WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday passed a $377.6 billion defense appropriations conference report that contains approximately $14.8 billion in defense projects that provide work for south central Kansas workers. U.S. Representative Todd Tiahrt (R-Goddard), a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, secured $51.5 million in additional funding for area companies and institutions.

“The best workers in the world are right here in South-central Kansas and they contribute greatly to the security of our nation,” said Tiahrt. “I am pleased to be in a position to help create jobs in the 4th District while addressing the needs of our brave men and women who are protecting our homeland.”

Under the final conference report, the Boeing, Raytheon, Cessna, and Bombardier companies will all receive additional funds for programs providing jobs for local workers as a result of Rep. Tiahrt’s efforts. Rep. Tiahrt also was successful in securing $11.4 million for research projects that are performed at Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research. The funds added by Rep. Tiahrt are in addition to those requested by President Bush. The overall price of the FY ’07 Defense Appropriations Bill, however, is still more than $4 billion less than the President’s request.

The Defense Appropriations Conference Report provides spending for programs in the Department of Defense and the military services, except military construction and military health care. The bill also contains 70 billion of emergency-designated funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. Senate must still act on the measure.

The FY ’07 defense spending bill includes the following projects/programs:

B-52 MIL-STD 1760 ($3.9 million):

Funds will be used for inserting IWIU boxes onto B-52s to provide platform flexibility by allowing smart weapons to be deployed from the internal weapons bay.  This will result in additional precision weapons carriage capability. The engineering and modification work will be completed in the Boeing Wichita facility. 

Civil Air Patrol Aircraft ($10 million):

Rep. Tiahrt added $8 million to the President’s request of $2 million that will allow Civil Air Patrol to purchase new Cessna C-172, C-182 and C-206 aircraft, which are manufactured at Cessna’s Independence, KS facility.

USMC Operational Support Airlift (OSA) Light Aircraft ($5.2 million):

Current OSA aircrafts are reaching fatigue life expenditures and do not meet current payload, protection and landing capabilities, the UC-12+ addresses these concerns. The UC-12 aircraft is vital to intra-theatre transport of people and cargo. The production and modification work will be completed in the Raytheon Wichita facility. 

U.S. Air Force Undergraduate Combat Systems Officer Trainer ($1.6 million):

Funds will be used to obtain two business jets for combat systems officer training on a contractor owned and operated status. This would enable the Air force to close the gap between today’s training and current threats as the T-43 aircraft that is currently used for training is vastly out of date and cost ineffective. The business jets meet all new requirements and would have a cost savings of $2,100 per flight hour compared to the T-43. Modification work will be performed at the Bombardier Wichita facility. 

161st Intelligence Squadron Equipment ($5.0 million):

Provides intelligence equipment and resources to the KS Air National Guard’s 161st Intelligence Squadron at McConnell AFB.

Air National Guard (ANG) Network Operations and Security Center ($1.0 million):

Completes certification and accreditation of the NOSC for the ANG based at McConnell AFB. The NOSC is critical to Air Force information security operations.

COHORT Air Force Medical Modernization Program ($3.0 million):

COHORT provides health surveillance of the Air Force personnel and their families through the delivery of real-time surveillance of the medical care of specific groups of military personnel across the medical health care system throughout the world.  COHORT will directly benefit the McConnell Medical Clinic. 

Vigilant Auto-ID and Access Control System ($1.0 million):

Develop a sensor system installed on unmanned vehicles to provide accountability and tracking of war fighters using auto-id iris and fingerprint biometrics.  There is an on-going effort to install this new technology on certain McConnell facilities.

National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR), Wichita State University ($11.4 million total), projects and cooperative programs include:

• Aging Military Aircraft Fleet Support ($4.0 million)
• Accelerated Insertion of Advanced Materials for Materials Substitution and Repair ($1.3 million)
• Continuous Integrated Vehicle Health Monitoring Systems ($1.0 million)
• Common Reconfigurable Advanced Thermal Management System ($1.0 million)
• Next Generation Ice Protection Technologies for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ($2.0 million)
• Digital Network Centric Remotely Operated Weapons System ($1.0 million)
• Titanium Honeycomb Sandwich and Composite Structures ($1.1 million)

Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation of Kansas ($2.0 million):

This $2 million appropriation will continue a pilot program started by Rep. Tiahrt three years ago in which qualified organizations that employ people with severe disabilities will act as either a prime contractor or sub-contractor for contracts with the Department of the Air Force and the Defense Information Systems Agency for both manufacturing and information technology contracts or sub-contracts. The Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation of Kansas, Inc. (CPRF) expects to participate in the program.

Life Support Radio Test Sets for the Air National Guard ($4.0 million):

The $4 million in the ’07 defense appropriations bill will purchase additional Life Support Radio Test Sets for the Air National Guard. These test sets ensure the functionality and increases the readiness of survival radio equipment. AreoFlex, of Wichita, manufactures these test sets. 

Directed Energy Systems for UAV Payloads ($500,000):

Developed by ARC Technology of Whitewater, KS, this technology specifically targets the disruption or destruction of electronic systems such as communications, computers, sensors, and remote triggering devices which may be employed as IEDs.

C-130 Active Noise Cancellation ($1.3 million):

The Active Noise Cancellation is a commercial off-the-shelf product that will reduce crew fatigue and associated hearing loss by greatly reducing the unhealthy noise levels in the C-130 cockpit. Much of the work will be performed by LJSC, Ltd in Wichita.

C-130 Transportable Motor Graders ($1.0 million):

The Army Reserve uses its motor graders in a variety of applications, including construction site preparation, road building, and clean-up activities, and these machines have proven invaluable in the challenging conditions soldiers face in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, the increased usage has lead to problems with reliability and increase maintenance costs. The $1 million will continue the recapitalization of this important asset. Important parts of the motor graders are produced in the Funk Manufacturing’s Coffeyville, KS facility. 

Composite Small Main Rotor Blades ($2.6 million):            

Composite main rotor blades will provide significantly increased survivability, reparability, damage tolerance, and erosion resistance, as well improved hover performance, higher ceiling and greater forward speed. A major supplier for this project is Plastic Fabrication Co, in Wichita.

The FY ’07 defense spending bill includes the following projects/programs that result in work for Kansas:

Joint Primary Aircraft Training System ($450 million):

The Defense Appropriations Conference Report includes $305 Million for the Air Force and $146 million for the Navy for the procurement of 37 Air Force Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) T-6A aircraft, which are manufactured at Raytheon’s Wichita facility.

UH-60 Blackhawk ($577 million):

Excel Manufacturing Incorporated, Plastic Fabricating Company and Electromech Technologies, all of Wichita, are subcontractors on the Blackhawk.

Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft ($1.1 billion):

The Navy RDT&E budget includes $1.1 billion for the Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft. The MMA program will replace the aging fleet of Navy P-3C aircraft (submarine hunters) with a technologically superior mission system based on The Boeing company’s Next Generation 737 aircraft. Much of the 737 is manufactured in Wichita.

F/A-22 Raptor ($3.4 billion):

The Defense Appropriations Bill includes $2.7 billion to fully fund the procurement of 20 F/A-22 aircraft and $687 million for advance procurement of 20 aircraft in fiscal year 2008.  Airtechnics, Incorporated of Wichita is a subcontractor on the F/A-22.

C-17 Globemaster III ($4.3 billion):

The C-17 program is funded at $2.2 billion for 12 aircraft and an additional $2.1 billion is provided in the bridge fund to purchase 10 additional aircraft. The U.S. Air Force/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is designed to fulfill airlift needs well into the next century by carrying large combat equipment and troops or humanitarian aid across international distances directly to small austere airfields anywhere in the world. Excel Manufacturing Incorporated of Wichita is a supplier of parts for the C-17.

Airborne Laser ($631.6 million):

The FY 2007 Defense-wide RDT&E budget includes $631.6 million for the ABL. Boeing Wichita is responsible for modification work on the commercial 747 that serves as the ABL platform. Rep. Tiahrt also inserted supportive language in the Committee Report.

KC-135 Tanker Replacement ($70 million):

Replacement for the rapidly aging KC-135 fleet. Funds will be used for research and development. Boeing has submitted a reply to the Air Force’s Request for Information for the KC-135 replacement competition. 

B-52 Stand-off Jammer (SOJ):

The B-52 SOJ program is a critical future program for Boeing Wichita.  Although this program has been cancelled by the Air Force, Rep. Tiahrt inserted supportive language in the Defense Appropriations Bill.  Rep. Tiahrt will continue to work with the Air Force to revive this important national program.