Sen. John McCain last week fresh off the Sept. 30 defeat of his first amendment to kill the additional 10 C-17 airlifters that Senate appropriators included in the 2010 defense spending bill introduced two new amendments—splitting into two parts his original amendment, which would have eliminated the additional C-17s and put that money in operations and maintenance. The first new amendment (SA 2580) would strike the 10 additional C-17s, and the second (SA 2581) would increase O&M funding. Part of McCain’s pitch has been that appropriators robbed Peter (O&M) to pay Paul (more C-17s), but during the extensive floor debate on the first amendment, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that was not the case. Continue
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.