; and (B) is operated by NASA or the Air Force. 403. Experimental aircraft projects (a) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) developing high-risk, precompetitive aerospace technologies for which there is not yet a profit rationale is a fundamental NASA role; (2) large-scale piloted flight test experimentation and validation are necessary for— (A) transitioning new technologies and materials, including associated manufacturing processes, for general aviation, commercial aviation, and military aeronautics use; and (B) capturing the full extent of benefits from the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate’s investments in priority programs called for in— (i) the National Aeronautics Research and Development Plan issued by the National Science and Technology Council in February 2010; (ii) the NASA 2014 Strategic Plan; (iii) the Aeronautics Strategic Implementation Plan; and (iv) any updates to the programs called for in the plans described in clauses (i) through (iii); and (3) a level of funding that adequately supports large-scale piloted flight test experimentation and validation, including related infrastructure, must be assured over a sustained period of time to restore NASA’s capacity to see legacy priority programs through to completion and achieve national economic and security objectives. (b) Policy It is the policy of the United States— (1) to maintain world leadership in military and civilian aeronautical science and technology, global air power projection, and industrialization; and (2) to maintain as a fundamental objective of NASA aeronautics research the steady progression and expansion of flight research and capabilities, including the science and technology of critical underlying disciplines and competencies, such as— (A) computational-based analytical and predictive tools and methodologies; (B) aerothermodynamics; (C) propulsion; (D) advanced materials and manufacturing processes; high-temperature structures and materials