Senate Armed Services Committee to cut Chinook upgrade

The Senate Armed Services Committee will grant the Army its requested cuts to the Chinook program, a committee aide said today.

"We support the president's budget [on the Chinook]," the aide said during a press briefing on the committee’s mark-up of the fiscal year 2020 defense policy bill.

The Army in its FY-20 request proposed a $28 million cut to the helicopter's advance procurement account to fund modernization efforts by canceling the Block II upgrade, which the House Appropriations Committee rejected earlier this month.

The move would set modernization program efforts back nearly $1 billion over five years and delay the development of the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, according to Army Secretary Mark Esper.

House Armed Services Committee member Donald Norcross (D-NJ) told Inside Defense this week the HASC is considering options to adjust the Army’s request for the Chinook program.