diff --git a/ci-operator/config/stolostron/policy-collection/stolostron-policy-collection-main__ocp4.22.yaml b/ci-operator/config/stolostron/policy-collection/stolostron-policy-collection-main__ocp4.22.yaml
index d1a27998e1f04..4187d2fbeaa3e 100644
--- a/ci-operator/config/stolostron/policy-collection/stolostron-policy-collection-main__ocp4.22.yaml
+++ b/ci-operator/config/stolostron/policy-collection/stolostron-policy-collection-main__ocp4.22.yaml
@@ -48,6 +48,17 @@ images:
     from: cli
     optional: true
     to: cli-with-git
+  - dockerfile_literal: |
+      FROM registry.access.redhat.com/ubi9/openjdk-17:1.21
+      USER root
+      RUN microdnf install -y git && microdnf clean all
+      RUN cd /tmp \
+          && curl -sLO https://mirror.openshift.com/pub/openshift-v4/clients/ocp/stable/openshift-client-linux.tar.gz \
+          && curl -sL https://mirror.openshift.com/pub/openshift-v4/clients/ocp/stable/sha256sum.txt | grep openshift-client-linux.tar.gz | sha256sum -c - \
+          && tar xzf openshift-client-linux.tar.gz -C /usr/local/bin oc kubectl \
+          && rm -f openshift-client-linux.tar.gz
+      USER 1001
+    to: acs-smoke-runner
 releases:
   latest:
     candidate:
@@ -119,6 +130,8 @@ tests:
     - ref: acm-policies-openshift-plus-setup
     - ref: acm-policies-openshift-plus
     - chain: cucushift-installer-check-cluster-health
+    - ref: stackrox-opp-readiness
+    - ref: stackrox-opp-smoke
     - ref: acm-tests-clc-create
     - ref: acm-fetch-managed-clusters
     - ref: acm-opp-app
diff --git a/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-readiness/OWNERS b/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-readiness/OWNERS
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..0ce20c59fb95d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-readiness/OWNERS
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+approvers:
+- cspi-qe-ocp-lp
+reviewers:
+- cspi-qe-ocp-lp
diff --git a/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-readiness/stackrox-opp-readiness-commands.sh b/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-readiness/stackrox-opp-readiness-commands.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000..eb75182d74702
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-readiness/stackrox-opp-readiness-commands.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,188 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# ACS OPP Readiness Gate
+#
+# Verifies that ACS Central and SecuredCluster are operational before
+# running SMOKE tests.  Discovers namespaces dynamically via CRs.
+# Writes credentials and connection details to $SHARED_DIR for
+# downstream steps.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+if [[ -f "${SHARED_DIR}/kubeconfig" ]]; then
+    export KUBECONFIG="${SHARED_DIR}/kubeconfig"
+fi
+
+POLL_INTERVAL=30
+TIMEOUT=300   # 5 minutes
+ELAPSED=0
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# wait_for - retry a check function with backoff until TIMEOUT
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+wait_for() {
+    local description="$1"
+    shift
+    local check_fn="$1"
+    shift
+
+    ELAPSED=0
+    echo "[readiness] Waiting for: ${description}"
+    while true; do
+        if "${check_fn}" "$@"; then
+            echo "[readiness] OK: ${description}"
+            return 0
+        fi
+        ELAPSED=$((ELAPSED + POLL_INTERVAL))
+        if [[ ${ELAPSED} -ge ${TIMEOUT} ]]; then
+            echo "[readiness] TIMEOUT after ${TIMEOUT}s waiting for: ${description}"
+            return 1
+        fi
+        echo "[readiness]   ...retrying in ${POLL_INTERVAL}s (${ELAPSED}/${TIMEOUT}s)"
+        sleep "${POLL_INTERVAL}"
+    done
+}
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Namespace discovery via CRs (never hardcode)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+discover_central_ns() {
+    CENTRAL_NS="$(oc get centrals.platform.stackrox.io --all-namespaces \
+        -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.namespace}' 2>/dev/null)" \
+        && [[ -n "${CENTRAL_NS}" ]]
+}
+
+discover_sc_ns() {
+    SC_NS="$(oc get securedclusters.platform.stackrox.io --all-namespaces \
+        -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.namespace}' 2>/dev/null)" \
+        && [[ -n "${SC_NS}" ]]
+}
+
+CENTRAL_NS=""
+SC_NS=""
+
+wait_for "Central CR namespace discovery" discover_central_ns
+echo "[readiness] Central namespace discovered"
+
+wait_for "SecuredCluster CR namespace discovery" discover_sc_ns
+echo "[readiness] SecuredCluster namespace discovered"
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Check 1: Central route exists
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+check_central_route() {
+    oc get route central -n "${CENTRAL_NS}" -o jsonpath='{.spec.host}' >/dev/null 2>&1
+}
+
+wait_for "Central route" check_central_route
+
+CENTRAL_URL="$(oc get route central -n "${CENTRAL_NS}" -o jsonpath='{.spec.host}')"
+echo "[readiness] Central route discovered"
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Check 2: Central API health (v1/metadata returns 200)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+check_central_api() {
+    local http_code
+    http_code="$(curl -sk -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' \
+        "https://${CENTRAL_URL}/v1/metadata" --max-time 10)" || return 1
+    [[ "${http_code}" == "200" ]]
+}
+
+wait_for "Central API health (v1/metadata)" check_central_api
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Check 3: At least 1 secured cluster connected
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+check_clusters_connected() {
+    # Disable xtrace to protect admin password in curl args
+    set +x
+    local cluster_count
+    cluster_count="$(curl -sk -u "admin:${ROX_ADMIN_PASSWORD}" \
+        "https://${CENTRAL_URL}/v1/clusters" --max-time 10 \
+        | jq '.clusters | length' 2>/dev/null)" || return 1
+    [[ "${cluster_count}" -ge 1 ]]
+}
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Check 6 (early): Extract ROX_ADMIN_PASSWORD before cluster check
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+echo "[readiness] Extracting ROX_ADMIN_PASSWORD..."
+ROX_ADMIN_PASSWORD=""
+set +x
+ROX_ADMIN_PASSWORD="$(oc get secret -n "${CENTRAL_NS}" central-htpasswd \
+    -o json | jq -r '.data.password' | base64 -d)"
+
+if [[ -z "${ROX_ADMIN_PASSWORD}" ]]; then
+    echo "[readiness] FATAL: could not extract ROX_ADMIN_PASSWORD"
+    exit 1
+fi
+echo "[readiness] ROX_ADMIN_PASSWORD extracted successfully"
+
+wait_for "secured cluster connected (v1/clusters)" check_clusters_connected
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Check 4: Sensor pods Running (detect OOMKilled)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+check_sensor_pods() {
+    local pod_json
+    pod_json="$(oc get pods -n "${SC_NS}" -l app=sensor -o json 2>/dev/null)"
+
+    local pod_count
+    pod_count="$(echo "${pod_json}" | jq '.items | length')"
+    if [[ "${pod_count}" -eq 0 ]]; then
+        echo "[readiness]   no sensor pods found yet"
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    # Check for OOMKilled containers
+    local oom
+    oom="$(echo "${pod_json}" | jq -r '
+        .items[].status.containerStatuses[]?
+        | select(.lastState.terminated.reason == "OOMKilled")
+        | .name
+    ')"
+    if [[ -n "${oom}" ]]; then
+        echo "[readiness] WARNING: OOMKilled detected in sensor containers: ${oom}"
+    fi
+
+    # All sensor pods must be Running
+    local not_running
+    not_running="$(echo "${pod_json}" | jq -r '
+        .items[] | select(.status.phase != "Running")
+        | "\(.metadata.name):\(.status.phase)"
+    ')"
+    [[ -z "${not_running}" ]]
+}
+
+wait_for "sensor pods Running in ${SC_NS}" check_sensor_pods
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Check 5: Default policies loaded (count > 80)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+check_policies_loaded() {
+    set +x
+    local policy_count
+    policy_count="$(curl -sk -u "admin:${ROX_ADMIN_PASSWORD}" \
+        "https://${CENTRAL_URL}/v1/policies?query=" --max-time 10 \
+        | jq '.policies | length' 2>/dev/null)" || return 1
+    echo "[readiness]   policy count: ${policy_count}"
+    [[ "${policy_count}" -gt 80 ]]
+}
+
+wait_for "default policies loaded (>80)" check_policies_loaded
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Write outputs to SHARED_DIR for downstream steps
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+echo "[readiness] Writing connection details to SHARED_DIR..."
+
+set +x
+echo "${ROX_ADMIN_PASSWORD}" > "${SHARED_DIR}/ROX_ADMIN_PASSWORD"
+
+echo "${CENTRAL_URL}"  > "${SHARED_DIR}/CENTRAL_URL"
+echo "${CENTRAL_NS}"   > "${SHARED_DIR}/CENTRAL_NS"
+echo "${SC_NS}"        > "${SHARED_DIR}/SC_NS"
+
+echo "[readiness] All checks passed. ACS is ready for SMOKE tests."
diff --git a/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-readiness/stackrox-opp-readiness-ref.metadata.json b/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-readiness/stackrox-opp-readiness-ref.metadata.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..cb61d5b78e49a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-readiness/stackrox-opp-readiness-ref.metadata.json
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{
+	"path": "stackrox/opp-readiness/stackrox-opp-readiness-ref.yaml",
+	"owners": {
+		"approvers": [
+			"cspi-qe-ocp-lp"
+		],
+		"reviewers": [
+			"cspi-qe-ocp-lp"
+		]
+	}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-readiness/stackrox-opp-readiness-ref.yaml b/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-readiness/stackrox-opp-readiness-ref.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..41ea4e4aa5e43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-readiness/stackrox-opp-readiness-ref.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+ref:
+  as: stackrox-opp-readiness
+  commands: stackrox-opp-readiness-commands.sh
+  resources:
+    requests:
+      cpu: 100m
+      memory: 200Mi
+  from: cli
+  timeout: 40m0s
+  documentation: |-
+    Verify ACS Central and SecuredCluster are operational before running
+    SMOKE tests.  Discovers namespaces dynamically via Central and
+    SecuredCluster CRs, then polls Central API health, secured-cluster
+    connectivity, sensor pod status, and default policy count.  Writes
+    ROX_ADMIN_PASSWORD, CENTRAL_URL, CENTRAL_NS, and SC_NS to SHARED_DIR
+    for downstream steps.
diff --git a/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-smoke/OWNERS b/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-smoke/OWNERS
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..0ce20c59fb95d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-smoke/OWNERS
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+approvers:
+- cspi-qe-ocp-lp
+reviewers:
+- cspi-qe-ocp-lp
diff --git a/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-smoke/stackrox-opp-smoke-commands.sh b/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-smoke/stackrox-opp-smoke-commands.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000..4a15bf4ea48a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-smoke/stackrox-opp-smoke-commands.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# ACS OPP SMOKE Test Runner
+#
+# Runs the stackrox qa-tests-backend testSMOKE suite against an ACS
+# instance whose credentials were written to $SHARED_DIR by the
+# stackrox-opp-readiness step.
+#
+# Image: acs-smoke-runner (UBI9 + OpenJDK 17 + git + oc)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+if [[ -f "${SHARED_DIR}/kubeconfig" ]]; then
+    export KUBECONFIG="${SHARED_DIR}/kubeconfig"
+fi
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Read credentials from SHARED_DIR (written by readiness gate)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+echo "[smoke] Reading connection details from SHARED_DIR..."
+
+CENTRAL_URL="$(cat "${SHARED_DIR}/CENTRAL_URL")"
+
+set +x
+ROX_ADMIN_PASSWORD="$(cat "${SHARED_DIR}/ROX_ADMIN_PASSWORD")"
+
+echo "[smoke] Connection details loaded from SHARED_DIR"
+
+# Allow pinning to a known-good ref for reproducibility
+STACKROX_REF="${STACKROX_REF:-main}"
+SCANNER_REF="${SCANNER_REF:-main}"
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Retry wrapper for network-dependent operations
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+retry_clone() {
+    local max_attempts=3
+    local attempt=1
+    while [[ $attempt -le $max_attempts ]]; do
+        if "$@"; then
+            return 0
+        fi
+        echo "[smoke] Clone attempt $attempt/$max_attempts failed, retrying in 10s..."
+        sleep 10
+        attempt=$((attempt + 1))
+    done
+    echo "[smoke] ERROR: Clone failed after $max_attempts attempts"
+    return 1
+}
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Sparse clone of stackrox/stackrox (qa-tests-backend + proto)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+echo "[smoke] Sparse-cloning stackrox/stackrox..."
+cd /tmp
+retry_clone git clone --depth 1 --filter=blob:none --sparse --branch "${STACKROX_REF}" \
+    https://github.com/stackrox/stackrox.git stackrox
+cd stackrox
+git sparse-checkout set qa-tests-backend/ proto/
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Fetch scanner protos (no Go toolchain needed)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+echo "[smoke] Fetching scanner protos..."
+retry_clone git clone --depth 1 --filter=blob:none --sparse --branch "${SCANNER_REF}" \
+    https://github.com/stackrox/scanner.git /tmp/scanner
+cd /tmp/scanner
+git sparse-checkout set proto/scanner
+cp -r proto/scanner /tmp/stackrox/qa-tests-backend/src/main/proto/scanner
+chmod -R u+w /tmp/stackrox/qa-tests-backend/src/main/proto/scanner
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Set environment for the Gradle test suite
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+export API_HOSTNAME="${CENTRAL_URL}"
+export API_PORT="443"
+export ROX_USERNAME="admin"
+export ROX_ADMIN_PASSWORD
+export CLUSTER="OPENSHIFT"
+export CI="true"
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Run testSMOKE
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+echo "[smoke] Running testSMOKE..."
+cd /tmp/stackrox/qa-tests-backend
+
+TEST_EXIT=0
+./gradlew testSMOKE -i --no-daemon -Dorg.gradle.jvmargs="-Xmx3g" || TEST_EXIT=$?
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Copy JUnit XML results to ARTIFACT_DIR
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+collect_artifacts() {
+    if [[ -d build/test-results/testSMOKE ]]; then
+        cp -v build/test-results/testSMOKE/*.xml "${ARTIFACT_DIR}/" 2>/dev/null || true
+    fi
+    if [[ -d build/reports/tests/testSMOKE ]]; then
+        mkdir -p "${ARTIFACT_DIR}/smoke-report" 2>/dev/null || true
+        cp -r build/reports/tests/testSMOKE/* "${ARTIFACT_DIR}/smoke-report/" 2>/dev/null || true
+    fi
+}
+collect_artifacts || true
+
+echo "[smoke] Test run finished with exit code: ${TEST_EXIT}"
+exit "${TEST_EXIT}"
diff --git a/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-smoke/stackrox-opp-smoke-ref.metadata.json b/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-smoke/stackrox-opp-smoke-ref.metadata.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..0b518035376be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-smoke/stackrox-opp-smoke-ref.metadata.json
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{
+	"path": "stackrox/opp-smoke/stackrox-opp-smoke-ref.yaml",
+	"owners": {
+		"approvers": [
+			"cspi-qe-ocp-lp"
+		],
+		"reviewers": [
+			"cspi-qe-ocp-lp"
+		]
+	}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-smoke/stackrox-opp-smoke-ref.yaml b/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-smoke/stackrox-opp-smoke-ref.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e3ea4dabbd240
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci-operator/step-registry/stackrox/opp-smoke/stackrox-opp-smoke-ref.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+ref:
+  as: stackrox-opp-smoke
+  commands: stackrox-opp-smoke-commands.sh
+  resources:
+    requests:
+      cpu: 2000m
+      memory: 6Gi
+  from: acs-smoke-runner
+  timeout: 1h0m0s
+  env:
+  - name: STACKROX_REF
+    default: "main"
+    documentation: Git ref (branch/tag) for stackrox/stackrox sparse clone
+  - name: SCANNER_REF
+    default: "main"
+    documentation: Git ref (branch/tag) for stackrox/scanner proto clone
+  documentation: |-
+    Run the ACS qa-tests-backend SMOKE suite against a live ACS
+    instance.  Reads connection credentials from SHARED_DIR
+    (written by stackrox-opp-readiness).  Sparse-clones the
+    stackrox/stackrox and stackrox/scanner repos, then executes
+    ./gradlew testSMOKE.  JUnit XML results are copied to
+    ARTIFACT_DIR for Prow / Sippy consumption.