Senators Pryor, Lincoln Announce Funding for Arkansas Defense Priorities

October 7, 2009 -- Washington – U.S. Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor today announced that the Senate has approved the Department of Defense Appropriations Act 2010, which includes funding for several priorities critical to Arkansas’s military installations, research institutions, and defense contractors.

“A strong national defense requires the best military training, equipment, and technology,” said Lincoln. “I have continually fought for provisions that will strengthen our military and help us take better care of our brave men and women returning from battle. The state and local priorities included in this bill will boost our state’s economy and allow Arkansans to continue to play a critical role in strengthening the U.S. military.”

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“Arkansas’ military installations and universities are critical to our nation’s defense and have advanced our military’s capabilities to new levels,” Pryor said. “As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I worked hard to secure this funding, which will provide cutting-edge technologies and equipment for our troops, assist our armed services in meeting new challenges, and strengthen Arkansas businesses, research facilities and communities across the state.”

The following is a list of Arkansas projects in the legislation:

University of Arkansas
$3 million for the university’s Center for Nanoscale Bio-Sensors
This project will develop new nanotechnology to promote recent breakthroughs in nanostructures for research and development of nanoscale biological sensors. This initiative is vital to the Army’s vision to achieve protection for its soldiers and civilian communities from bacteria, viruses, and biological toxins.

$1.8 million for the university’s High Frequency Devices and Circuits for Nanotubes and Nanowires Project
The objective of this research is to develop carbon nanotube- and silicon nanowire-based high frequency components. Carbon nanotubes exhibit faster electron speeds, which lead to higher operating frequencies and more currents. Faster switching speed and size reduction of components are crucial figures of merit for military and commercial applications.

Arkansas State University
$9 million to continue development of the Standoff Hazardous Agent Detection and Evaluation System (SHADES)
$9 million for ASU in conjunction with industry to continue research for early detection of weapons before chemical or biological threats can hurt troops or citizens.

$3 million for Biological Air Filtering System Technology (BAFST) Development
$3 million to advance biological filtration systems to mitigate complex biologically based threats. Current technology is not capable of providing a safe and clean environment for forward-based space and missile defense elements from highly toxic and contaminated environments.BAFST provides a stand alone/fully integrated biological detection and cleansing subsystem that will allow missile defense systems to operate 24/7 during combat regardless of the contaminated environment.This technology also readily applies to the needs of the Air Force, Navy, OSHA, Homeland Security, Intelligence and NASA.

University of Arkansas at Little Rock
$2.4 million for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to support the Advanced Functional Nanomaterials for Biological Processes
$2.4 million to improve the delivery of drugs and other medical therapies necessary as a result of battlefield injury or disease.

$1.8 million for Information Quality Tools for Persistent Surveillance Data Sets
$1.8 million to improve data linking for command, communication, and control platforms for surveillance missions. The continuous volumes of data and need for rapid analysis requires automated processing tools to identify features, events, or other anomalies of interest for further analysis by human operators.

Arkansas Power Electronics International
$3 million for Arkansas Power Electronics International in Fayetteville to support the development of Silicon Carbide Power Modules for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is one of the first major programs implementing the Air Force’s new “More Electric” and “All Electric” aircraft design philosophy, which mandates the replacement of costly and bulky mechanical hydraulic aircraft flight control systems with lighter weight, high-reliability, low-maintenance electric motors and drives. The high power densities and high voltages required to operate mechanical flight systems using electric motors are driving a transition to high density silicon carbide (SiC) power electronic systems that can operate at higher efficiencies, higher voltages, higher power densities, and higher temperatures in comparison with conventional silicon electronics. This request will fund the transfer of laboratory tested SiC power electronics technology developed at APEI to F-35 actuator drive flight systems.

Space Photonics
$3 million for Space Photonics in Fayetteville to develop advanced Anti-Tamper products for protecting weapon systems. These funds will be used to complete product development and integration of the components and prepare for full flight qualification within military aircraft, both manned and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

Acxiom Corporation
$1.8 million for Acxiom’s IdentClarity – Identity Resolution Project
Many of the current defense technology initiatives pertain to finding new information by extracting information from documents or the web to piece together intelligence. The goal of this project is to find links and information within existing and known sources of data. This research intends to influence investigative services, beneficiary quality, and overall search awareness in existing databases.

Pine Bluff, AR - $14.2 million above President’s Budget request

Artillery, 155mm, All Types, Pine Bluff Arsenal - $9 million above the President’s Budget ($54.546 million) for ammunition fired from a tracked, armored vehicle in direct fire support for infantry units in combat.

120mm Mortars, All Types, Pine Bluff Arsenal - $5.2 million above the President’s Budget ($104.9 million)for mortar systems which enhance mission effectiveness for maneuver unit commanders by providing indirect fire support for U.S. Army and Marine Corps personnel engaged in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Grenades, All Types, Pine Bluff Arsenal - $60.6 million protected in the President’s Budget for canister-type smoke grenades used by Army and Marine Corps personnel as ground-to-ground or ground-to-air signaling devices, target or landing zone marking devices, or a screening device for unit movements.

60mm Mortars, All Types, Pine Bluff Arsenal - $45.644 million protected in the President’s Budget for mortar systems which enhance mission effectiveness for maneuver unit commanders by providing indirect fire support for U.S. Army and Marine Corps personnel engaged in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Camden, AR - $99.9 million (protected in the President’s Budget)

Hydra 70mm Rockets (General Dynamics) - $99.9 million protected in the President’s Budget for the Hydra-70 rocket system used by Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Special Operations helicopters and Navy, Marine and Air Force jet aircraft. The combat proven Hydra-70 is crucial in the accomplishment of anti-material, anti-personnel, and air-to-ground suppression missions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

East Camden, AR - $57.6 million above the President’s Budget request

Standard Missile (SM-3) Deployment (Raytheon) - $57.6 million above the President’s Budget ($168.7 million) for systems to detect, track, intercept, and destroy short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles. These systems are integrated on U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers and are our first-line defense against a ballistic missile threat.

Texarkana, AR - $13 million above the President’s Budget request

60mm and 81mm Mortars, All Types (Day & Zimmerman) - $129.2 million protected in the President’s Budget for mortar systems which enhance mission effectiveness for maneuver unit commanders by providing indirect fire support for U.S. Army and Marine Corps personnel engaged in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.

40mm, All Types (Day & Zimmerman) - $4 million above the President’s Budget ($229.9 million) for dual-purpose impact type rounds designed to penetrate lightly armored targets and perform anti-personnel missions.

Projectile 155mm DP Basebleed M864 (Day & Zimmerman) - $9 million above the President’s Budget ($54.546 million) for the 155mm M864 ER-DPICM artillery projectile that supports Stryker combat teams.

Source: Senator Mark Pryor