Boeing Integrated Defense Systems president, James Albaugh, says that he expects to see an order for additional C-17s from USAF in the 2008 war supplemental. In late October, Boeing declared, again, that it would keep the C-17 production line going with its own funds, expecting to see new orders from the Air Force in either the 2008 defense authorization or the supplemental. Now, according to Bloomberg News (via Los Angeles Times), Albaugh told a gathering in New York, “We see 10 to 14 being ordered based on testimony from the Air Force and what we’ve heard on Capitol Hill.” Air Force leaders have told Congress that it wants to purchase more new C-17s because the C-5 modernization effort, at least for the A model, the oldest of the mammoth airlifter, is questionable, both from a cost and a practicality standpoint. Some lawmakers agree, but some do not. Questions about the Air Force estimate of C-5 mod cost increases have prompted Defense Undersecretary Gordon England to call for a review, but initial indications were that he suspects a proposed Lockheed Martin fix to the program might entail hidden costs.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.