps to prevent any organizational conflict of interest in the selection process; or (2) the entity was selected by a subcontractor to serve as a lower-tier subcontractor, through a process over which the entity exercised no control. (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude an entity described in subsection (a) from performing work necessary to integrate two or more individual systems or elements of a system of systems with each other.