S.Amdt. 942

SA 942. Mr. ISAKSON (for himself and Mr. Perdue) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 2810, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2018 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

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

SEC. ___. PROHIBITION ON AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR RETIREMENT
OF E-8 JSTARS AIRCRAFT.

(a) Prohibition on Available of Funds for Retirement.--No
funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or otherwise
made available for fiscal year 2018 for the Air Force may be
obligated or expended to retire, prepare to retire, or place
in storage or on backup aircraft inventory status any E-8
JSTARS aircraft.
(b) Additional Limitations on Retirement.--
(1) In general.--In addition to the limitation in
subsection (a), during the period before December 31, 2018,
the Secretary of the Air Force may not retire, prepare to
retire, or place in storage or on backup flying status any E-
8 JSTARS aircraft.
(2) Minimum inventory requirement.--The Secretary of the
Air Force shall ensure the Air Force maintains the entire
current fleet of E-8 aircraft as primary mission aircraft
inventory.
(c) Prohibition on Availability of Funds for Significant
Reductions in Manning Levels.--No funds authorized to be
appropriated by this Act of otherwise made available for
fiscal year 2018 for the Air Force may be obligated or
expended to make significant reductions to manning levels
with respect to any E-8 JSTARS aircraft wing or squadron.
(d) Additional Limitation on Significant Reductions in
Manning Levels.--In addition to the limitation in subsection
(c), during the period before December 31, 2018, the
Secretary of the Air Force may not make significant
reductions to manning levels with respect to any E-8 JSTARS
wing or squadron.

SEC. __. REQUIREMENT FOR CONTINUATION OF E-8 JSTARS
RECAPITALIZATION PROGRAM.

The Secretary of the Air Force shall continue the current
recapitalization plan for the E-8C JSTARS fleet until the
Secretary of Defense certifies that a new approach would not
result in increased capability gaps in Battlefield
Management, Command and Control/Intelligence, Surveillance,
and Reconnaissance (BMC2/ISR).
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