USAF faces airlift battle

Posted on: Nov. 9th, 2005 || Source: flightinternational.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

USAF faces airlift battle

Airlift plans are emerging as the newest feud between US Air Force and top US Department of Defense officials who are already scrapping over future purchases of fighters and command-and-control aircraft.

The USAF is seeking to buy at least 42 more Boeing C-17s on top of its current $60 billion programme to purchase 180 of the aircraft, around 140 of which have already been delivered.

Boeing says it needs a commitment for new aircraft no later than January to avoid major production-line disruptions and cost increases. But a long-awaited, DoD-initiated review of future mobility needs is likely to dispute the service’s call to buy more airlifters.

The Mobility Capability Study (MCS), briefed in draft form to Congressional staffers last month, finds the planned force structure for airlifters already sufficient. “It says we don’t need radical investments” to meet military mobility objectives, says one staffer.

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