A Seven Aircraft Fudge Factor: The C-17 is in such heavy demand and working so well, in fact, that the fleet is being worn out at a dramatic rate. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, speaking at a Capitol Hill seminar Wednesday, said the C-17s are being used up at a rate “60 percent faster” than was envisioned, hence the addition of seven new C-17s in the Air Force 2007 unfunded priorities list. Wynne added that the business term for this situation is “accelerated depreciation.”
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall doesn’t see great value in trying to break the Sentinel ICBM program off as a separate budget item the way the Navy has with its ballistic-missile submarine program, saying such a move wouldn’t create any new money for the Air Force to spend on other…