Section 4021 (formerly 10 U.S.C. § 2371) is the foundational DoD “other transaction” authority for research. It authorizes the Secretary of Defense and the secretaries of the military departments to enter into transactions other than contracts, cooperative agreements, and grants in carrying out basic, applied, and advanced research projects.
Because research OTs sit outside the Federal Acquisition Regulation, they can engage universities, nonprofits, consortia, and commercial firms — including entities that do not otherwise do business with the government — on flexible, negotiated terms. The prototype authority in § 4022 is expressly exercised “under the authority of section 4021.”