What do Boeing jets and Army Strykers have to with COVID-19? GOP plan has billions for defense

The next COVID-19 economic stimulus coming out of Congress could include billions of dollars for the defense industry, including large contractors like Boeing.

A plan released this week by Senate Republicans would steer $29 billion to Pentagon programs. The money could help the defense industry weather the recession, but it’s also drawing criticism from Democrats who say it doesn’t belong in a bill meant to help workers deal with the economic havoc caused by the pandemic.

“While it is true that COVID-19 poses a real and credible threat to our national security, you don’t have to be a doctor or a four-star general to understand that spending billions on new helicopters, combat vehicles and fighter jets is not the solution to this complex problem,” said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Federal Way, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Some of the programs that would gain funding in the GOP plan are familiar to anyone driving on Interstate 5 in Washington State.

The bill includes $1 billion for the Navy’s P-8A Poseidon jets, the submarine-hunting aircraft that Boeing often finishes at its Seattle airfield.

It also has $375 million for Double V-hull Army Strykers, a variation of the eight-wheeled infantry carriers used by two brigades at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The Army developed the extra-armored vehicle to better withstand buried bombs that JBLM soldiers encountered on the first Stryker brigade deployment to Afghanistan in 2009.

And, the GOP coronavirus package would earmark $283 million for new AH-64 Apache helicopters. A squadron of the attack helicopters is based at JBLM.

Smith called the Republican proposal “weak.” He encouraged implementing policies to support smaller defense manufacturers who’ve been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

More than 60 percent of companies with less than $1 million in annual revenue have seen a cash-flow disruption and expect to have long-term financial issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey of 770 small business by the National Defense Industrial Association.

Lawmakers and the Trump administration are in negotiations on the stimulus package, which also is expected to include extended unemployment benefits. The Republican package is projected to cost about $1 trillion, while a plan approved by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives would cost about $3 trillion.

This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 5:00 AM.