A long-term continuing resolution could “potentially break programs apart,” Air Mobility Command chief Gen. Carlton Everhart said Tuesday. “I have moved programs and shifted programs across the [Future Years Defense Program] so I can pay the immediate bills, but I will submit to you that any more tweaking of that, and I am cutting into the bone. There’s no more fat, there’s no more muscle; I’m cutting into the bone,” Everhart told the audience at the National Defense Transportation Association fall meeting in St. Louis. “So we’re watching this very closely as it comes up, and we’re working hand in hand with Congress to make sure that the budget stays viable.” Everhart said discussions will continue in a few weeks. In September, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein warned a long-term continuing resolution would reduce the service’s requested budget by $1.3 billion and, in turn, reduce the number of KC-46s it can procure from 15 to 12 in 2017. It also will affect at least 60 acquisition projects, said Goldfein at the time.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.