Letter to Secretary of the Navy H.T. Johnson

July 3, 2003

The Honorable H.T. Johnson Secretary of the Navy 1000 Navy Pentagon Washington, D.C. 20350-1000

Dear Secretary Johnson:

We write to express our strong support for continued T-45 "Goshawk" procurement to meet the Navy's long-standing requirement of 234 aircraft and for the Required Avionics Modernization Plan (RAMP).

The underpinning of a successful Navy flight training program, especially one designed to train pilots to fly the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the planned F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, must be based on a properly sized and fully modernized fleet of T-45s. The elements are in place, to include ongoing T-45 production and RAMP, to ensure a robust and fully modernized Navy undergraduate flight training program for the next 20 years, if the decision is made this summer to allocate sufficient funds in fiscal year 2005 and the next few years.

We know that you share our commitment to meet the Navy's requirement of a fully modernized fleet of 234 T-45s. The challenge here is budgetary. We hope you will allocate the resources necessary to complete this program in as cost-effective a manner as possible.

Thank you for your consideration of our request. We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest opportunity.

Sincerely,

James M. Talent U.S. Senator

Solomon Ortiz Member of Congress

Richard J. Durbin U.S. Senator

Charles W. "Chip" Pickering Member of Congress

John Cornyn U.S. Senator

W. Todd Akin Member of Congress

Pete V. Domenici U.S. Senator

Randy "Duke" Cunningham Member of Congress

Trent Lott U.S. Senator