Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 114 Part 3.djvu/125

 PUBLIC LAW 106-398—APPENDIX 114 STAT. 1654A-83 (2) the Secretary of the Army should use the new methodology in the preparation of the budget requests for operation and maintenance for the Army for fiscal years after fiscal year 2001. SEC. 376. REVIEW OF AH-64 AIRCRAFT PROGRAM. (a) REQUIREMENT FOR REVIEW. —The Comptroller General shall conduct a review of the Army's AH-64 aircraft program to determine— (1) whether obsolete spare parts, rather than spare parts for the latest aircraft configuration, are being procured; (2) whether there is insufficient sustaining system technical support; (3) whether technical data packages and manuals are obsolete; (4) whether there are unfunded requirements for airframe and component upgrades; and (5) if one or more of the conditions described in the preceding paragraphs exist, whether the readiness of the aircraft is impaired by the conditions. (b) REPORT.— Not later than March 1, 2001, the Comptroller General shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the results of the review under subsection (a). SEC. 377. REPORT ON AIR FORCE SPARE AND REPAIR PARTS PROGRAM FOR C-5 AIRCRAFT. (a) FINDINGS. —Congress makes the following findings: (1) There exists a significant shortfall in the Nation's current strategic airlift requirement, even though strategic airlift remains critical to the national security strategy of the United States. (2) This shortfall results from the slow phase-out of C- 141 aircraft and their replacement with C-17 aircraft and from lower than optimal reliability rates for the C-5 aircraft. (3) One of the primary causes of these reliability rates for C-5 aircraft, and especially for operational unit aircraft, is the shortage of spare repair parts. Over the past 5 years, this shortage has been particularly evident in the C-5 fleet. (4) Not Mission Capable for Supply rates for C-5 aircraft have increased significantly in the period between 1997 and 1999. At Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, for example, an average of 7 to 9 C-5 aircraft were not available during that period because of a lack of parts. (5) Average rates of cannibalization of C-5 aircraft per 100 sorties of such aircraft have also increased during that period and are well above the Air Mobility Command standard. In any given month, this means devoting additional manhours to cannibalization of C-5 aircraft. At Dover Air Force Base, for example, an average of 800 to 1,000 additional manhours were required for cannibalization of C-5 aircraft during that period. Cannibalization is often required for aircraft that transit through a base such as Dover Air Force Base, as well as those that are based there. (6) High cannibalization rates indicate a significant problem in delivering spare parts in a timely manner and systemic problems within the repair and maintenance process, and also demoralize overworked maintenance crews.

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