Griffin: C-130 upgrades improve capability, save taxpayers money

Congressman Tim Griffin (AR-02) issued the following statement in response to the delivery of the fourth Avionics Modernization Program upgraded C-130 aircraft to Little Rock Air Force Base:

“Arkansas’s Second Congressional District is home to Little Rock Air Force Base and the 19th, 189th and 314th Airlift Wings, providing our nation critical combat and humanitarian airlift capability from its more than 80 C-130 aircraft. As the co-founder of the bipartisan Congressional C-130 Modernization Caucus, I strongly support AMP upgrades because they improve our C-130s’ capability, extend the life of the fleet, and save taxpayers money. The delivery of the fourth upgraded aircraft is great news.”

The AMP program modernizes the cockpits and avionics of C-130s, and standardizes cockpit layouts across the C-130 fleet. Griffin heads the bipartisan Congressional C-130 Modernization Caucus that supports fiscally sound acquisition procedures to ensure necessary funds are appropriated for the AMP.

On Friday, the Boeing company and the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center announced it had delivered the fourth C-130 AMP upgraded aircraft to LRAFB. According to Boeing, this aircraft will be one of five that will participate in Initial Operational Testing and Evaluation at LRAFB, which is scheduled to begin later this month. Under the current schedule, a total of 221 U.S. Air Force C-130H aircraft are set to receive the AMP modification by 2020."