HASC saves tanks, keeps F-35Bs

HASC saves tanks, keeps F-35Bs
12 May 2011


The House Armed Services Committee voted on Wednesday to add $425 million to next year’s budget so the Army can keep open its production of M1 Abrams tanks and M2 Bradley fighting vehicles, on the theory that keeping the line going will ultimately be cheaper than idling for three years, as the Army now plans. “These production lines can’t be turned on and off like a light switch,” said Maryland Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, the Republican chairman of the HASC’s air and land forces subcommittee.
The proposed three-year shutdown would force contractor General Dynamics to lay off too many skilled workers, and could force its small suppliers out of business, opponents say, which would raise the price tag on everything when the Army wanted to resume production. The Army’s current plans call for idling its tank factory from 2013 to 2016, then beginning a major recapitalization program for the M1 fleet. Bartlett’s measure would provide funding to keep the line “warm.”
The full committee on Wednesday also rejected an amendment offered by Rep. Jim Cooper, a Tennessee Democrat, that would have cut next year’s planned buy of F-35B Lightning IIs from six to four, and used the savings of about $380 million to fund Navy operations and maintenance and equipment for the National Guard. Cooper presented his measure as a good compromise — the Marines would still get their jets, other worthy recipients would get a shot in the arm, and it “would send a message … that we need to get this program back on track.” (Source: DoDbuzz.com)


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