Press Releases

U.S. Representative Don Bacon delivered the following opening remarks at a Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces hearing on the U.S. Army's Tactical Wheeled Vehicle program and the Army's current views on the potential and practicality of tactical vehicle electrification.

I appreciate your leadership in holding this hearing so that we may gain a better understanding of the Army's current and future plans for its tactical wheeled vehicle programs.

As we await the delivery of the President's budget request, I am concerned about the proposed FY22 defense topline, and what that could mean for both our Nation's defense capabilities and for our soldiers. In recent years, the Army's tactical wheeled vehicle programs have been funded at or below minimum sustaining rates and have at times been used as bill payers for the Army's higher priority programs. This appears to be the likely case for the FY22 budget request as well.

I am particularly interested in gaining a better understanding from today's hearing of what impacts these funding and prioritization choices are having on the Army's wheeled vehicle programs. From a strategic and operational risk management perspective, I expect the witnesses to address how tactical wheeled vehicle modernization and procurement fits into the Army's priorities, and what they see as the most significant challenges to modernizing and sustaining a ready tactical wheeled vehicle fleet.

I also want to know what strategic risks and additional future costs the Army may be imposing on the wheeled vehicle programs and the industrial base needed to produce and sustain them. As we all know, cutting plans and funding for development and procurement programs creates vendor uncertainty and a lack of predictability over time. Doing so, also increases unit costs and risks the loss of industrial capacity, capability, and resilience. I expect our witnesses today to address these concerns as well.

I also look forward to today's discussion on the future electrification of combat and tactical vehicles, and the Army's initial efforts to collaborate with electric vehicle (EV) industrial partners to explore potential options. I understand that there are some potential benefits the electrification may provide, but there are also significant integration obstacles to achieving and maintaining operational capability in the dangerous and austere environments in which these tactical vehicles must be able to operate. I expect our witnesses to provide a realistic assessment of the potential practicality, operational value, costs, and technical development challenges of tactical wheeled vehicle electrification.

I want to thank our witnesses for testifying before us today, and for all you do to support America's Soldiers.