To require a report on the future aerial training airspace requirements of the Department of Defense.

1. Adds SEC. 352. REPORT ON AERIAL TRAINING AIRSPACE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE at the end of subtitle D of title III

   Adds a section

   In S. 2766 · Placed on Calendar Senate

   (c) Form of Report.--Any report submitted under subsection (a) shall be submitted in both classified and unclassified form.

   Inserted: SEC. 352. REPORT ON AERIAL TRAINING AIRSPACE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.

   Inserted: (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:

   Inserted: (1) Access to and use of available and unfettered aerial training airspace is critical for preserving aircrew warfighting proficiency and the ability to test, evaluate, and improve capabilities of both personnel and equipment within the most realistic training environments possible.

   Inserted: (2) The growth of civilian and commercial aviation traffic and the rapid expansion of commercial and general air traffic lanes across the continental Unites States has left few remaining areas of the country available for realistic air combat training or expansion of existing training areas.

   Inserted: (3) Many Military Operating Areas (MOAs) originally established in what was once open and uncongested airspace are now encroached upon by a heavy volume of commercial and general air traffic, making training more difficult and increasingly hazardous.

   Inserted: (4) Some aerial training areas in the upper great plains, western States, and Gulf coast remain largely free from encroachment and available for increased use, expansion, and preservation for the future.

   Inserted: (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the Department of Defense should--

   Inserted: (1) establish a policy to identify military aerial training areas that are projected to remain viable and free from encroachment well into the 21st century;

   Inserted: (2) determine aerial training airspace requirements to meet future training and airspace requirements of legacy and next generation military aircraft; and

   Inserted: (3) undertake all necessary actions in a timely manner, including coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, to expand and preserve those areas of airspace to meet present and future training requirements.

   Inserted: (c) Report.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report setting forth a proposed plan to preserve and expand available aerial training airspace to meet the projected needs of the Department of Defense for such airspace through 2025.

   Original wording

   At the end of subtitle D of title III, add the following:

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As printed