S.Amdt. 792

SA 792. Mr. BAYH submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 1591, making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2007, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

REPORT ON CLOSING THE PREDATOR AND GLOBAL HAWK UAV PRODUCTION GAP

(a) Report Required.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, die Secretary of Defense shall report to the Congress no later than 90 days after enactment of this legislation on how the Department of Defense will rapidly reduce the gap in available Predator unmanned aerial vehicles and associated orbits with military and intelligence mission requirements.

(b) Elements.--The report and proposed plan shall include the following elements:

(1) What is the shortage of available Predators, Global Hawks and orbits to stated Department of Defense requirements in the field, including for U.S. forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, Colombia, East, South and Southeast Asia?

(2) What is the timeline for fully closing this shortage?

(3) Has the Department of Defense requested all necessary funds to keep Predator, Global Hawk and associated orbit production lines running at maximum capacity until the shortage is fully closed? If not, why not?

(4) What steps do you recommend to close this gap?

(5) Does having a sole source producer delay meeting Predator production and procurement timelines? If so, how can we best open up the competition?

(6) Please provide the five year Predator, Global Hawk and orbit requirement? Do you foresee long-endurance UAVs, armed and for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance purposes, being a long-term and growing requirement for the United States Armed Forces?

(c) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.