(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) today announced that she has included $50 million in federal defense work for Washington state companies in the Fiscal Year 2008 Defense Appropriations bill. Murray, who serves on the Senate Defense Appropriations Sub-Committee, helped pass the bill out of the full Senate Appropriations Committee today. The bill will next move to the Senate floor.
"This funding will allow Washington state companies to provide our men and women in the military with the best equipment available," Murray stated. "We need to do everything we can to help bring our soldiers home safely, and investing in these technologies is a critical step forward. Washington state companies are at the forefront of research and development and they will continue to provide our military with the state of the art equipment they need."
Projects Funded in Central Washington
Advanced Lightweight Armor for Vehicles
Amtech Corporation, Wapato
$2 million
Advanced Lightweight Composite Armor addresses the military’s need for high-performance vehicle armor that is light, affordable, repairable, and capable of being molded into any shape for wheeled tactical vehicles.
Adding armor to vehicles protects service-members from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other attacks. Yet the increased weight from armor protection reduces vehicle performance and maintainability. This project will focus on meeting requirements for higher levels of armor protection with lightweight composite armor. The benefits of this armor solution include a one-piece conformal design without vulnerable seams, further weight reduction through localized protection levels, increased structural strength for rollover protection, and improved shielding from electromagnetic interference (EMI).
This funding will support engineering and design work in Wapato, Washington to integrate lightweight composite armor into add-on kits for the Humvee and future tactical wheeled vehicles.
Integrator Advanced Concepts Development
Insitu, Inc., Bingen
$4 million
The Integrator Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) is a low-altitude, long endurance aircraft designed for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. The Integrator features modular payload bay that can be adapted to a variety of missions. Based on the successful ScanEagle UAS, the Integrator complements the unmanned MQ-1 Predator/MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft.
Two Integrator prototypes are currently flying, and this funding will support further development and testing. Bingen, WA-based Insitu, Inc., a pioneer developer of unmanned aircraft, produces the Integrator UAS.
Biological and Chemical Warfare Online Repository of Technical Holdings System (BACWORTH2)
Heritage University/Battelle, Toppenish
$1 million
Chemical and biological warfare (CBW) analysts need readily available, complete and current technical data to assess threats to our country and its citizens. The Biological and Chemical Warfare Online Repository of Technical Holdings System (BACWORTH2) is the most usable and efficient medium for delivering that information. The BACWORTH program will provide a single, highly-focused online collection of classified and unclassified technical reports, scientific studies, and reference documents for chemical and biological warfare.
Funding for this program will create up to 25 new jobs in Yakima County and further enhance Heritage University’s ability to train and equip students and residents with high-tech skills.
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