WASHINGTON - The recently passed FY15 defense appropriations bill prevents the Air Force from canceling the C-130 Avionics Modernization Program in FY15, though provides flexibility for the service to proceed with a reduced scope effort to address safety and airspace compliance requirements using funds appropriated for the AMP. The Air Force has been trying to kill the AMP since FY13, in favor of a more focused communications, navigation, surveillance, and air traffic management (CNS/ATM) upgrade to address new flight safety regulations. Service officials have said the CNS/ATM upgrade would cost around $2 billion, which is $2.2 billion less than the original AMP.

Lawmakers have blocked efforts to terminate the AMP since that time, providing additional funding in recent budgets for AMP kits. In the FY14 spending bill, lawmakers also started providing additional funds for C-130 C-130H engine and propeller upgrades. The final FY15 budget agreement adds $30.0 million for C-130 propeller upgrades and $22.6 million for engine upgrades. Another $35.8 million is provided for the AMP, though the legislation includes a rather large loophole that would allow CNS/ATM work to proceed under certain conditions.

That loophole is fleshed out in the FY15 defense authorization bill. That legislation includes a provision that would prevent the Air Force from replacing the AMP with alternate upgrades, though this limitation may be waived by the Secretary of Defense if the alternate upgrades are required to operate C-130 aircraft in airspace controlled by the Federal Aviation Administration, or airspace controlled by a foreign government. In other words, the Secretary of Defense can approve the start of CNS/ATM upgrades for the C-130 fleet, which would siphon funding from the AMP effort.

The Air Force will surely seek that waiver to begin work on CNS/ATM upgrades, though it remains to be seen what will happen to the broader AMP program. Earlier this year, the House Armed Services Committee said it was concerned that if a robust C-130 upgrade is not undertaken now, the fleet would become too expensive to maintain in the outyears, particularly if the fleet is kept in service through 2040 as currently planned.

Source: FY15 Defense Appropriations Bill
Associated URL: http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-C.pdf
Author: S. McDougall, North America Analyst