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8 new C-130J military aircraft may come to Valley base, Ryan says

VIENNA — With the U.S. House Appropriations Committee approving $429 million for four more new C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, Congressman Tim Ryan said he’s optimistic that the Youngstown Air Reserve Station will get those four and four others approved last year.

“We’re super excited about this,” Ryan, D-Howland, said Wednesday.

Ryan wrote legislation that specifies the eight planes must go with an Air Force Reserve station with a special mission. YARS and Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., are the only two bases in the nation that fit that category.

YARS is the home of the 910th Airlift Wing, which operates the only large area fixed-wing aerial spray unit within the U.S. Department of Defense.

The $343 million funding for the initial four C-130Js was approved last year by Congress.

The defense appropriations bill, with the four more C-130Js, still needs approval from the full House and Senate.

Ryan said getting it approved by the House Appropriations Committee, of which he’s a member, “is the hardest and biggest step,” and he was “confident it will be approved by the Senate.”

With the four additional planes included in the bill, Ryan said Air Force Reserve officials can do a final analysis on where they and the other four will go.

“They weren’t going to move forward until the money was there,” he said.

The final decision for the location of the planes rests with John P. Roth, secretary of the Air Force.

Ryan said he spoke Tuesday with Lt. Gen. Richard Scobee, chief of the Air Force Reserve, about YARS getting the planes.

“We’re really excited about the possibility of getting” the 130Js, said Col. Jeff Van Dottingh, YARS commander.

YARS currently has nine C-130H planes that are from 1989 to 1992 with one of the planes not used regularly as part of the inventory It had four other C-130H planes moved to other bases in 2013.

The J-models feature upgraded technology not found on older H-models including improved turboprop engines, propellers and digital avionics as well as having greater range, a higher maximum speed and shorter takeoff and landing distances.

Ryan said a decision on where the planes will go could be made soon.

Ryan first announced YARS was one of two finalists for the planes in January 2020.

dskolnick@vindy.com

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