of the ?niteh gtatea Washington, ME EDSIS October 4, 2016 The Honorable Rodney Frelinghuysen The Honorable Peter Visclosky Chairman Ranking Member House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee H-405, The Capitol H-405, The Capitol Washington, DC. 20515 Washington, DC. 20515 Gentlemen: As you head into conference, we write in strong support of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and urge you to continue supporting increased production rates at this critical juncture for the program. The F-35 is essential for US. national security and that of our closest allies like Israel. As you are aware, the F-35 is the nation?s only 5th Generation stealth aircraft currently in production. It is the backbone of future air superiority for all three US Services and many of our most important allies. The F-35?s advanced capabilities are critical to maintaining air superiority in future surface-to-air and air-to-air threat environments without sustaining signi?cant losses. Events around the globe continue to demonstrate the urgent need for the F-35?s capabilities. The program is gaining momentum with the Marine Corps declaring initial operating capability (IOC) last year and the Air Force declaring 10C this summer. We believe it is essential for Congress to provide the funding necessary to continue increasing F-35 production at a rate suf?cient to meet future threats and to reach full rate production of at least 120 US aircraft per year as quickly as possible. Both the House and Senate Defense Appropriations bills support increasing the production rate for the F-35 program. The House bill added 11 F-353 (?ve F-35As, four F-35Cs and two F- 35Bs) for all three Services to ful?ll their unfunded requirements, while the Senate bill added four (two F-35Bs and two F-35Cs). Increasing the production rate is the single most important factor in reducing future aircraft unit costs. Additionally, signi?cantly increasing production is critical to ?elding F-355 in the numbers needed to meet the expected threats in the mid-20205. Furthermore, the Senate bill added $100 million to signi?cantly increase F-3 5A advance procurement to help the Air Force increase its ramp rate in Fiscal Year 2018. We strongly encourage the conferees to support the 11 aircraft added by the House and the $100 million in additional F-35A advance procurement included in the Senate bill. Finally, we are concerned with the signi?cant cuts to Follow-On-Modernization (FOM) included in the Senate bill. These cuts would delay critical FOM capability upgrades needed to ensure the F-35 stays ahead of increasing future threats. We urge the conferees to restore as much of this funding as possible. PRINTED 0N RECYCLED PAPER Thank you for your continued steadfast support for the F-35 program and leadership on behalf of our nation?s armed forces. - butt {gay Ewg M\k\ 4* . Kay Granger John Larson Pete Aguilar Rick Allen Brad Ashford Brian Babin Joe Barton Rob Bishop Sanford Bishop Robert Brady Jim Bridenstine Julia Brownley Cheri Bustos Andre Carson Buddy Carter Mike Cof?nan Chris Collins Doug Collins Joe Courtney Rosa DeLauro Mike Doyle Elizabeth Esty Blake Farenthold Paul Gosar Tom Graves Gene Green Frank Guinta Richard Hanna Alcee Hastings Jody Hice Brian Higgins Jim Himes Duncan Hunter Hank Johnson Bill Johnson Sam Johnson Walter Jones Peter King Adam Kinzinger Ann Kirkpatrick Stephen Knight Ann Kuster Barry Loudermilk Kenny Marchant Jeff Miller Patrick Murphy Grace Napolitano Richard Neal Donald Norcross Pete Olson Bill Pascrell Scott Peters Ted Poe Martha Roby Tom Rooney David Schweikert Austin Scott David Scott Pete Sessions Sinema Scott Tipton David Valadao Marc Veasey Filemon Vela Jackie Walorski Westmoreland Roger Williams Joe Wilson Robert Wittman Rob Woodall