Legislation authorizing nearly $23 million worth of projects for the Naval Air Engineering Station (Navy Lakehurst) cleared the House Armed Services Committee and is likely headed to the House Floor for a vote next week.

    The Fiscal Year 2004 Defense Authorization bill includes $20.68 million for the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) test site; as well as $2.2 million to build a new headquarters at Lakehurst for the Army’s Mid-Atlantic Recruiting Battalion.

    “I am pleased that my colleagues on the House Armed Services Committee have seen the clear merits in both projects and included them in the FY 04 authorization bill.  The EMALS project will anchor Lakehurst’s future in the development of aircraft launching systems for the next 50 years,” Smith said.

    “Both of these projects will improve the performance of our armed forces and also help strengthen Navy Lakehurst so our base is better prepared to withstand the upcoming 2005 round of base closures,” Smith added.  “As Ocean County’s largest employer, Lakehurst is critical to the overall economic health of the state and region.”

    EMALS is a $373 million Navy program to replace the current generation of steam-based catapults on aircraft carriers, and install new systems to launch aircraft using electromagnetic energy.  The CVN-21 next-generation aircraft carrier, which will begin construction in 2007, will be the first carrier to field the EMALS system.  This project will set up a land-based test site to prove the merits of this emerging technology.

    Once EMALS has been tested and proven at Lakehurst, it will: (a) reduce the stress on airframes during launch, lengthening aircraft service life and saving taxpayer dollars, (b) reduce manning requirements on aircraft carriers, thereby cutting current operating costs, (c) increase aircraft sortie rates and boost carrier firepower, and (d) improve the safety and reliability of one the Navy’s most mission-critical systems aboard the aircraft carrier.

    The new recruiting facility will be the home of the Army’s Mid-Atlantic Recruiting Battalion, which is headquartered at Lakehurst.  The battalion is comprised of more than 260 staff and recruits soldiers from throughout a five-state region that includes New Jersey.