For Immediate Release

November 8, 2007

SUBSTANTIAL WASH. STATE IMPACT
OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS BILL

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The final version of the defense spending bill for the next fiscal year funds several key Boeing aircraft programs supporting jobs in Washington State, in addition to funding work done at all of the state’s many defense installations, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks said.

          The bill, approved today by the House and Senate, also includes a 3.5 percent pay raise for military personnel and it makes critical investments in equipment, training and cutting-edge weaponry, including body armor and vehicles proven to save lives in Iraq, said Rep. Dicks, who serves as vice-chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.  “It also seeks to improve the quality of life for military personnel and their families with a total of $2.6 billion allocated for family advocacy programs, child care centers and dependent education programs,” he said.

It continues funding for the Air Force’s aerial refueling tanker replacement program, with an allocation of $264.5 million this year.  Boeing is competing to build 179 new tanker aircraft, valued at close to $40 billion, based on its 767 wide-body airframe.  The contract award is expected to occur in early 2008.

The Airborne Laser (ABL) program, led by Boeing, will locate and track and destroy ballistic missiles in the boost phase of flight.  The system is mounted on a 747 airframe, and it successfully completed low-power testing to support ballistic missile interception in August, 2007.  The defense bill provides a total of $514 million for continued development of the ABL system this year.

The bill also adds another $880.1 million for development work on the Boeing-built P-8A “Multi-Mission Aircraft,” a Navy program that will replace the current fleet of P-3 “Orion” submarine reconnaissance aircraft with a more capable plane that will be based on the Boeing 737 aircraft.  The Navy plans to purchase 108 of these aircraft in the years ahead to replace P-3s at Whidbey Island NAS and other bases,” Rep. Dicks noted. 

The Navy is also replacing its fleet of EA-6B “Prowler” electronic warfare aircraft, also based at Whidbey Island NAS, with an upgraded version on Boeing’s FA-18 aircraft platform.  The defense bill provides $1.32 billion to procure 18 of the new EA-18G “Growler” aircraft this year. 

Boeing is also the lead contractor on the Army’s new Future Combat System that links 14 manned and unmanned systems into a common network.  The developmental work on this system integration – the Army’s top acquisition priority – continues in this fiscal year with an allocation of $3.36 billion.  

The defense bill will also fund major upgrades to the MK 48 ADCAP torpedo and provide for the production of MK 54 torpedoes to counter emerging submarine threats.  A total of $63.8 million for the MK 48 ADCAP program and $89.3 million for the MK 54 program is included in the defense bill, supporting the work that Raytheon Corp. has been accomplishing at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center at Keyport, Wash., Rep. Dicks said.

Rep. Dicks also said that the bill provides a total of $4.37 billion in the Navy’s ship depot maintenance account, which will support the stable workload at overhaul and repair installations, including an expected 1.68 million-man-days of work at Bremerton’s Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.  

The defense appropriations bill funds two locally-important education programs: the Military Students Education Assistance program (Impact Aid) and the National Guard Youth Challenge Program.  Impact Aid assists school districts in areas where large defense installations diminish the local tax base, assisting the enrollment of children of military families in local schools.  A special appropriation of $35 million in this year’s defense bill will be important for school districts including those near Fort Lewis and McChord AFB, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Sub Base Bangor, Whidbey Island Naval Air Station and Fairchild AFB, Rep. Dicks noted.  And a new program directed at high school dropouts will begin in Bremerton in early 2009, funded through the National Guard’s Youth Challenge Program.  The defense bill has increased funding for the program this year, from $71 million to $83 million, in order to support Youth Challenge programs for at-risk youth in 29 states, including development of the Bremerton program in a facility now being constructed.

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