Study would be needed before ending Boeing C-130 program

OKLAHOMA CITY — The U.S. House Armed Services Committee has approved a defense funding bill that would delay efforts to end a program in Oklahoma City to upgrade the cockpits of U.S. Air Force C-130 transport planes.

The committee voted 56-5 Thursday for the National Defense Authorization Act — sending the bill to the full House. The bill includes a call for a cost-benefit comparison of ending the C-130-Avionics Modernization Program versus continuing the program.

President Barack Obama's federal budget proposal announced in February called for ending the C-130 program at an estimated savings of $2.3 billion through 2017.

Chicago-based Boeing announced in 2010 it would move about 550 employees from Long Beach, Calif., to Oklahoma City to work on upgrades to both the C-130 and to the weapons system on the B-1 bomber.