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It’s foolhardy for the Biden administration to start phasing out Pa.-made Army helicopters

The Chinook, which is made in Ridley Park, is a workhorse of military aviation. Its replacement won't be ready until 2030. It's absurd to move on without fully thinking through a transition.

U.S. Marines direct a Chinook helicopter as it picks up a container of supplies in southern Afghanistan in June 2011.
U.S. Marines direct a Chinook helicopter as it picks up a container of supplies in southern Afghanistan in June 2011.Read moreAnja Niedringhaus / AP

As a newly assigned lieutenant in the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, N.C., in 1988, I recall vividly first seeing the silhouette of a Chinook helicopter streaking across the horizon with a Humvee and an artillery piece sling loaded beneath its underbelly. With its two rotors, 10 tons of lift capacity, armored sides, and dual miniguns, it looked like some sort of prehistoric creature descending on our small platoon.

In the months and years that followed, I came to appreciate the Chinook as the workhorse of Army aviation, unique in its capacity to deliver equipment, firepower, and paratroopers like me to the battlefield.

Now after more than six decades of service to our nation, Chinooks, which are built in Ridley Park, risk being unceremoniously — and wrongheadedly — phased out of use by our military.

To be sure, I have long been a vocal advocate of transitioning from legacy platforms to more capable, survivable platforms suited to the new generation of warfare.

But why — as war rages on NATO’s doorstep and Beijing saber rattles in the Taiwanese Straits — would we willingly weaken our defense industrial base further without needed replacements in sight? Sadly, we keep repeating the same mistakes.

A few years ago, I cochaired a bipartisan task force with former Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson on behalf of the Ronald Reagan Institute focused on the erosion of our defense industrial base and America’s advanced manufacturing capacity. What this task force, which included Pennsylvania Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, found was chilling. From 1998 to 2017, nearly 70,000 small- and medium-sized suppliers disappeared, gutting our manufacturing ecosystem.

As a result, the U.S. military now depends on China for key components of its weapons. Single production lines, like Ridley Park, sustain entire weapons systems at a time when our ability to mass-produce munitions and ships, in particular, has all but withered away.

The war in Ukraine has brought those lessons crashing home, but I fear those running the show in Washington aren’t paying attention. Not only are Chinooks on the chopping block but the Ridley Park V-22 Osprey line may also be eliminated. Based on the Biden administration’s defense priorities, they are not alone.

Yes, America must innovate faster, but it cannot afford to abandon its existing defense industrial base in the process.

In time, new platforms and cutting-edge technologies will make the U.S. military even more lethal and fearsome. But the new Future Vertical Lift program, which is set to replace Chinooks and other military helicopters, won’t be in place until 2030 at the very earliest. Managing the transition from old to new will require more thoughtful decision-making by those running the Pentagon.

Shutting down production lines now and waiting for something new to come along may be penny-wise, but it would be pound-foolish. Moscow and Beijing might applaud such policies, but those in uniform on the front line — and the hardworking Americans put out of a job — not so much.

Washington must accelerate procurement of critical military equipment and build greater production capacity, especially new shipyards. Given the threats we face, we don’t have a choice.

Pennsylvania has a long, proud history as the arsenal of democracy. In World War II, it produced the steel that fueled the war effort. Today, the light of freedom burns on in Ridley Park and in the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, where Pennsylvanians make 155 mm artillery shells by the thousands. If the Biden administration has its way, the light could soon go out. That would be a terrible blow not only to Pennsylvania but also to America’s security.

David McCormick is a West Point graduate and combat veteran who served as U.S. Treasury under secretary for international affairs. He ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2022.