Measure to modernize C-130s at Vienna headed for the President's signature

December 12, 2014 at 6:12p.m.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

A measure to modernize C-130 military aircraft in Ohio, including at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna, is headed for the President’s signature.

A provision U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, cosponsored was included in the Defense bill that passed the Senate late Friday. This provision would speed modernization of Ohio’s C-130 fleet, and was included as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, also noted his co-sponsorship of an NDAA amendment that would allow the Air Force to use alternative programs and funding in addition to the Avionics Modernization Program to modernize the C-130 aircraft fleet. The language included in the conference bill requires the Air Force to move forward with the AMP program while permitting the service to make near-term airspace compliance improvements.

The legislation supports jobs at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station and Mansfield Lahm Air National Guard Base by allowing the C-130 fleet to make upgrades to meet federal and international standards.

“The C-130 fleet is vital for our nation’s emergency preparedness and national security,” Brown said. “This provision will help ensure that the fleet has the resources it needs to make necessary upgrades and to keep these planes flying.”

Portman said: “I’m pleased this provision will now become law.

“We must ensure we keep these planes compliant with upcoming airspace changes, but we can’t lose sight of the very real needs the aircraft fleet has for more robust modernization. It’s important we keep the Air Force on track to ensure these planes in the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve are mission capable for decades into the future.”

The C-130 fleet is the U.S. military’s primary combat delivery aircraft, and has provided humanitarian assistance, precision airdrop, and tactical airlift missions across the globe for more than four decades. Because of Federal Aviation Administration and international airspace regulatory constraints, the fleet will be largely inoperable unless major updates are made by 2020.

Last month, Brown toured the Youngstown station which, along with Mansfield is home to Ohio’s Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard C-130 fleet.

Ohio is home to more than 3,000 Air reservists, and has six Air Force bases including Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Air National Guard bases at Mansfield, Columbus, Springfield, and Toledo as well as Youngstown. Both the Air Force Research Lab and the Air Force Materiel Command are headquartered in Dayton at Wright Patterson Air Force Base.