F-22

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Washington, Jun 19 -

Early Wednesday morning, Congressman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) scored some significant victories for Utah’s military installations and personnel as the House Armed Services Committee debated and passed its version of the annual Defense Authorization Bill.  Bishop successfully added an amendment to the legislation to extend production of the F-22 fighter jet, which the Administration had slated for termination, and he helped put a hold on plans to reduce by 250 the overall number of planes in the Air Force.

On a vote of 31-30, the Committee narrowly adopted the Bishop amendment that will protect F-22 production and ensures the Department of Defense maintains these advanced construction capabilities.  The Bishop language shifts $369 million to fund long lead procurement items for 12 additional F-22 aircraft, enabling the Air Force to eventually go from 187 to 199 jets.

“While we should be funding even more planes, this at least helps head off a proposal to basically shut down the F-22 construction program,” Congressman Bishop said.  The northern Utah lawmaker, whose district includes Hill Air Force Base and most of Utah’s military installations, added, “This amendment will save jobs and get the Air Force more of what they want and need, but most importantly it will help provide for the defense of the country.”

The other legislative victory with an impact on Utah involved plans announced earlier by the Administration to cut 250 existing planes out of the Air Force fleet.  This reduction in aircraft would have directly impacted Hill Air Force Base.  The Defense bill now includes language, backed by Representative Bishop and other Members of Congress, to place a one-year “freeze” on this aircraft reduction plan, thus helping to protect the three full squadrons of F-16s that make up the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings at Hill.  The language also requires the Air Force to adequately justify the fighter drawdown plan through empirical analysis which has not previously been provided.

The Defense Bill also includes report language authored by the First District Congressman which requires the Air Force to develop a long-term Minuteman III “warm line” sustainment plan and to report to Congress on the number of boosters required to sustain the industrial base.
In addition to the policy wins, the legislation contains a handful of projects for Utah’s military installations, including:

• $5.1 million for Modifications to the Taxiway Apron area of Hill Air Force Base’s main runway, making it safer and allowing more efficient flight operations.
• $3.4 Million in Army R&D Funding for Tooele Army Depot to conduct the Propellant Conversion to Fertilizer Program in Conventional Ammunition Demil operations.
• $5.2 million for Repair Technology Insertion Program (RepTip) for Ogden Air Logistics Center.  Funding will be used to identify, develop and qualify repair and overhaul technologies that increase the productivity of the workforce at the 309th Maintenance Wing, Ogden ALC.
• $5.5 million for UAV Sensor and Maintenance Development Center, Ogden Air Logistics Center.  This will fund a collaborative effort between Ogden ALC and the Space Dynamics Laboratory at Utah State University to bring R&D calibration and integration of sensors on UAV platforms into the Ogden ALC, which will help Ogden ALC attract future missions involving UAV development and sustainment.
  Congressman Bishop was also heavily involved in efforts in the Committee to block proposed cuts to missile defense, but those attempts failed.

The Defense Authorization bill now heads to the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration and passage.

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