Aerospace Daily
September 6, 2001

EA-6B Prowler Successor Gets Jumpstart In House Defense Bill

The House Armed Services Committee has approved legislation aimed at jumpstarting efforts to find a successor to the Navy EA-6B Prowler radar-jamming aircraft.

To speed up development of an EA-6B replacement, the newly released committee version of the fiscal 2002 defense authorization bill would add $10 million to the Bush Administration's budget request.

The legislation says the Airborne Electronic Attack Analysis of Alternatives, which the military is scheduled to complete in December, is expected to conclude that a follow-on aircraft will be required to replace the aging EA-6B.

The committee released a summary of the bill after approving it in August (DAILY, Aug. 3). But the legislation itself, including a detailed committee report that explains the bill, did not become available until this week.

The Senate Armed Services Committee is considering its version of the defense authorization bill this week.

Predator B UAV gets plus-up

Other items revealed in the report show that the House bill would:

*Add $20 million to buy the Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle, which is a larger, faster version of the original Predator. The Administration requested no money for Predator B.

*Require the Defense Department to form a Joint Forces Command UAV joint operational test bed system.

*Add $10 million to the Administration's request to explore development of a mobile version of the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL). The report says the development efforts should include Israel. The Administration requested no money for the THEL.

*Direct the defense secretary, in consultation with the director of central intelligence, to plan and carry out a program to buy a majority of their non-time-critical low- and medium-resolution imagery requirements from the U.S. commercial remote sensing industry by 2005.

*Urge the Air Force to set up a joint program office with the Army and Navy to develop a plan for achieving low-cost access to space.

*Add $15 million to the Administration's request for low-cost launch technology. The Administration requested no money for that purpose

-- Marc Selinger