New Air Force Planes Go Directly to 'Boneyard'

[Ichingcarpenter]

New cargo planes on order for the U.S. Air Force are being delivered straight into storage in the Arizona desert because the military has no use for them, a Dayton Daily News investigation found.

A dozen nearly new C-27J Spartans from Ohio and elsewhere have already been taken out of service and shipped to the so-called boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson. Five more are expected to be built by April 2014, all of which are headed to the boneyard unless another use for them is found.


The Air Force has spent $567 million on 21 C-27J aircraft since 2007, according to purchasing officials at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Sixteen had been delivered by the end of September.
The Air Force almost had to buy more of the planes against its will, the newspaper found. A solicitation issued from Wright-Patterson in May sought vendors to build more C-27Js, citing Congressional language requiring the military to spend money budgeted for the planes, despite Pentagon protests.

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/10/07/new-air-force-planes-go-directly-to-boneyard.html?comp=700001075741&rank=4

[Uncle Joe]

1. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Ichingcarpenter.

[TheDebbieDee]

23. This "Boneyard" also acts as a storage facility for aircraft. Commercial airlines

also use the "Boneyard" to store aircraft until they are needed. Perhaps the aircraft were ordered at a time when things were hot and heavy in Iraq or Afghanistan? You just never know when peace will break out and make your weapons and other military assets unneeded!

Silly old peace......

[Buddha_of_Wisdom]

37. I used to work at Davis-Monthan.. they are the real graveyards

and the real reason MIC needs to stop spending money on defense and sell the older planes in storage to third world countries with zero logisitics support....

[coldmountain]

2. Supposedly the Coast Guard and firefighting services are interested in them

The Coast Guard is looking to benefit from the Air Force’s retirement of the C-27J Spartan transport aircraft.

Twenty-one of the aircraft were set to be decommissioned at the end of the fiscal year. The National Defense Authorization Act carved out seven for the Forest Service for firefighting activities.

That leaves 14 potentially available for the Coast Guard, said Vice Adm. John Currier, the service’s vice commandant, during a House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure hearing.

They would serve as search-and-rescue aircraft, along with the new HC-144A Ocean Sentry, built by EADS North America.

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2013/August/Pages/SurplusC-27JSpartansCouldMeanBigWindfallforCoastGuard.aspx

[neverforget]

3. But we have no money.....

[Scuba]

4. Yeah, but doncha feel safer?

[jberryhill]

5. Congresscritters want to see those planes built

But beyond the cost of a plane is the continued cost of crewing it, maintaining it, etc. for a mission that doesn't exist and for which there are no funds.

[annabanana]

6. but HEY. you gotta cut the foodstamps

Doncha know....

[trof]

7. And it's made by an Italian manufacturer. Photo and wiki link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alenia_C-27J_Spartan

[James48]

12. more-

Engines are assembled in Indianapolis.
Props come from Connecticut.

Glass cockpit is mostly an L-3 product, made in florida, arizona, california and michigan.

they cost $53 million each.

[Owl]

18. So basically as Trof said it's an Italian made plane.

[TheDebbieDee]

21. Lol !

[bahrbearian]

8. How long before the F-22 and F-35 go there?

[Owl]

19. The F-35 program should have been canceled in entirety yesterday. And the day before that, etc..

[Enthusiast]

36. You must hate us for our freedumbs.

[procon]

9. Ohio? Oh my...

Would that happen to be John Boehner's Ohio?

The same John Boehner who has been popping up on my teevee and blubbering about wasteful Dem spending?

[Lurks Often]

10. Boehner's Ohio and Sherrod Brown's Ohio as well

Pork is bi-partisan

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/10/07/new-air-force-planes-go-directly-to-boneyard.html?comp=700001075741&rank=4

[Brother Buzz]

11. Boehner brings home the bacon to Ohio

Airplanes and tanks, too:

Congress buys tanks Army doesn't want
Lima, Ohio, is home to only Abrams factory
4/29/2013


WASHINGTON — Built to dominate the enemy in combat, the Army’s hulking Abrams tank is proving equally hard to beat in a budget battle.

Lawmakers from both parties have devoted nearly a half-billion dollars in taxpayer money over the last two years to building improved versions of the 70-ton Abrams.

But senior Army officials have said repeatedly, “No, thanks.”

It’s the inverse of the federal budget world these days, in which automatic spending cuts are leaving sought-after pet programs struggling or unpaid.

Yet in the case of the Abrams tank, there’s a bipartisan push to spend an extra $436 million on a weapon the experts explicitly say is not needed.

<more>

Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2013/04/29/Congress-buys-tanks-Army-doesn-t-want.html#26ELEY3r7j5mow7e.99

[Auggie]

14. This type of crap has been happening for a long time

[Brother Buzz]

17. That's understood, and it's their job to bring home the bacon

I just find it interesting both contracts benefit Ohio, Boehner's home state. Coincidence?

[Auggie]

24. No coincidence -- and you know Boehner's getting greased too. What infuriates me,

is how that money could be used in Ohio to promote more constructive endeavors -- infrastructure repair, non-military manufacturing, alternate energies, etc.

[tammywammy]

27. The Abrams tank is a disgusting waste of money. n/t

[Brother Buzz]

28. But it puts food on their families for the select few working in the plant

[tammywammy]

30. I understand that completely, but it's still a disgusting waste of money

Your argument is why it's still in production though the Pentagon has vehemently said they don't want it. IMHO I think the Abrams will ultimately be obsolete with roll out of the GCV and JLTV.

[Brother Buzz]

31. I should learn to use that sarcasm thingy more often

My post was a jab at that idiot, W:

[tammywammy]

32. Oh, ha ha.

When I read what you said, I must have automatically adjusted the sentence.

[Jesus Malverde]

41. Tanks are a game changer in Syria. It all depends on your enemy...nt

[cantbeserious]

13. Here Is An Image Of A Perfectly Serviceable Cargo Plane Put Out To Pasture

[TransitJohn]

15. Entitlements are not the problem. Big K&R

Thanks.

[Motown_Johnny]

16. But 60 Minutes goes after people on Disability

[jmowreader]

20. You know what the perfect weapon is, right?

It's one that has at least one part built in each of our 435 congressional districts.

Strange thing about this plane: not only is it pretty much an Italian aircraft, it's also a baby C-130...the Air Force keeps screaming that they have enough C-130s thank you very much, so why the hell did Congress think buying these was a good idea?

[Warren DeMontague]

22. Aint that just a metaphor for the whole thing?

Yeah, yeah it is.

[Blue_Tires]

40. +1

[Junkdrawer]

25. There's corruption, then there's CORRUPTION....

we're becoming completely dysfunctional.

The wheels are coming off.

[ThoughtCriminal]

26. I wonder if it would make a good firefighting tanker?

Meanwhile, there's a shortage of fire tankers:

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_23474790/national-shortage-large-air-tankers-constrains-firefighting-efforts

[Spitfire of ATJ]

29. Oh, that's funny. The C-27J cost $27 million a pop. What will the C-28J cost?

[Kennah]

34. I'm guessing $33 million a pop, or on special at $75 million for two. What a bargain!

[benld74]

33. Gee, ya mean the military COULD have CUT their budgets?????????

[tsuki]

35. They need to move over to make way for the F-35. nt

[uponit7771]

38. RED STATE WELFARE!!!

[Rex]

39. The govt wastes billions, while millions of American children go to bed hungry every night.

nt.

[bvar22]

42. If this money had been spent building a State-of-the-Art High Speed Rail System,

using ONLY parts manufactured in the US,
not only would we have created MORE good paying jobs,
but the American People would have something useful to show for their money for DECADES instead of just sending it straight down the toilet.

It really isn't about The MONEY.
It IS about HOW it is spent (or thrown away).

[NickB79]

43. Convert them for firefighting service

The West is gonna keep burning for years (decades?) to come as climate change dries out the forests and allows beetle populations to explode and kill trees.

[Liberal_in_LA]

44. what a waste. sell them to another country