Maine poised to get millions in defense funds

WASHINGTON – The authorization for the largest increase in defense spending in 20 years flew through the Senate with unanimous approval on Wednesday. The legislation promises millions to Maine defense contractors and the University of Maine.

The measure authorizes almost $393 billion for national security, including $10 billion to cover ongoing operations in the war on terrorism. It also gives all military personnel a 4.1 percent pay raise and lays out new incentive pay of up to $1,500 monthly for members of the military who take on difficult-to-fill assignments.

The House approved the same legislation on Tuesday by a voice vote, so the measure now goes to President Bush’s desk for his signature.

The bill allows for new payments to all military retirees wounded in combat or in combat-related incidents or who received a Purple Heart. Retirees with a Veteran’s Administration rating of 60 percent or higher would also be permitted to draw veteran’s disability compensation if they were wounded in combat.

“This provision is a significant milestone toward addressing the issue known as concurrent receipt,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “We owe it to our veterans for all they have given.”

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, cosponsored the provision.

The measure makes way for more than $2 billion in funding for construction of two DDG-51 Arleigh-Burke class destroyers of the type built by Bath Iron Works. Another $74 million is called for in advance procurement authority for future DDG-51 destroyers – an amendment cosponsored by Collins and Snowe.

Bath also should receive $960 million in funding for design and research of the Land Attack Destroyer Program, or DD-X, the next-generation surface combatant ship. Bath Iron Works and Ingalls Shipyard will both be involved in the design of this new family of ships.

Snowe said she voted for the legislation despite her concerns about a slower shipbuilding rate than needed to maintain the size of the Navy fleet.

“Because of the ship swap agreement reached between the Navy and the shipbuilders, Bath Iron Works should receive the contracts it needs to keep its workforce stable,” she said, but added: “I remain concerned about a looming deficit in ship procurement in the years after 2008.”

Other defense spending authorized for Maine, includes:

. Funding of $4 million for the Fuel Cell Technology Verification and Training Program, used to establish a fuel cell power plant at Brunswick Naval Air Station as part of its dual-use initiative with the Midcoast Council for Business Development.

. Funding of $16.7 million for producing Mk 19 Mod 3 Grenade Machine Guns in Saco by General Dynamics Armament Systems. Infantry, scouts, military police, and combat support units use the gun.

. $1 million in research funding for the Structural Reliability of Fiber Re-enforced Polymers, a research project conducted by the University of Maine in Orono. The project is aimed at helping optimize the use of polymers in future ship construction. Orono is also set to receive $2 million in funding for the Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System (GoMoos); $4 million for the Supercluster Distributed Memory Technology system that interconnects high-performance computer workstations at reduced costs for the Army; and $1 million in funding for the Intelligent Spatial Technologies (IST) program, an initiative aimed at developing “smart maps” and other information to speed field decisions.

. $99 million for United Technologies/Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Division, North Berwick, for F-15 aircraft modifications and to buy F100-PW-229 engines to convert Air National Guard Block 42 F-16 fighters at units in Oklahoma, Iowa, and Ohio. Engine parts for this purchase are constructed at Pratt and Whitney of North Berwick.