The following amendments have been reported out of Committee from Chairman Levin and Ranking Inhofe, for consideration during floor time of the fiscal year 2014 National Defense Authorization Act. Below is a list with commentary on potential impact to DoD contractors.

***AS REPORTED FROM BLOOMBERG GOVERNMENT”***

— An amendment (No. 2121) by Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal and Texas Republican John Cornyn seeks a report on the potential for U.S.-made helicopters to be incorporated into the fleet of Afghan national security forces. In 2012, the U.S. government spent $10.2 billion on helicopters. The top vendor was United Technologies Corp. with $3.67 billion. Its Sikorsky Aircraft unit is based in Stratford, Connecticut.

The U.S. has been purchasing Russian helicopters from Rosoboronexport for Afghan forces. Earlier this month, the Pentagon said it won’t buy more Russian Mi-17s after completing a $572 million contract signed in June, Bloomberg’s Tony Capaccio reports.

— An amendment (No. 2064) by Maine Republican Susan Collins and Maine IndependentAngus King would let the Secretary of the Navy settle litigation about termination of the A-12 bomber program in return for a $198 million credit from General Dynamics Corp.toward the DDG 1002 destroyer program and receipt of three EA-18G Growler aircraft from Boeing Co. worth as much as $198 million.

— An amendment (No. 2511) by Texas Republican Ted Cruz would authorize the secretary of State to pay a reward of not more than $10 million to any individual who furnishes information leading to the arrest of any individual who was part of the terrorist attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya.

— An amendment (No. 2282) by Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden would expand several test ranges: White Sands, New Mexico; Fort Bliss, Texas; China Lake, Chocolate Mountain and Twentynine Palms, California; and Limestone Hills, Montana. The text was drawn from three bills that the Senate Natural Resources Committee approved on Nov. 14: S. 753, S. 1168 and S. 1309. Expansion of the ranges might present an opportunity for the contractors that already work at those sites. Those include San Diego-based T.B. Penick & Sons Inc., awarded $115 million in 2010.

— An amendment (No. 2204) by Levin and Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe seeks to extend through fiscal 2015 a program permitting military equipment to be loaned to other countries for personnel protection.

— An amendment (No. 2251) by West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin seeks annual reports for the next five years on projected force strength, projected changes and the risks posed by those personnel levels.

— An amendment (No. 2442) by Delaware Democrat Chris Coons seeks a report on national security objectives in Somalia.

— An amendment (No. 2171) by Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill and Arizona Republican John McCain would require a report on military personnel missing in action and on efforts to repatriate the remains of those missing in action or taken prisoner, going back to the Korean War. It also would direct the Pentagon to consider creating a single, central command responsible for accounting for MIAs and POWs.

— An amendment (No. 2031) by Inhofe would set up “Gold Star Family Advocates” in each service branch to serve as ombudsmen for spouses and dependents of service members who die on active duty.

— An amendment (No. 2038) by Georgia Republican Saxby Chambliss and Montana Democrat Jon Tester would change the calculation of active-duty or active-service days to reduce the retirement eligibility age for non-regular service.

— An amendment (No. 2062) by South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham and Utah Republican Orrin Hatch would direct the Pentagon to ensure that in recruitment and enlistment all secondary-school graduates meet the same standards on tests, assessments or screening tools.

— An amendment (No. 2093) by South Dakota Republican John Thune would express the sense of the Senate that the Air Force should prioritize development and acquisition of the Long Range Strike Bomber and give high budget priority to upgrading the existing bomber fleet of Boeing Co. B-1Bs, Northrop Grumman Corp. B-2s and Boeing B-52 bombers.

— An amendment by California Democrat Barbara Boxer (No. 2081) would require a preliminary hearing to establish probable cause that an offense has been committed by the accused before charges are referred to a general court-martial for trial.

— An amendment (No. 2263) by Arizona Republican Jeff Flake would prohibit the use of noncompetitive procedures for offensive anti-surface warfare weapon contracts. The Defense Secretary could waive the ban if it’s determined that a waiver is in the national interest.

— An amendment (No. 2287) by Illinois Republican Mark Kirk would prohibit the integration of Chinese missile defense systems into the the missile defense system of the U.S. or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Turkey has extended until Jan. 31 the deadline for submitting bids to co-produce missile defense systems after the U.S. criticized the NATO ally for selecting state-run China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corp.

— An amendment (No. 2348) by Nebraska Republican Mike Johanns would require quarterly briefings on the status of proposals to elevate the U.S. Cyber Command to a unified combatant command. The briefings would include costs and advantages and disadvantages of elevating the Cyber Command.

— An amendment (No. 2365) by Kansas Republican Jerry Moran would require the Defense secretary to develop a strategy for integrating the reserve components of the Armed Forces into the total force to support the cyber missions of the U.S. Cyber Command.

— An amendment (No. 2453) by Utah Republican Mike Lee provides that it would be the sense of Congress on further nuclear arms reductions with Russia that such reductions be pursued through mutual negotiated agreement and should take into account the range of nuclear weapons capabilities that threaten the U.S.

— An amendment (No. 2461) by Ohio Republican Rob Portman would provide for briefings on the status of implementation of certain missile defense requirements. The briefings would include progress on preparation of environmental impact statements and the development of the contingency plan for deployment of an additional homeland missile defense interceptor site.

— An amendment (No. 2283) by New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand would reaffirm the missile defense cooperation between the U.S. and Israel and urges improved coordination of the two countries’ missile defense programs. The Defense secretary would be required to submit a report on the status of the missile defense coordination no later than a year after the enactment of the defense authorization measure.

— An amendment (No. 2415) by Virginia Democrat Mark Warner would require a strategy to prioritize which individuals with security clearances receive frequent investigation and random checks, focusing on individuals with the broadest access to sensitive classified information.

— An amendment (No. 2243) by New Mexico Democrat Martin Heinrich would reaffirm support for the military space program.

— An amendment (No. 2391) by North Carolina Democrat Kay Hagan and Nebraska Republican Deb Fischer seeks a briefing on plans for carrying out the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, which was set up to dismantle Soviet weapons of mass destruction and later expanded into non-Soviet countries in Africa and other parts of the world.