Cite as. Gatewell Group, The Gatewell Protocol for Origin Evidence, Profile DB (Defense batteries) (Public comment draft, Revision 1, September 17, 2026), https://gatewellgroup.com/protocol/profiles/defense-batteries/. Cite a clause by its number, which is its anchor: https://gatewellgroup.com/protocol/profiles/defense-batteries/#db.1.1.
Conformity with a profile is a documentation standard. It is not a determination by any contracting officer, awarding agency or other government body that an item complies with the governing instrument, and it guarantees no procurement, award or audit outcome. This document is not legal advice.
DB.1Scope and governing instruments
DB.1.1 This profile applies the Origin Evidence File to a battery, a cell, or an item containing either, supplied to the Department of Defense or into a defense supply chain under a prime contract or subcontract flow-down.
DB.1.2 Two prohibitions reach these items on different tests, dates and scopes: section 154 of the FY24 National Defense Authorization Act, a named-entity funding limitation, and 10 U.S.C. 4865, added by section 842 of the FY26 Act, a content and control prohibition. The effective dates of each are quoted at DB.2. A file under this profile answers both and records the two determinations separately.
DB.1.3 The terms defined at 10 U.S.C. 4865(e) carry their statutory meanings here, including "foreign entity of concern" as defined at 10 U.S.C. 4865(e)(4) wherever the phrase appears without another section number.
DB.1.4 Per P.2.2, this profile sets no percentage, entity list or date of its own.
DB.2The governing test (informative)
Subsection (a): "Beginning on October 1, 2027, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for the Department of Defense may be obligated or expended to procure a battery produced by an entity specified in subsection (b)."
Subsection (b) specifies: "(1) Contemporary Amperex Technology Company, Limited (also known as 'CATL'). (2) BYD Company, Limited. (3) Envision Energy, Limited. (4) EVE Energy Company, Limited. (5) Gotion High tech Company, Limited. (6) Hithium Energy Storage Technology company, Limited. (7) Any successor to an entity specified in paragraphs (1) through (6)." The spellings, including the lower-case "tech" and the lower-case "company", are the statute's.
Subsection (c) provides that a battery is treated as produced by a specified entity if that entity "assembles or manufactures the final product" or "creates or otherwise provides a majority of the components" used in the battery. The section states no method for measuring a majority.
Subsection (d): "The Secretary of Defense may waive the limitation under subsection (a)."
Subsection (a): "The Secretary of Defense shall procure advanced batteries and cells whose functional cell components and technology, whether as end items or embedded within warfighting and support systems, are not owned, sourced, refined, or produced from a foreign entity of concern."
Subsection (b): "This section applies to all new acquisition programs on January 1, 2028, standard batteries on January 1, 2029, and for existing acquisition programs on January 30, 2031."
Subsection (c)(1)(A) states a three-part condition under which subsection (a) does not apply: final assembly is carried out by an entity other than a foreign entity of concern; functional cell components comprising "more than 95 percent of the costs" of the functional cell components are from sources other than foreign entities of concern; and the battery or cell is produced "without technology licensed from a foreign entity of concern". Subsection (c)(1)(B) provides that "any material or component from an entity that has been recycled and reprocessed domestically is considered to originate from that entity regardless of origin".
Subsection (c)(2) excludes a cell phone, laptop, personal electronic device or medical equipment battery for office, administrative, hospital or non-combat use; a commercially available off-the-shelf item for use only in the maintenance of equipment; and batteries acquired for research, development, test and evaluation.
Subsection (c)(3) provides a waiver of one year for a specific system or battery, on a nonavailability determination or on sufficient documentation that the battery "is not a functional enabler of operational capability for such system and … poses no risk to the security of or sourcing for such system", delegable only to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment.
Subsection (e) defines "functional cell component" as "the cathode materials, anode materials, separators, anode foils, and other functional materials of an advanced battery that contribute to the chemical processes necessary for energy storage, including solvents, additives, electrolyte salts, and internal safety devices". A "new acquisition program" is one that had not reached engineering and manufacturing development, or a formal Milestone B or equivalent, before December 18, 2025; an "existing acquisition program" is one that had. A "standard battery" is "a battery that used in more than one weapons system and are not managed by one portfolio acquisition executive" (grammar as enacted).
Subsection (e)(4): the term foreign entity of concern "has the meaning given such term under section 40207(a) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 18741(a)), and includes entities specified in section 154 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (Public Law 118-31; 10 U.S.C. 4651 note prec.)". The named list of section 154 is therefore folded inside the content test, not superseded by it.
Section 842(b) applies the new section "only with respect to contracts or other agreements entered into after the date of the enactment". Section 842(c) directs that "[n]ot later than 180 days after the date of the enactment … the Secretary of Defense shall revise the Department of Defense Supplement to the Federal Acquisition Regulation to incorporate the requirements of this section".
A foreign entity of concern is a foreign entity that is designated a foreign terrorist organization under 8 U.S.C. 1189(a); is on the Office of Foreign Assets Control Specially Designated Nationals list; is "owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a government of a foreign country that is a covered nation"; is alleged by the Attorney General to have been involved in conduct convicted under one of the named espionage, export-control and sanctions statutes; or is determined by the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the Director of National Intelligence, "to be engaged in unauthorized conduct that is detrimental to the national security or foreign policy of the United States".
The covered-nation cross-reference in that definition points to "section 2533c(d) of title 10". Section 2533c was renumbered 10 U.S.C. 4872 and the covered-nation definition now sits at 4872(f)(2). The printed cross-reference is stale.
DB.3Applicability determination
DB.3.1 For each scheduled item the OEF SHALL record, in the manner of clause 4.2.1 and against the operative texts rather than paraphrases of them, a determination under section 154 and a separate determination under 10 U.S.C. 4865. [Two instruments, two tests.]
DB.3.2 The OEF SHALL record, per contract or other agreement for the item, whether it was entered into after December 18, 2025, whether the supported program is a new or an existing acquisition program within 10 U.S.C. 4865(e), and whether the item is supplied as a standard battery, with the evidence relied on. A statement of the contracting party relied on here SHALL be identified as such, with its author and date. [Section 842(b) limits application by contract date; section 4865(b) keys three dates to program posture.]
DB.3.3 A determination that an item is outside 10 U.S.C. 4865 under subsection (c)(2) SHALL identify the exclusion relied on and cite evidence of the use limitation it turns on. Absence of coverage stated generally is no determination.
DB.3.4 Where a waiver under section 154(d) or 10 U.S.C. 4865(c)(3) is relied on, the file SHALL record the instrument, its issuer, its date, the systems or batteries it names and its expiry. A waiver is not an origin fact and relieves no requirement of this profile.
DB.3.5 P.5.1 governs re-retrieval of the instrument texts, and DB.3.2 SHALL be performed again on each new contract or other agreement.
DB.4Application of the Origin Evidence File
| Protocol clause | Disposition | Modification |
|---|---|---|
| 4.1 Device identity | Applies as modified | The schedule identifies cell models, pack or battery models, chemistry, and national stock number or customer part number where assigned, in place of FCC IDs, equipment classes and authorization dates. |
| 4.2 Coverage determination | Applies as modified | DB.3 replaces 4.2 in full. The determinations are made against section 154 and 10 U.S.C. 4865, not against Covered List entries. |
| 4.3 Production provenance | Applies as written | Read with DB.5.1, which names the final assembler as a discrete record. |
| 4.4.1 Bill of materials and deep trace | Applies as modified | The deep-trace set for this profile is the DB.7.4 matrix. Annex C declarations are required for every functional cell component. |
| 4.4.2 Design origin | Applies as written | Cell and pack design origin, including electrode and cell process design. |
| 4.4.3 Concentration summary | Applies as written | Computed for the item, in addition to the separate functional cell component computation at DB.5.2. |
| 4.4.4, 4.4.5 Sole-source register | Applies as written | |
| 4.5 Corporate provenance | Applies as written | The ownership, control and jurisdiction limb of 42 U.S.C. 18741(a)(5)(C) is answered from this record, not from a list. |
| 4.6 Software and intellectual-property provenance | Applies as modified | An SBOM is required for battery-management firmware and companion applications where present, and is not applicable to a cell without firmware. DB.5.6 extends 4.6.2 to process and equipment licensing. |
| 4.7 Evidence quality, translation, retention | Applies as written | |
| 4.8 Attestation | Applies as written | The Annex A certification covers the DB records as well. |
| Part III, 3.3 Quarterly onshoring module | Not applicable | Conditional Approval is a construct of the Covered List regime and has no counterpart here. |
| Part V Verification | Applies as modified | The verifier additionally recomputes the DB.5.2 computation from the DB.7.1 records, and confirms that each arrangement in the DB.7.2 licensing record is evidenced by an instrument or by an express statement that none exists. Confirmation counts are unchanged. |
| Part VI Change control | Applies as modified | DB.5.10 adds triggers. The thirty-day re-attestation period is unchanged. |
| Annex B.1 | Applies as modified | DB.7.5 adds two fields and one rule. |
| Annex C | Applies as written | Used one tier up for functional cell components, and at the second tier where DB.5.4 requires it. |
| Annex D | Applies as modified | DB.7.4 adds the matrix for this profile. |
| Annex E | Applies as modified | DB.6 extends the screen list and the source lists. |
DB.5Additional evidence
DB.5.1 Final assembler. The OEF SHALL identify, per scheduled item, the entity carrying out final assembly, with its jurisdiction of organization, its ultimate parent and the site, supported by a site attestation under clause 4.3.3 no older than twelve months. [10 U.S.C. 4865(c)(1)(A)(i).]
DB.5.2 Functional cell component cost computation. The OEF SHALL contain, per cell model, a computation of the cost of functional cell components by source, recorded per DB.7.1 and recomputed at each revision date, on a cost basis held consistent revision over revision with any change of basis documented. The percentage the test applies is the statute's, quoted at DB.2. [10 U.S.C. 4865(c)(1)(A)(ii).]
DB.5.3 Coverage. The computation SHALL address each class named in the definition at 10 U.S.C. 4865(e), and say why any class is absent from the design.
DB.5.4 Trace depth. For each functional cell component the OEF SHALL document origin one supplier tier up by Annex C declaration, and SHALL extend the trace one tier further to the entity that refined or processed the cathode or anode active material, with its ultimate parent and jurisdiction. Where that identity cannot be obtained, the file SHALL record the inquiry, its date and the response. [Section 4865(a) reaches components "owned, sourced, refined, or produced from" a foreign entity of concern, and "refined" reaches an entity that is ordinarily not the manufacturer's supplier.]
DB.5.5 Recycled and reprocessed material. Where a functional cell component contains recycled material, the OEF SHALL identify the entity the material originated from before recycling, and the reprocessing site and its operator. Domestic reprocessing SHALL NOT be recorded as changing the material's origin. [10 U.S.C. 4865(c)(1)(B).]
DB.5.6 Technology-licensing record. The OEF SHALL contain, per cell model and pack model and per DB.7.2, a record of every licence, technical assistance agreement, joint venture, engineering-services arrangement, royalty obligation and process or equipment transfer under which the chemistry, design, process or equipment used to produce the item is licensed or supplied by another entity. Where none exists, an officer SHALL state that expressly. [10 U.S.C. 4865(c)(1)(A)(iii) turns on how the item is produced rather than on what it contains.]
DB.5.7 Reach of the licensing record. The record SHALL cover arrangements held by the manufacturer, the final assembler and each site producing electrodes or cells, obtained from another site operator by Annex C declaration or under a contractual right per clause 4.3.4.
DB.5.8 Section 154 production position. The OEF SHALL record, per scheduled item, whether an entity specified in section 154(b), or a successor to one, assembles or manufactures the final product, and whether such an entity creates or otherwise provides a majority of the components used in the battery. The file SHALL state the measure applied to the second question, being count, cost or mass, with its basis, and record that the statute prescribes none. Where the outcome differs by measure, it SHOULD be recorded under each. [Section 154(c) supplies the test and no method.]
DB.5.9 Contract flow-down register. The OEF SHALL contain a register, per DB.7.3, of the contract terms and certificates under which the manufacturer has represented battery origin, sourcing, entity identity or technology licensing to a customer. [These obligations reach a supplier as contract terms rather than as a regulation.]
DB.5.10 Change control. In addition to the Part VI triggers and P.5.2, each of the following is a material change requiring re-attestation within thirty days: a change of the final assembler or its site; of a supplier, refiner, processor or reprocessing operator for a functional cell component; of an arrangement under DB.5.6; a DB.5.2 result crossing the percentage at 10 U.S.C. 4865(c)(1)(A)(ii) in either direction; a new contract for a scheduled item; and a change in the entities specified in section 154(b).
DB.6Entity screen
DB.6.1 The Annex E screen list is extended to the final assembler, every supplier of a functional cell component, every refiner or processor under DB.5.4, every reprocessing operator under DB.5.5, every counterparty in the DB.5.6 record, and each ultimate parent.
DB.6.2 Each SHALL be screened, in addition to the Annex E sources, against the entities specified in section 154(b) and any successor to one, the designations under 8 U.S.C. 1189(a), and the Specially Designated Nationals list. The ownership, control and jurisdiction limb of 42 U.S.C. 18741(a)(5)(C) SHALL be answered from the clause 4.5 corporate record, with the documents named.
DB.6.3 Successors and name forms. Screening a name against the section 154 list does not answer paragraph (7). For each screened entity the file SHALL record the corporate-history inquiry made, being predecessor names, mergers, acquisitions and reorganizations disclosed by the registry extract or the entity, with source and date. A section 154 name SHALL be recorded in the statutory spelling, with any trading name and transliteration checked.
DB.6.4 Naming the test. Every result SHALL name the instrument it was reached under, and SHALL NOT report an entity as a foreign entity of concern without the section number: 42 U.S.C. 18741(a)(5), 15 U.S.C. 4651 and 26 U.S.C. 7701(a)(51) define different sets.
DB.6.5 Currency. The Annex E currency terms apply, and the screen SHALL be re-run on any DB.5.10 trigger.
DB.6.6 Where the manufacturer claims a federal tax credit for which 26 U.S.C. 7701(a)(51) is an input, the screen record SHOULD report results against section 154(b) separately, that list being named at 26 U.S.C. 7701(a)(51)(B)(iv). This profile makes no determination under the Internal Revenue Code.
DB.7Records and schemas
DB.7.1 Functional cell component origin record
One record per functional cell component, per cell model, in the manner of Annex B.1:
| Field | Definition | Rules |
|---|---|---|
| cell_model_id | Cell model the record covers | Must appear in the DB.4 schedule |
| component_class | Statutory class of the component | One of cathode_material, anode_material, separator, anode_foil, solvent, additive, electrolyte_salt, internal_safety_device, other_functional_material |
| component_ref | Internal part or specification reference | Unique within cell model |
| supplier | Supplier legal name | Not the distributor |
| supplier_parent | Ultimate parent of the supplier | Legal name |
| supplier_country | Supplier jurisdiction of organization | ISO 3166 alpha-2 |
| refiner | Entity that refined or processed the active material | Required for cathode_material and anode_material; "UNKNOWN" only with a DB.5.4 inquiry record |
| refiner_country | Jurisdiction of that entity | ISO 3166 alpha-2 |
| recycled | Y where the component contains recycled or reprocessed material | Y requires origin_before_recycling |
| origin_before_recycling | Entity from which the material originated before recycling | Required when recycled = Y |
| cost_amount | Cost carried for the component on the stated basis | Basis named in basis_note |
| pct_of_component_cost | Share of the cell's total functional cell component cost | Column sums to 100 ± 0.5 rounding, per cell model |
| basis_note | Cost basis, being standard cost or actual purchase cost, and the twelve-month period used | Held consistent revision over revision; changes documented |
| declaration_ref | Identifier of the Annex C declaration on file | Required for every record |
| screen_ref | Identifier of the DB.6 screen result for supplier, parent and refiner | Required for every record |
| verified_date | Date origin was last confirmed | Within twelve months of the revision date |
DB.7.2 Technology-licensing record
One record per arrangement, per item:
| Field | Definition | Rules |
|---|---|---|
| item_model_id | Cell or pack model covered | Must appear in the DB.4 schedule |
| arrangement_ref | Document ID of the instrument | Required; where no instrument exists, the officer statement under DB.5.6 carries the ID |
| counterparty | Legal name of the licensor or supplying party | Not an intermediary |
| counterparty_parent | Ultimate parent | Legal name |
| counterparty_jurisdiction | Jurisdiction of organization | ISO 3166 alpha-2 |
| instrument_type | Form of the arrangement | One of licence, technical_assistance, joint_venture, engineering_services, equipment_supply, royalty, other |
| subject_matter | What is licensed or supplied | One or more of cell_chemistry, cell_design, electrode_process, cell_process, manufacturing_equipment, other |
| site_ref | Site under clause 4.3.1 where the technology is used | Required |
| effective_date / term_end | Term of the arrangement | term_end "NONE" where perpetual |
| screen_ref | Identifier of the DB.6 screen result for counterparty and parent | Required |
DB.7.3 Contract flow-down register
One record per represented term:
| Field | Definition | Rules |
|---|---|---|
| counterparty | Customer to which the representation was made | Legal name |
| contract_ref / clause_ref | The agreement and the clause | Both required |
| text_ref | Document ID of the represented text | Required |
| items_covered | Scheduled items the representation reaches | Must appear in the DB.4 schedule |
| signed_by / signed_date | Officer and date | Officer within the meaning of Part II |
| review_date | Date the representation is next reviewed | At each revision date, and on any DB.5.10 trigger |
DB.7.4 Deep-trace components for this profile
| Category | Deep-trace components |
|---|---|
| Defense batteries and cells | Cathode active material and its precursor; anode active material; separator; anode foil; electrolyte, including salts, solvents and additives; internal safety devices; cells, where the scheduled item is a pack or module; battery-management electronics; pack-level power electronics and interconnects |
DB.7.5 Extension of Annex B.1
For a bill-of-materials line that is a functional cell component, deep_trace SHALL be Y and declaration_ref SHALL be present. Two fields are added to the Annex B.1 record for such lines: component_class, carrying the value used in DB.7.1; and component_record_ref, the identifier of the DB.7.1 record for the component.
DB.8Claims of conformity
DB.8.1 P.6 applies. A claim names this profile, the level and the date.
DB.8.2 A claim under this profile is a statement about the file. It is not a determination that an item satisfies section 154 or 10 U.S.C. 4865, and it is no representation, certification or legal opinion under any contract or regulation.
DB.8.3 A claim SHALL NOT state or imply that the Department of Defense, a contracting activity or any other government body has reviewed, accepted or endorsed the file, and SHALL NOT be furnished in place of a representation a contract requires, which remains the supplier's.
DB.9Limits of this profile, and questions for comment
DB.9.1 No implementing clause. Section 842(c) directed a revision of the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement within 180 days of December 18, 2025. As of September 15, 2026 the codified Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations contained no provision naming an entity specified in section 154(b), the term "functional cell component" or 10 U.S.C. 4865. Whether a class deviation or memorandum has issued outside the codified text is not established here. The profile is accordingly written to the statutes and to the contract terms that carry them. When an implementing instrument issues, the profile will be revised to map each representation it requires to the file section evidencing it, and per P.2.5 yields to it.
DB.9.2 The measure of a majority. Section 154(c) supplies no method for measuring whether a specified entity provides a majority of the components, and neither does DB.5.8, which requires only that the measure applied be stated.
DB.9.3 List membership elsewhere. Whether an entity specified in section 154(b) appears on the FCC Covered List, the UFLPA Entity List, the section 1260H list or the Commerce Entity List is not established here. Those lists run on separate processes; section 154 is a statutory enumeration, not an agency designation.
DB.9.4 Waivers. Whether any waiver has issued under section 154(d) is not established here.
DB.9.5 The tax regime. This profile reaches 26 U.S.C. 7701(a)(51) at DB.6.6 and no further; the material assistance cost ratio at 26 U.S.C. 7701(a)(52) is outside it.
DB.9.6 Questions for comment, through the date stated at P.7:
- Cost basis. Whether the DB.5.2 computation belongs on standard cost or actual purchase cost, and how to record cost data a supplier cannot be compelled to disclose.
- Trace depth. Whether the refiner of active materials is the right stopping point for the word "refined", and what evidence is obtainable at that tier.
- The licensing record. Which instruments belong in DB.7.2, and how a process or equipment transfer not written as a licence should be captured.
- One file or two. Whether one schedule can carry both positions without the two being read as one determination.
© 2026 Gatewell Group. The text of the profiles is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). A modified text may not be called the Gatewell Protocol; the "Gatewell Protocol" designation and the conformity marks are reserved. Quotations from statutes, regulations, clauses and guidance are reproduced from the public source documents; the source texts govern. Not legal advice; not a government determination.