Senate lawmakers on the defense appropriations panel have added $1.2 billion to the budget for fiscal 2015 that would allow the Navy to purchase 12 of Boeing’s [BA] EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft.
The number of aircraft is consistent with the spending bill approved by House appropriators last month, but is still short of the 22 the Navy identified on an unfunded priority wishlist provided to Congress earlier this year. The Navy did not request any funding for more Growlers in its formal budget request.
“The committee is concerned that the fiscal year 2015 budget request does not include any funding for the EA-18G aircraft even though Navy leadership has publicly expressed their support for continued procurement into 2016,” the defense appropriations panel said in its markup.
The proposed language must still be approved by the full Senate. Lawmakers added an additional $100 million to allow Boeing to stretch out the production line, but maintaining a minimum production rate of two aircraft per month.
The Navy’s current plans would create a fleet of 212 EA-18Gs with final orders this year, but with no more additional purchases, Boeing would be forced to close the line when production for those orders ends in 2016.
The Navy is the only service that performs airborne electronic attack and top Navy officials have said the need to conduct the mission will likely grow in a future warfare environment. The Growlers detect enemy radar and surface-to-air threats and employ sophisticated jamming capabilities to neutralize them, allowing other aircraft to more safely enter contested airspace to carry out strike missions.
Chris Chadwick, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said in an interview with Defense Daily in June that 12 more aircraft would allow the company to keep the line open into at least 2017.
In an effort to avoid closing the Growler line, Boeing has been aggressively pushing to win support on Capitol Hill and through a public campaign, such as an online petition, to keep the program going.