WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) announced the passage of the Fiscal Year 2008 Defense Appropriations Conference Report and that she has successfully secured billions in funding for Maine’s defense industry.
“The defense appropriations measure passed by the Senate recognizes the key role that the state of Maine plays in ensuring the security of the United States,” Snowe said. “I am especially pleased that Bath Iron Works’ shipbuilding programs – the DDG 1000 Destroyer and the Littoral Combat Ship – were funded, and pleased with funding for the important maintenance activities undertaken every day by Mainers at the Kittery Shipyard, and the contributions of so many Mainers and businesses to the nation’s security. I am also pleased with the 3.5% pay raise for military personnel and the increased funding for healthcare for service members and there families.”
Snowe announced that she secured the following funding in this appropriations measure to benefit Maine:
· $2.96 billion for the DDG-1000 Destroyer program. This includes $2.81 billion in shipbuilding funding and $150.0 million in advanced procurement funding, providing for the construction of two DDG-1000’s to proceed at Bath Iron Works and Ingalls.
· $4.4 billion for the Navy’s depot-level maintenance program. Included in this funding is support for the critical ongoing operations at the Kittery-Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
· $339.5 million for the Littoral Combat Ship program. This funding provides for the construction of two LCS, a continuing shipbuilding program for Bath Iron Works.
· $210 million for the Joint High Speed Vessel program, a new Navy ship program, which is planned to provide an important element for intra-theater cargo-handling capability. GD-BIW is currently competing for this contract.
· $3.5 billion for the F-22A Raptor program. Pratt & Whitney of North Berwick provides key parts for the aircraft’s F119-PW-100.
· $30.2 million for General Dynamics in Saco. Thisincludes funding the the Mk-19 grenade launching machine gun and the Advanced Crew Served weapon.
· $23.2 million for for the Air National Guard Block 42 F-16 Engine Upgrade. Pratt & Whitney of North Berwick is a lead participant in this engine maintenance program.
· $18 million for programs at the University of Maine, including the Modular Ballistic System for Force Protection and the Defense Experimental Program to Stimulate Competition.
· $3 million for Maine National Guard for the Integrated Disaster Management System, a technology that provides real-time data management and analysis to and from field operators.
· $1.2 million for a joint Kittery-Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and University of New Hampshire program to provide access to systems for experiments and operations of importance to the national ocean community.
· $1.6 million for Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Augusta for the New England Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative, a program to assist small- and medium-sized manufacturers supply equipment and products to the Department of Defense.
· $1.2 million for the Kittery-Portsmouth Navy Shipyard for a Swimmer Detection Sonar Network in support of utilizing the shipyard as a test bed for the development of a new security system for detecting underwater intruders.
· $2.4 million for Portland Valve of South Portland to replace current relief valves on board Navy ships with Portland Valve’s “smart” valve.
· $800,000 for Applied Thermal Services of Sanford for the Advanced Propulsion for Gun Launched Projectiles and Missiles project to expand the overall capabilities of future Navy weapons.
· $1 million for Maine Marine Manufacturing of East Boothbay, Hodgdon Yachts of Boothbay Harbor and the University of Maine for the development of composite technologies to construct larger high-speed combatant watercraft.
· $800,000 for Technology Systems, Inc of Brunswick for the development of an augmented reality program for small craft operations.
· $1.8 million for Telford Aviation of Bangor, to fund the continued development of the SKYBUS program, a lighter-than-air tactical unmanned vehicle
· $1.6 million for Howe and Howe Technologies of North Berwick for the Ripsaw Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV), an unmanned, high-speed, all-terrain vehicle.
· $1.6 million for Pepin Associates of Greenville for the Formable Textile For Complex Shaped Aerospace Composite project, the development of materials for the manufacture of complex aerospace components that cannot now be produced using current composite technologies.
· $800,000 for the Maine Emergency Management Agency for the East Coast Asymmetric Warfare Initiative in support of an exercise that would enhance Maine’s ability to respond to a WMD event, involving multiple local, state and federal agencies, as well as the national intelligence community, academia and non-government organizations.
· $800,000 to Maine Marine Composites of Portland for the continuing development of a lightweight, high-performance composite hull design to replace the Navy Special Operations Command’s Rigid-Hull Inflatable Boat (RIB).
· $800,000 for Viscus Industries of Eastport for the Personal Miniature Thermal Viewer project.
· $3.2 million for Wilcox Industries of Portsmouth for the Mission Helmet Recording System project.
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Bath Iron Works (Bath):
$2.96 billion for the DDG-1000 Destroyer Program. $2.81 billion in shipbuilding funding and $150.0 million in advanced procurement funding.
$339.5 millionfor the Littoral Combat Ship program for two LCS ships
$210 million for the Joint High Speed Vessel program, a new Navy ship program, providing an important element for intra-theater cargo-handling capability. GD-BIW is participating in the competition for this contract.
General Dynamics - Saco Defense (Saco):
$4.8 million for the Mk47 Mod 0 Striker automatic grenade launcher, a precision fire crew served weapon system.
$10 million for the XM307/XM312 Advanced Crew Served Weapons for the Army's next generation replacement for current heavy and grenade machine guns.
$15.4 million for additional Mk19 Mod 3 grenade launchers for the Army in conjunction with increasing the size of the Army.
University of Maine (Orono)
$4 million for the Modular Ballistic System for Force Protection program. This technology will provide added protection to our mobile troops operating in remote areas.
$14 million for Defense Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) program.
Telford Aviation (Bangor, ME)
$1.8 million for continued work on Lighter Than Air unmanned vehicle technologies in order to offer troops the ability to rapidly and reliably provide aerial support in areas with little or no transportation infrastructure.
Portland Valve (South Portland)
$2.4 million to replace current relief valves on board Navy ships with the less expensive, more advanced, durable, and dependable Portland Valve's "smart" valve.
Applied Thermal Sciences (Sanford)
$800,000 for the Advanced Propulsion for Gun Launched Projectiles and Missiles project. The focus of this project is to extend the range and speed of defense systems to give warfighters the ability to strike time-critical tactical, operational, and strategic targets.
Maine Marine Manufacturing (East Boothbay)
$1 million to Maine Marine Manufacturing of East Boothbay, Hodgdon Yachts of Boothbay Harbor, and the University of Maine to deliver the composite Mk V.1 craft for the Navy’s special operations units.
Howe & Howe (North Berwick)
$1.6 million to for the Unmanned Ground Vehicle weaponization program. The focus of this project is to find and remove Improvised Explosive Devices before being exposed to them.
Vicus Technologies (Eastport)
$800,000for the Personal Miniature Thermal Viewer project to develop a small, lightweight, high-resolution thermal imaging device for use by warfighters in low-light conditions.
Technology Systems, Inc. (Brunswick)
$800,000 for the Small Craft Integrated Common Operational Picture (SCICOP), an augmented reality project for small craft operations.
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (Kittery)
$1.2 million for the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Applications Center, an initiative with the University of New Hampshire, to support an AUV system collaboration among various organizations.
$1.2 million fora Swimmer Detection Sonar Network (SDSN) project. Funding will support the installation of an SDSN system at the shipyard and conducting research and development to analyze signal processing techniques and integrate it with other systems in order to advance capabilities to protect naval and other port facilities from intruders.
Wilcox Industries (Portsmouth)
$3.2 million for the Mission Helmet Recording System project, providing for development of a streamlined, helmet-mounted video recording system for Navy Special Warfare.
Pepin Associates (Greenville)
$1.6 million for the Formable Textile For Complex Shaped Aerospace Composite program, and advanced materials system.
Maine National Guard (Augusta)
$3 million for the Integrated Disaster Management System program. Using this technology, the Maine Army National Guard (MEARNG) will better coordinate with other organizations, saving time, money, and lives. Further, the MEARNG plans to deploy this system to Iraq to support critical MEDIVAC operations.
Pratt and Whitney (North Berwick, ME)
$3.5 billion for the F-22A program and $23.2 million for the F-16 Block-42 engine upgrade program. The Pratt and Whitney plant in North Berwick builds engine components and systems for these aircraft programs.
Maine Emergency Management Agency (Augusta)
$800,000for the East Coast Asymmetric Warfare Initiative, an exercise involving federal, state and local government entities, as well as the private sector, to enhance both detection and response capabilities to a terrorist event in Maine.
Maine Marine Composites (Portland)
$800,000for the continuing development of a design for a high performance patrol craft for river operations and over-the-horizon infiltration and extraction.
Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Augusta)
$1.6 million for New England Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative to increase the participation of New England small and medium manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in defense and commercial supply chains.
Other programs and legislation included in the provision:
Military Personnel - Fully funds a 3.5 percent across-the-board pay raise for military personnel.
No Permanent Bases in Iraq – Continues the existing prohibition on the construction of permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq.
Defense Health Care – Provides $23.5 billion.
Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicles – Provides $11.63 billion for MRAP vehicles.
Cancer Research – provides $228 million for breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer research programs
