WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today said that several Iowa projects, universities and defense industries will benefit from funding that was passed by the Senate late tonight. The Department of Defense spending bill will now be sent to the President for his signature.
“The federal government’s top priority is to protect the homeland which makes this is one of the most important bills the Congress will pass,” Grassley said. “Aside from providing needed funding for our troops at home and abroad, this bill highlights the critical role that Iowa defense industries and universities play in keeping our nation safe.”
Here is a description of each of the projects that received funding.
Iowa State University
$2 million, Aircraft Evaluation Readiness Initiative – Funding will help provide the Department of Defense with inspection techniques that can effectively be used in the field, as well as in the manufacturing process.
$6.4 million, Future Affordable Multi-Utility Materials for the Army Future Combat Systems – Funding will help unmanned ground and aerial vehicles within Future Combat Systems to autonomously gather intelligence and carry out tactical missions on land and air. The project is expected to minimize manufacturing costs, decrease production time and maximize system performance. Iowa State will receive a portion million for which the work will be performed in Ames. Work will also be performed at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and Florida A&M University.
University of Northern Iowa
$5 million, SOAR (Student Online Achievement Resources Virtual School District) – Funding will be used to provide an Internet-based initiative in math and literacy to assist children from military families, especially as families relocate, providing student assessments and linking schools through a “virtual school district.”
$1.6 million, Spray Technique Analysis and Research for Defense (STAR4D) – Funding will help the STAR4D® program continue to provide significant cost savings, improved quality, military readiness and environmental benefits via training and applied research on painting and corrosion control.
University of Iowa
$1 million, Epidemiologic Health Survey Workers at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant in Middletown – Funding will be used for a study to address health issues relating specifically to the munitions industry. This industry has unique health risks associated with its activities that will be addressed by one of the most comprehensive studies of the industry ever done.
Iowa National Guard, $5 million, Midwest Counterdrug Training Center – Funding will be used to continue to provide the highest quality training at the lowest possible cost to people engaged in the fight against drug trafficking and substance abuse.
Rock Island Arsenal
$11.5 million, Arsenal Support Program Initiative – Funding will be used to encourage commercial firms to utilize and invest in Rock Island Arsenal facilities to reduce product and ownership costs.
$6 million, Roof replacement of Building 299, Phase II – Funding will be used for the second phase of replacing an unsafe and hazardous roof. Money for phase I was provided in the fiscal 2007 spending bill.
Advanced Analytical, Ames, $4.4 million, Portable Rapid Bacterial Warfare Detection Unit – Funding will be used to build a spectral library of Biological Warfare agents. In time, the library will be re-engineered into a miniaturized, portable instrument better suited for field deployment to provide a tool for protection of our troops.
Alcoa, Bettendorf, $4 million, Tactical Wheeled Vehicle Structures for Improved Survivability and Performance – Funding will be used to supply the Army with the kind of lightweight, responsive vehicles that are required in the current environment in order to be able to support their forces in a quicker manner.
Athena GTX, Ames, $2.4 million, Wireless Medical Monitoring System – Funding will help the Army continue to conduct efficient triage and patient transport.
Bioprotection, Ames, $1.48 million, HyperAcute Vaccine Development – Funding will be used to develop prophylactic and therapeutic treatments for infectious diseases with biodefense and bioterror applications. This project would serve to increase the security of Americans against already known threats.
Etrema, Ames, $1.6 million, Galfenol Energy Harvesting – Funding will allow for technology refinement to recover small amounts of energy from the ambient environment to power small electronic devices.
Goodrich, West Des Moines, $3.5 million, Active Combustion Control Systems for Military Aircraft – Funding will be used to help develop a system to revolutionize a jet engine’s fuel consumption and provide a means to reduce engine noise, combustion instability (main or afterburner), emissions and pollutants, and overall improve reliability and reduce life cycle costs.
Mechdyne, Marshalltown, $3.2 million, Shared Vision – Funding would create a single integrated three-dimensional picture of a real environment for commanders and soldiers to plan missions more effectively and improve comprehension of live missions underway.
PMX, Cedar Rapids, $3 million, Copper Antimicrobial Research Program – Funding will be used to demonstrate the effectiveness of copper to inactivate dangerous pathogens in military healthcare settings and other high-risk facilities and to reduce nosocomial (hospital-acquired) infections. This is a national program that PMX will contribute to and benefit from.
Powerfilm, Boone, $1.6 million, Self Powered, Lightweight, Flexible Display Unit on a Plastic Substrate – Funding will be used for a project which will provide a soldier with a lightweight, self powered display in order to give them the ability to view changing information in the heat of battle, building on past work to develop a working prototype for military use.
Rockwell, Cedar Rapids
$8 million, ARC 210 Improved Communications for the A-10 & the F-16 – Funding will provide upgraded communications suites for the Air National Guard F-16 and A-10 aircraft in order to perform its mission critical requirements with a Beyond-Line-of-Sight Satellite Communications capability for conducting time-sensitive communications.
$7.2 million, Global Air Traffic Management for the KC-135 – Funding will be used to equip its applicable aircraft with a capability to comply with the mandated schedule. Aircraft that do not possess new communications/navigation capabilities will be denied access to airspace where such capabilities are mandated.
$4 million, Defense Advanced GPS Receiver – Funding will be used to create additional GPS receivers to supplement those used by our war fighters, and for situational awareness capability for the individual soldier in order to harness battlefield information and operate radios/position/navigation system.