Boeing May Win 10-Plane Order; Then Again, Maybe Not

It's the most advanced, and arguably most capable, cargo-hauler in the current US Air Force fleet... but the C-17 program has never been able to rest on its laurels, and it appears the Boeing-built workhorse is once again in jeopardy.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the plane's future is up in the air -- again -- waiting to find out how many more C-17s Washington will authorize. And the message is decidedly mixed on that.

Officially, the Pentagon has already said it won't authorize more than the 190 C-17s already on order... and has set aside funding in the FY2008 budget to shut down production in 2009. US Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne counters he would like as many as 30 more planes, and that shutting production down is a bad idea, in case the Air Force later needs more planes to replace aging C-5 Galaxys.

Several lawmakers are showing their support for the C-17... not surprisingly, those whose districts include companies and plants supplying parts for the plane. Ten Congressmen, including Missouri representatives Todd Akin and Russ Carnahan, earmarked $2.4 billion in the current budget for 10 more planes.

Other lawmakers are skeptical... and once again not surprisingly, they represent districts where C-5s are based. Senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Joe Biden (D-DE) argue money would be better spent upgrading the aging C-5s, than purchasing new C-17s.

Critics of the C-5 Modernization Program now underway respond the cost has far eclipsed original forecasts of between $5 billion to $8 billion. USAF officials say the true cost is approaching $17.5 billion, or $146.7 million per plane... though that's still much less than the $240 million pricetag for a new C-17.

On Tuesday, Boeing said it would continue funding the C-17 program on spec, at least through the end of this year. That's when President Bush is expected to sign the 2008 defense budget. The American planemaker has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars keeping the line going, with the hope a big order would soon materialize.

For now, the 10-plane deal may be the best Boeing could hope for -- and even that is in jeopardy, as the Senate failed to pass the earmark.

Part of the problem also lies in the fact no one is quite sure how many heavy cargo planes the Air Force needs. A group of lawmakers has called for an independent review to hopefully answer that question.

"With the increased use of the C-17 in the Iraq conflict and the investments being made in weapons systems, I believe we will find that we need more, not less, airlift capability in the future," said Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill. "That includes the continued production of the C-17."

Trouble is, that study wouldn't be completed until 2009... by which time the C-17 program may already be shut down.

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.af.mil