Tue, Mar. 9, 2004

Millions for Arkansas in defense bill
Saturday, May 8, 2004

By Alison Vekshin
Stephens Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- The 188th Fighter Wing in Fort Smith is slated to receive $6 million for a new maintenance complex as part of an annual defense bill making its way through Congress.

Approved late Thursday by the Senate Armed Services Committee, the funds would cover construction to replace two facilities at the Fort Smith Regional Airport that the Air National Guard says are too small and too old.

"This is a great opportunity for the 188th Fighter Wing and for the local economy," said Capt. Joseph Harrison, base civil engineer in the civil engineering squadron at the 188th Fighter Wing.

"Right now, it's starting to impact our capability to support maintenance on the equipment," he said. "These are some of the oldest facilities on base that we will replace."

The new aerospace and maintenance complex would house more than 200 pieces of aircraft support equipment and about 75 vehicles, including refueling and fire trucks, Harrison said. Some 50 employees would work there.

The 2005 defense authorization bill contains about $100 million for Arkansas projects, according to Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., who sits on the Armed Services Committee.

The bill includes $6.5 million for programs at the University of Arkansas, including $2.5 million for Army electronics research into nanotechnology. Also, $2 million would go toward the university's Logistics Institute to develop logistics technology for the Air Force.

Another $2 million would support three-dimensional packaging research involving the University of Arkansas, North Carolina State University, the University of Florida and the International Technology Center.

The program develops 3-D microcircuit packages to help the military lower the size and weight and improve the thermal and electrical performance of radio communications equipment.

Rogers-based Vision Technology is slated for $4 million to develop a machine control surveillance system for the Navy's gas turbine ships.

Also, Fayetteville-based Space Photonics is slated for $3 million to develop space communications systems for the Air Force.

The Pine Bluff Arsenal would receive $4.4 million to modernize and automate data processing equipment. The equipment will be used to trace the Army's manufacturing and distribution of supplies made at the arsenal, including chemical and biological protection equipment.

An additional $7.5 million would go toward arsenal production of ammunition, chemical and biological decontamination kits, and biological and chemical protection masks.

"I feel like we've been able to get Arkansas its fare share of defense dollars," Pryor said. The bill's total cost is $422.2 billion.

The House Armed Services Committee also was working on a defense authorization bill this week, but a breakdown of funding was not available on Friday.

The defense bills will face further votes this spring, with final action expected by the fall.