Delaware’s Air Guard fleet will be inoperable in 2020 without improvements

 

NEW CASTLE, Del. — This morning, Congressman John Carney (D-DE) visited with Delaware Adjutant General Francis Vavala and the members of the Delaware Air National Guard to discuss the C-130H Modernization Act (H.R. 5119), bipartisan legislation Carney introduced to modernize the Air Guard’s fleet of C-130H aircraft in a safe and fiscally responsible way.  Unless the C-130H fleet is modernized, the aircraft will be inoperable in 2020 due to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and international safety regulations.  This could mean the end of the Delaware National Guard’s C-130 flying mission, along with associated job losses.  

 

“The Delaware National Guard plays a critical role in protecting our national security – both at home and abroad.  The C-130s are essential to allowing our citizen-soldiers to do their job,” said Congressman Carney.  “This legislation helps ensure the Guard will be able to continue using its C-130 fleet for years to come while cutting costs and saving taxpayer dollars.”

 

Delaware Adjutant General Francis Vavala added, "Modernization of the C-130 fleet is critical to the future of the Air National Guard. With the current economic situation, it's pretty easy to see our nation should turn to the National Guard as part of the solution."

 

For the past 13 years, the Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) has been the designated program to upgrade the C-130H fleet to ensure compliance with national and international regulations before the 2020 deadline.  Due to significant cost overruns, the U.S. Air Force announced in 2012 that it wanted to abandon the AMP program and pursue a more fiscally responsible solution.  A cost-benefit study, mandated by Congress, found that modernizing just the navigation systems of the C-130H fleet would cost a quarter of the AMP program, resulting in savings of $12 million per aircraft while still allowing the C-130H models to meet all flight and airspace safety requirements by 2020.

 

The C-130 Modernization Act, gives the U.S. Air Force the option to pursue this more targeted and fiscally responsible modernization approach or pursue the full modifications of the AMP program.  The legislation does not cancel the AMP program, but instead gives the Secretary of the Air Force the flexibility to determine the best approach to upgrading the C-130H fleet before the 2020 deadline.

 

The C-130H aircraft is the military’s primary combat delivery aircraft and has provided humanitarian assistance, precision airdrop and tactical airlift across the globe for more than 40 years.  Currently, the C-130H fleet is flown by Air National Guard units in Delaware and 17 additional states.

 

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