Sec. 152. Sense of Senate on the United States helicopter industrial base
254 words·~1 min read·
/bill/113/s/1197/pcs/section-152·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The Senate makes the following findings: Armed, cargo, and utility helicopters provide the Department of Defense with critical capabilities to support operations in the air, on land, and at sea. According to the Aerospace Industries Association of America’s 2012 Year-End Review and Forecast, the United States military aircraft manufacturing sales declined by 2.4 percent between 2011 and 2012. According to the Aerospace Industries Association of America’s July 2012 report on the aerospace industrial base, aviation industry employment of aerospace research and development scientists and engineers numbering 140,000 in 1996 has declined to 40,000 in 2008.
Today, five corporations manufacture all United States military helicopters. Helicopter program unpredictability and reduced defense procurement have a negative impact on the ability to recruit and retain a qualified and capable aerospace workforce thereby increasing risk for the helicopter industrial base’s ability to design, build, and support the next generation of manned and unmanned military helicopters. It is the sense of the Senate that— armed, cargo, and utility helicopters are instrumental to the Department of Defense’s ability to execute the President’s National Security Strategy; the Department of Defense should take into consideration the health and viability of the military helicopter industrial base in its analysis and decision making when building its annual research, development, and acquisition budget request; and the Department of Defense and Congress should endeavor to maintain budget and program predictability in order to attract and retain a skilled workforce to ensure the technological capabilities required to sustain the preeminence of the United States military helicopter fleets.