NATO members would do well to buy or lease some C-17s for their strategic airlift needs, the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, US Marine Corps Gen. James Jones said March 6 at a Pentagon press conference. According to Jones the European decision to go with an EADS A-400M airlifter, which is still on the drawing board, is shortsighted, since the aircraft won’t meet the whole requirement. Jones says the A-400M is “a tactical aircraft, not a strategic aircraft,” and added that “there’s a need for both.”
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
