Tour of Tucson bone yard comes after House passage of defense spending bill that mandates "shredding" of fighter plane
WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on Saturday will watch the destruction of a decommissioned F-14 fighter jet at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) facility in Tucson.
The Tucson lawmaker's tour of AMARG and viewing of the jet “shredding” comes two days after the House of Representatives passed a military spending bill that included Giffords' legislation to ban the sale of parts specific to the F-14.
Giffords' Stop Arming Iran Act is aimed at making sure F-14 parts do not end up in Iran, the only country now flying the American-made jet. The
The F-14 was used primarily by the U.S. Navy between 1972 and 2006. The plane attained a measure of celebrity status in 1986 with the movie Top Gun.
Located at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, AMARG is home to about 4,100 aircraft and 40 aerospace vehicles from the Air Force, Navy-Marine Corps, Army, Coast Guard, and several federal agencies including NASA. About 171 F-14s are at AMARG.