Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 120.djvu/2142

 PUBLIC LAW 109–364—OCT. 17, 2006

120 STAT. 2111

(B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new paragraph (2): ‘‘(2) The term ‘ship critical safety item’ means any ship part, assembly, or support equipment containing a characteristic the failure, malfunction, or absence of which could cause a catastrophic or critical failure resulting in loss of or serious damage to the ship or unacceptable risk of personal injury or loss of life.’’; and (C) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated— (i) by inserting ‘‘or ship critical safety item’’ after ‘‘aviation critical safety item’’; (ii) by inserting ‘‘, or the seaworthiness of a ship or ship equipment,’’ after ‘‘equipment’’; and (iii) by striking ‘‘the item’’ and inserting ‘‘such item’’.

Subtitle D—Air Force Programs SEC. 131. BOMBER FORCE STRUCTURE.

(a) REQUIREMENT FOR B–52 FORCE STRUCTURE.— (1) RETIREMENT LIMITATION.—During the B–52 retirement limitation period, the Secretary of the Air Force— (A) may not retire more than 18 B–52 aircraft; and (B) shall maintain not less than 44 such aircraft as combat-coded aircraft. (2) B–52 RETIREMENT LIMITATION PERIOD.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the B–52 retirement limitation period is the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on the date that is the earlier of— (A) January 1, 2018; and (B) the date as of which a long-range strike replacement aircraft with equal or greater capability than the B–52H model aircraft has attained initial operational capability status. (b) LIMITATION ON RETIREMENT PENDING REPORT ON BOMBER FORCE STRUCTURE.— (1) LIMITATION.—No funds authorized to be appropriated for the Department of Defense may be obligated or expended for retiring any of the 93 B–52H bomber aircraft in service in the Air Force as of the date of the enactment of this Act until 45 days after the date on which the Secretary of the Air Force submits the report specified in paragraph (2). (2) REPORT.—A report specified in this subsection is a report submitted by the Secretary of the Air Force to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives on the amount and type of bomber force structure of the Air Force, including the matters specified in paragraph (4). (3) AMOUNT AND TYPE OF BOMBER FORCE STRUCTURE DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘amount and type of bomber force structure’’ means the number of each of the following types of aircraft that are required to carry out the national security strategy of the United States: (A) B–2 bomber aircraft. (B) B–52H bomber aircraft. (C) B–1 bomber aircraft.

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