Friday, December 13, 2013

House passes bill to transfer C-27J aircraft to Coast Guard; USFS would receive C-130Hs, No Senate Action Yet!

There are some reports on the street that the Air Force is about to transfer all their C-27Js to the Coast Guard. While the intent is there, it hasn't happened and may not happen. Until the Senate approves this budget which may not happen, this is a non-event.

Source: http://fireaviation.com/2013/12/13/house-passes-bill-to-transfer-c-27j-aircraft-to-coast-guard-usfs-would-receive-c-130hs/

House passes bill to transfer C-27J aircraft to Coast Guard; USFS would receive C-130Hs

On Thursday the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act for 2014 that contains provisions for the Forest Service to receive seven C-130H aircraft in lieu of the C-27Js they had been expecting. The bill passed with a vote of 350 to 69. Its next stop will be the Senate, which is tied up debating executive nominations, but they are expected to take up the bill next week before they adjourn on December 20.
The last time we reported on the possible transfer of excess C-27J aircraft from the Air Force to the Forest Service, there had been a proposal to instead, give all 14 of the remaining C-27Js to the Coast Guard if the Coast Guard would transfer seven C-130Hs to the Forest Service to be used as air tankers. With an agreement reached on December 9 regarding the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 between Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Sen. James M. Inhofe, R-Okla., chairman and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, that proposal remained alive.
The bill passed by the House today:
  • Requires the Coast Guard to transfer seven HC-130H aircraft to the Air Force.
  • Requires the Secretary of the Air Force to spend up to $130 million to upgrade those seven aircraft to make them suitable for Forest Service use a firefighting aircraft.
  • Requires the Forest Service to accept the upgraded HC-130H aircraft in lieu of exercising their right to take seven excess C-27J aircraft.
  • Transfers 14 excess C-27J aircraft from DOD to the Coast Guard.
  • Transfers up to 15 C-23 Sherpa aircraft from DOD to the Forest Service.
Before transferring the C-130Hs to the Forest Service, the Air Force would:
…perform center and outer wingbox replacement modifications, progressive fuselage structural inspections, and configuration modifications necessary to convert each HC-130H aircraft as large air tanker wildfire suppression aircraft.