HR 1735 PCS
presence of the air defenses found 
with enemy ground maneuver units. 
(II) The ability to effectively tar-
get and destroy moving, camouflaged, 
or dug-in troops, and artillery. 
(III) The ability to engage, tar-
get, and destroy tanks and armored 
personnel carriers, including with re-
spect to the carrying capacity of 
armor-piercing weaponry, including 
mounted cannons and missiles. 
(IV) The ability to remain within 
visual range of friendly forces and tar-
gets to facilitate responsiveness to 
ground forces and minimize re-attack 
times. 
(V) The ability to safely conduct 
close air support beneath low cloud 
ceilings and in reduced visibilities at 
low airspeeds in the presence of the 
air defenses found with enemy ground 
maneuver units. 
(VI) The ability of the pilot and 
aircraft to survive direct hits from 
small 
arms, 
machine 
guns, 
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MANPADs, and lower caliber anti-air-
craft artillery organic or attached to 
enemy ground forces and maneuver 
units. 
(VII) The ability to communicate 
effectively with ground forces and 
downed pilots, including in commu-
nications jamming or satellite-denied 
environments. 
(VIII) The ability to execute the 
missions described in subclauses (I), 
(II), (III), and (IV) in a GPS- or sat-
ellite-denied environment with or with-
out sensors. 
(IX) The ability to deliver mul-
tiple lethal firing passes and sustain 
long loiter endurance to support 
friendly forces throughout extended 
ground engagements. 
(X) The ability to operate from 
unprepared dirt, grass, and narrow 
road runways and to generate high 
sortie rates under these austere condi-
tions. 
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(ii) Identification and assessment of 
gaps in the ability of existing and pro-
grammed mission platforms in providing 
required capabilities to conduct missions 
specified in clause (i) in both contested and 
uncontested battle environments. 
(iii) Assessment of operational effec-
tiveness of existing and programmed mis-
sion platforms to conduct missions speci-
fied in clause (i) in both contested and 
uncontested battle environments. 
(iv) Assessment of probability of like-
lihood of conducting missions requiring 
troops-in-contact/close air support oper-
ations specified in clause (i) in contested 
environments as compared to uncontested 
environments. 
(v) Any other matters the independent 
entity or the Secretary of the Air Force de-
termines to be appropriate. 
(2) REPORT.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than Sep-
tember 30, 2016, the Secretary of the Air 
Force shall submit to the congressional defense 
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committees a report that includes the assess-
ment required under paragraph (1). 
(B) FORM.—The report required under 
subparagraph (A) may be submitted in classi-
fied form, but shall also contain an unclassified 
executive summary and may contain an unclas-
sified annex. 
(3) NONDUPLICATION OF EFFORT.—If any in-
formation required under paragraph (1) has been in-
cluded in another report or notification previously 
submitted to Congress by law, the Secretary of the 
Air Force may provide a list of such reports and no-
tifications at the time of submitting the report re-
quired under paragraph (2) in lieu of including such 
information in the report required under paragraph 
(2). 
SEC. 134. PROHIBITION ON RETIREMENT OF EC–130H AIR-
CRAFT. 
(a) PROHIBITION ON AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR 
RETIREMENT.—None of the funds authorized to be appro-
priated by this Act or otherwise made available for fiscal 
year 2016 for the Air Force may be obligated or expended 
to retire, prepare to retire, or place in storage or on 
backup aircraft inventory status any EC–130H aircraft. 
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(b) ADDITIONAL LIMITATION ON RETIREMENT.—In 
addition to the limitation in subsection (a), the Secretary 
of the Air Force may not retire, prepare to retire, or place 
in storage or on backup flying status any EC–130H air-
craft until a period of 60 days has elapsed following the 
date on which the Secretary submits the report under sub-
section (c)(3)(A). 
(c) STUDY ON REPLACEMENT CAPABILITY REQUIRE-
MENTS OR MISSION PLATFORM FOR THE EC–130H AIR-
CRAFT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Air 
Force shall commission an assessment of the re-
quired capabilities or mission platform to replace the 
EC–130H aircraft. This assessment would represent 
preparatory work to inform an analysis of alter-
natives. 
(2) 
ELEMENTS.—The 
assessment 
required 
under paragraph (1) shall include each of the fol-
lowing: 
(A) Future needs analysis for the current 
EC–130H aircraft electronic warfare mission 
set to include suppression of sophisticated 
enemy air defense systems, advanced radar 
jamming, avoiding radar detection, communica-
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tions, sensing, satellite navigation, command 
and control, and battlefield awareness. 
(B) A review of operating concepts for air-
borne electronic attack. 
(C) An assessment of upgrades to the elec-
tronic warfare systems of EC–130H aircraft, 
the costs of such upgrades, and expected up-
grades through 2025, and the expected service 
life of EC–130H aircraft. 
(D) A review of the global proliferation of 
more sophisticated air defenses and advanced 
commercial digital electronic devices which 
counter the airborne electronic attack capabili-
ties of the United States by state and non-state 
actors. 
(E) An assessment of the ability of the 
current EC–130H fleet to meet to meet tasking 
requirements of the combatant commanders. 
(F) Any other matters the Secretary deter-
mines appropriate. 
(3) REPORT.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than Sep-
tember 30, 2016, the Secretary shall submit to 
the congressional defense committees a report 
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