Ohio lawmakers urge upgrades to aircraft at YARS

VIENNA — The three U.S. House members who represent the Mahoning Valley and the state’s two U.S. senators are urging the Air Force Reserve to replace the Youngstown Air Reserve Station’s 910th Airlift Wing’s fleet of eight C-130H aircrafts with new C-130Js.

The legislators made the request in a letter today to Lt. Gen. James Jackson, the chief of the Air Force Reserve.

Signing the letter were U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, and Rob Portman, a Cincinnati-area Republican; along with U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th; Bill Johnson of Marietta, R-6th; and David Joyce of Russell, R-14th.

“Bringing in C-130Js to modernize the C-130 fleet at YARS will help strengthen our lines of defense and maintain jobs in” the Mahoning Valley, Brown said.