The House Armed Services Air and Land Forces Subcommittee markup for the 2008 defense authorization bill recommends allowing the Air Force to retire C-5As. However, the panel has stipulated that the service maintain a fleet of 299 strategic airlifters, so it will only get to retire the A models as new C-17s enter the field. Currently, USAF has a total of 111 C-5s—60 are A models. The current approved buy for C-17s is 190 aircraft. So, to maintain a total of 299 if it retires all 60 A models, USAF would need to purchase an additional 58 C-17s. The panel has recommended adding $2.4 billion to the 2008 bill to purchase 10 C-17s. Retiring the C-5As will be a long, slow process.
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.
