ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

                   WASHINGTON, D.C.  20301-3040

                          March 9, 1994

Command, Control,
 Communications
      and
  Intelligence

MEMORANDUM FOR SECRETARIES OF THE MILITARY DEPARTMENTS
               DIRECTORS OF THE DEFENSE AGENCIES

SUBJECT: Early Use of Ada9X

     Revision of ANSI/MIL-STD-1815A (Ada83) has progressed to
the point that it is nearly certain that the new version,
referred to as Ada9X, will be approved by national and
international standards bodies during 1994.  To facilitate
transition to this new standard, use of Ada9X prior to final
approval of the standard and/or availability of validated Ada9X
compilers is encouraged for programs described below.

     Unvalidated Ada9X compilers may be used for:

     -  Research and development programs (6-1, 6.2, and 6.3A
     appropriations),

     -  Proof of concept prototypes, so long as any subsequent
     system is delivered using validated Ada9X compilers, and

     -  System development programs, so long as the systems are
     delivered using validated Ada9X compilers, in accordance
     with the validation procedures issued by the Ada Joint
     Program Office.

     Early use of Ada9X provides access to the language's many
enhancements, including full support for object-oriented
programming, enhancements for realtime programming, and
interfacing to other languages.  It will permit programs to take
advantage of these improvements while the final steps of the
standardization process proceed.

     The decision by program managers to use unvalidated Ada9X
compilers incurs risk that must be managed accordingly.  Where
early use of Ada9X is not pursued, Ada83 (ANSI/MIL-STD-1815A) is
required in accordance with current policy.

                               (Signed)
                               Emmett Paige, Jr.

cc:  DDR&E

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