AF Times backtalk: Airlift answers

[unhappycamper]

Airlift answers
By Jim Saxton

American workers are busy manufacturing the most versatile airlifter ever built. But no new C-17 Globemasters were ordered in the 2008 budget. That means the C-17 plant and hundreds of its parts suppliers across the country will start planning to end production — even though not enough planes have been purchased for the Air Force.

Only 190 C-17s have been ordered to date. Though the Pentagon is pressed to find funding for other weapon programs such as F-22s and F-35s, purchasing less than 222 C-17s would disadvantage future presidents and future military missions that increasingly rely on airlift operations to respond to military contingencies and humanitarian crises.

Congress must immediately fund at least 10 C-17s for 2008 to keep the C-17 production line open for another year, and it needs to provide authorization for the secretary of the Air Force to retire any C-5 he deems necessary.

This is not rocket science. We can spend billions more to upgrade 30-year-old air frames intended to last another 20 years, or spend significantly less money for more capable aircraft that will last more than 40 years.

The C-17 has proven itself time and again. This highly reliable aircraft is the quietest and cleanest military cargo plane ever built. It can land on a short, 3,000-foot, unpaved runway. Unique among jet airlifters, the C-17 can back up and do a U-turn on a 90-foot wide runway.

By comparison, C-5As were first deployed in the late 1960s and require a large operating base with long, paved runways, which are harder and harder to find.


Rest of backtalk at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/community/opinion/airforce_backtalk_c17s_071029/