Schumer, Clinton Announce Senate Approval of $18.4 Million in Defense Funding for Western New York

Press Release

Schumer, Clinton Announce Senate Approval of $18.4 Million in Defense Funding for Western New York

Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton today announced that the Senate has approved the Fiscal Year 2008 Department of Defense Appropriations bill conference report which includes $18.4 million in defense funding for Western New York.

The bill, having been approved by both chambers of Congress, will now be sent to the President for his signature.

"This is terrific news for Western New York and a vital step in the appropriations process," said Senator Schumer. "These critical funds will help us ensure that in defending our nation, we are equipped with the most cutting-edge technology and know-how. All of the institutions awarded here are doing research and work that will boost both our nation's defense forces and the Western New York economy. I will urge the president to sign this bill immediately."

"The Senate's approval of this bill is wonderful news for Western New York, and it is the next step in ensuring that these key projects receive this important funding. As these local companies and institutions continue to build their capacity in support of our men and women in uniform, so too they build the reputation of the region and their own role in support of the local economy. Not only are we supporting our troops serving overseas and at home, but we are also investing in Western New York's local technology, local jobs, and the region's reputation for cutting edge research and development," Senator Clinton said.

The $18.4 million for Western New York in the Fiscal Year 2008 Department of Defense Appropriations bill includes:

Nanodynamics Energy, Inc. - Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Fuel Cell Power Source - $2 Million

Funding will develop a flight weight 300 Watt solid oxide fuel cell system suitable to demonstrate the viability of providing sufficient power for propulsion, sensor, and communication systems for small tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with a solid oxide fuel cell. The demonstration system will be fueled with propane and the development issues associated with a JP-8 version will be identified.

DRS - Unmanned Threat Emitter (UMTE) Modernization - $2.4 Million

This project will upgrade four (4) Unmanned Threat Emitter (UMTE) systems located at one of the key ranges at the Nellis Test and Training Range (NTTR), Range 62/63. The upgrade of the UMTE systems takes advantage of mature electronic warfare threat simulation technology and will result in more realistic training, increased aircrew survivability while providing substantial operations and maintenance savings.

Calspan Corporation - Military Aircraft Loss of Control Training Research - $1 Million

Funding will be used to collect data from military trained pilots, analyze the data, and allow the Navy and military flying community to determine the value of "Upset Recovery Training" and the operational value and risk attached if this training is not provided. Current data collected underscores the inherent danger of pilots flying without this training and the drastic difference in situational awareness and ability to recover an aircraft that would otherwise crash. Once this data is collected, analyzed, and the value of the training is determined and understood, the broader ultimate purpose of this training activity is to teach military pilots in non-fighter aircraft (transport, utility and patrol aircraft, for instance) how to evaluate a never-before-seen situation and maneuver the aircraft back to a safe and stable condition. In the end, the goal is to combine expanded situational awareness, knowledge, and judgment with the requisite stick and rudder skill-sets to successfully master the many flying challenges faced over a career of military operational flying.

Hauptman-Woodward - Virus Mutation and Virus Transfer from Humans to Animals - $3 Million

The long-term goal of this project is to develop tests, vaccines and broad-spectrum antivirals to deal with global pandemic threats, which hit vulnerable populations such as those found in military settings and densely populated communities. Historically, pandemics have most severely devastated people in compact living conditions such as in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. The project will enable the understanding of how mutations occur and how viruses may be transmitted from animals to humans, and the application of knowledge to rapidly develop tests, vaccines and antibiotics when new viruses threaten our military and civilian populations.

Carleton Technologies, Inc. - Microclimate Cooling Unit (MCU) - $1 Million

Funding would procure and install approximately 1100 autonomous, modularly adaptable Microclimate Cooling Units (MCUs) in tactical vehicles. The increased use of armor, both personal and vehicle mounted, coupled with the desert heat in the Middle East has resulted in a critical need for personal cooling to ensure performance and associated mission success. The Army has attempted to mitigate this problem by cooling the vehicle cabin with an add-on air conditioning system. These vehicle-mounted air conditioning systems have had minimal impact because armor and other field gear that soldiers wear prevents the body from being cooled. Army helicopter crew members encountered this same problem in dissipating body heat; however, this thermal stress problem was mitigated by wearing an undergarment through which a chilled fluid is pumped by a small, lightweight power efficient vapor compression based cooling unit. The MCU has been tested and proven effective in Bradley, Stryker, and HUMMWV applications.

Carwell Products - U.S. Marine Corps Mobile Corrosion Prevention and Abatement Program - $1.8 Million

The Marine Corps currently has a requirement of $36.8 million in its corrosion control program. Of the $36.8 million requirement, $15.1 million is required to expand the Marine Corps mobile corrosion efforts. Without additional funding to meet corrosion control requirements, future costs to repair corrosion damaged equipment could be enormous. This funding is needed to establish and continue the operation of Mobile Corrosion Service Teams (CST) at each of the three Marine Expeditionary Forces (MEF) and Support Commands located at: Camp Lejeune, NC; Camp Pendleton, CA; Camp Kinser, Okinawa, Japan; Camp Smith, Kaneohe, HI; Blount Island, FL; and Albany, Ga.

Carwell Products - U.S. Army Reserve Mobile Corrosion Prevention and Abatement Program - $1.8 Million

Over the last few years Congress has provided funding to help establish a corrosion control program for the Army and the Marines. The US Army Reserve (USAR) would like to establish a similar program. The USAR has a critical need for corrosion control in that the Reserve's vehicles and equipment is older, they have fewer Controlled Humidity Units (CHU), and they are currently manned at 62 percent of their required force. This adversely impacts the USAR's ability to support a proper vehicle maintenance program.

Carwell Products - U.S. Army National Guard Corrosion Prevention and Abatement Program - $1.8 Million

Over the last few years Congress has provided funding to help establish a corrosion control program for the Army and the Marines. The Army National Guard (ARNG) would like to establish a similar program. The ARNG has a critical need for corrosion control, in that, the Guard's vehicles and equipment is older, they have a large number of unprotected assets and manning levels are not sufficient to provide extensive maintenance support for corrosion abatement. This adversely impacts the Guard's ability to support a proper vehicle maintenance program.

Janya - Multilingual Text Mining Platform - $1 Million

Funding will be used to develop, field test and deploy the next generation of technologies for extracting useful information from unstructured text, such as open source news, email and message traffic. The developed platform will support DoD intelligence applications where the current technology is insufficient, providing multilingual multi-source intelligence to analysts and warfighters in both tactical and strategic situations, increasing their effective bandwidth when processing intelligence information.

CUBRC - Defense Against Viral Infection (DAVI) - $1.6 Million

Funding will support the application of scientific research that could result in the development of a new generation of anti-viral drugs for the treatment of new and emerging viral threats for which current medical counter-measures are inadequate or non-existent. This effort seeks to identify small ‘druggable' molecules that will be effective against all strains of a given virus, be less susceptible to drug resistance and achieve this faster and at lower cost than the currently accepted drug development models. Success will permit rapid treatment of all members of the Influenza virus family, thereby mitigating the damage to national security which will result from a diminution in military manpower effectiveness sustained in an Influenza pandemic. The high transmissibility of Influenza could lead to significant morbidity and mortality and the crippling of critical national security functions through degradation of defense capability.

Prestolite Electric - No Idle System (NIS) - $1 Million

Funding will be used to develop and demonstrate a market ready capability for enabling military vehicles to operate all electrical systems without running the engine. This capability will help to improve crew survivability. The No Idle System will be a Dual Use program for both military and commercial vehicles as this same technology and resulting system will have direct application to commercial Class 8 Trucks enabling them to meet the anticipated No Idle Federal Legislation.

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