Bill targets C-130s; flown by 910th at YARS
VIENNA
Legislation aimed at modernizing the nation’s fleet of C-130H cargo and troop transport planes, co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, could bode well for the future of the 910th Airlift Wing, which flies C-130s out of the Youngstown Air Reserve Station.
The C-130s need upgrades by 2020 to meet federal and international standards to be able to continue performing national security and emergency response missions without a costly overhaul, said Brown, chairman of the Senate’s Air Force Caucus.
He said the bipartisan Air Force C-130H Fleet Modernization Act would give the Air Force flexibility to modernize its C-130H fleet, which in Ohio is also flown by Ohio Air National Guard’s 179th Airlift Wing in Mansfield.
The proposed bill would allow the Air Force to use a less-expensive communication and navigation overhaul without sacrificing safety and effectiveness, said Brown, D-Cleveland.
The C-130H plays a vital role in the nation’s defense and emergency response capabilities and is critical to Ohio jobs, he said.
With more than 260 C-130s in operation, 16 of which are in Ohio, it only makes sense to modernize the existing fleet to ensure it will continue flying for decades, said Brown.
The C-130H fleet is the 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 upgrades are made by 2020.
Ohio is home to more than 3,000 Air Reservists, and has six Air Force bases, including Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, headquarters for the Air Force Research Lab and the Air Force Materiel Command; the Youngstown Air Reserve Station; and Air National Guard bases at Mansfield, Columbus, Springfield and Toledo.